I Said Don't Follow Him

  -There are 3 injustices that have come out of the controversy surrounding the shooting of 16 year old Trayvon Martin. His murder, The Stand Your Ground law and the medias disservice to the people. Last month, this young teen was shot twice in the chest in Inn Standford Community homes by the neighbor hood watch George Zimmerman. In the days that followed, there was a wave of controversy surrounding Mr. Zimmerman's "Good deeds". A nine one police recording was released pointing to possible racism, a federal investigation surrounding the Stanford Police and a Media fair with the incident. So where is the line draw for anyone. It's unclear.


  On the night Trayvon Martin was killed, he had been returning from a 7-11 by George Zimmerman. Now the police did a ,shall we say half ass job with the investigation, and released Mr. Zimmerman on the grounds of the "Stand your ground act". But what is the stand your ground act? Well in September 15 of 2005, according to ,This week news, Florida Legislative passed the Stand your ground act, which allowed any given citizen, with a gun license, to defend themselves from harm if they feel their life is threatened.

  This law is a complete an utter mess. It should not even exist. No one person should be allowed to take justice unless they are a police officer. Why it exists, I have no idea. I suppose Jeb Bush felt emasculated at the idea of not having a gun to deal out "justice". Now the police let Zimmerman go under these conditions, but he has the burden of proof. Videos like The Trayvon Martin 911 call make it difficult to either prove or deny Mr. Zimmerman's innocents. Especially since the audio record clear indicates that Mr. Zimmerman was following Trayvon Martin, but his testimony says otherwise.

   People in Florida (including 22 other states) are in  fear of having a gun wielding maniacs walking the streets looking for some sort of confrontation.

   The Stanford police department play a key role in this investigation as they are soon to be under a full federal investigation because of the lack of police and tempering of evidence done for the case. According to a video titled Zimmerman's 911 call with liberal commentary, the police, because of their encouragement for people to give a different testimony, there is, as of today, an investigation(possibly federal) towards the Stanford Police. There are also multiple allegations being made by members of the community and various other groups that racism is playing a game in this gauntlet.

 
  The case has exploded from being a local tragedy to a national tragedy. According to sources like The Week News, the stations covering the case may be taking this overboard. This is not a good thing. In the past with events like the Rodney King trial, the media's watchful eye over the case is causing tension. I use this example because, the excessive coverage of an event can lead to people building up different emotions and ultimately, the cases verdict will determine how people will react because of the build up. Groups like the New Black Panthers Party have now become involved and are calling for blood. As they shown in this news clip on Bill O'Rileys talk show saying "If you killed one of mines, then I should damn kill one of yours".

  If I were reporting on this I would cover it once give the details of the case once there was a sense that the full picture was clear and then wait for the trial to end. I don't want people to take this out of hand. I don't want to see people flipping cars because we've enraged them.  At some point when people are given so much information, that some act out in violence But with 24 hour news coverage and the need for audiences to have updates not only daily, but hourly makes that difficult if not impossible. I would cover a topic like this once I have all the necessary information, but afterwards I would leave it be until the trial. I know a majority of people would disagree with me, but it;s how I feel about media groups of both side over covering issues and I am fully aware that we as people need constant coverage of whats going on in the world. But I would like to say a better method put in place.

  In the end 3 key things are guilty in this case. Zimmerman for taking the law into his own hands, Florida's Gun Law and The media's over blown coverage. The only way justice can be served is if we open our eyes is to see that 1 we need to cover things a little less so that a fire doesn't start. 2 to repeal this gun law, because no one person should try to play "hero" unless it seem necessary and only if they are in their right mind to hold a weapon and 3, to remember that we as people can change the world if we put our minds together. So let us start now and change this law for not just Trayvon Martin, but for the future generation.


  -Sources:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=1iA3rLxncBw -This source was used to discuss the involment of the Black Panther Party.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOpGAOXL5Uk&feature=related -This source was used to discuss Zimmerman's 911 phone call and the policed investigation.

 http://theweek.com/article/index/225909/trayvon-martins-death-should-florida-repeal-its-dangerous-stand-your-ground-gun-law -This source was used to discuss the "Stand Your Ground Law".