

Though Zimmerman was acquitted, we will never know to what extent the racist tactics of Zimmerman’s defense persuaded the jury. Prosecutors, though, called him an unarmed child, who did nothing wrong, the victim of a vigilante with a chip on his shoulder, who told a police dispatcher that “those a–holes, they always get away.” They dug up social media photos of him in attempts to depict him as a thug. They talked about his suspensions from high school and his interest in guns. Zimmerman’s supporters and defense team portrayed 17-year-old Trayvon as almost 6 feet tall, wearing a dark hoodie.

But we have to wonder if things would have changed if there were. There was no video, in that case, to disprove Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense. He was 17, walking back from a quick trip to a convenience store for Skittles and iced tea in Sanford, when George Zimmerman deemed him suspicious.
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In Miami, this trial compels us to think of Trayvon Martin. A former district attorney was indicted in September for allegedly preventing two police officers from arresting Travis McMichael and “showing favor and affection to Greg McMichael during the investigation.” Greg McMichael was an investigator with the Brunswick District Attorney’s office. It took more than two months for the men to be arrested - and that only happened after video of the shooting surfaced. Census Bureau figures.Īmericans were right to feel there was an orchestrated effort to allow the McMichaels and Bryan to skate. In Glynn County, Georgia, where the trial happened, more than 26% of residents are Black, and about 69% are white, according to U.S. Yet he still allowed the case to go forward. The makeup of the jury - 11 white people and one Black member - was admonished even by the judge in the case, who said “that there appears to be intentional discrimination” by the defense in selecting it. might convince jurors that they were acting in self-defense after chasing and shooting Arbery, whose family said he was out for a jog. There were good reasons to worry that McMichael, his son Travis McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. We shared in her disbelief, but we also wondered: Has this country truly made progress, or are white folks still susceptible to images of dirty, scary Black men that have been normalized since the time of “The Birth of a Nation”? “Wow,” Arbery’s mother said before leaving the room briefly. Editorial: Defense blamed Ahmaud Arbery for his ‘dirty toenails.’ Jury saw through that dog whistle
