Author: AR

Currently ongoing in central Florida, George Zimmerman is on trial for 2nd degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin.  Here are the facts, as told by CNN:

Trayvon Benjamin Martin, born February 5, 1995, was a 17-year-old African-American high school student who lived in Miami Gardens, Florida with his mother Sybrina Fulton.  In February 2012, Martin was visiting his father, Tracy Martin, in Sanford, Florida after receiving a ten-day suspension from Krop Senior High School.  The suspension stemmed from the discovery of drug residue in Martin’s book bag.

George Michael Zimmerman, born October 5, 1983, was a part-time student at Seminole State College and a neighborhood watch captain at the Retreat at Twin Lakes gated community in Sanford at the time of the shooting.  He is married to Shellie (Dean) Zimmerman and is the son of Robert and Gladys Zimmerman.

February 26, 2012 – George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain in Sanford, Florida, calls 911 to report “a suspicious person” in the neighborhood.  He is instructed not to get out of his SUV or approach the person.  Zimmerman disregards the instructions.  Moments later, neighbors report hearing gunfire.  Zimmerman acknowledges that he shot Martin, claiming it was in self-defense.  In a police report, Officer Timothy Smith writes that Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose and back of the head.

Leading up to the physical encounter between the two, Martin talked to his girlfriend, while  Zimmerman talked to a 911 dispatcher…

What happened next is a matter of dispute. Martin and Zimmerman were obviously in the middle of it, but no one else saw all that happened.  One witness later told police that “she heard a commotion, which sounded like arguing,” while another mentioned “loud talking.”

And on one 911 call, placed by a neighbor, a police sergeant counted one man yelling “help!” or “help me!” 14 times in a span of 38 seconds.

Who was yelling?  When the 911 calls were later played back for him and he was asked if they were from his son, an emotional Tracy Martin “quietly responded ‘no’.”  But an FBI analysis, also detailed on Thursday, said it couldn’t be determined whose voice it was due to the “extreme emotional state” of whomever was yelling, a lack of words from which to compare, overlapping voices and “insufficient voice quality” on the recording.

Then at the trial last week, each mother of the men involved testified that the desperate voice on the other end of that phone was that of their son…

Zimmerman acknowledged shooting Martin but said it was in self-defense.  Attorneys for Martin’s family have accused Zimmerman of racially profiling Martin and shooting him “in cold blood.”

Hence, here is our challenge…

First, let’s acknowledge that regardless of motive or responsibility, this situation is tragic.  A teenager died.

Second, let’s also acknowledge that since only the 2 men were there, only the 2 of them know fully what happened.

The challenge?  Martin was an African-American.  Zimmerman is a white Hispanic.  Would this situation be handled the same — by the media, law, and families involved — if the color of Martin and Zimmerman’s skin was the same?

Sadly… that’s a great question.

Respectfully,

AR

I witnessed the wildest thing over the weekend.  Ok, so it wasn’t exactly wild, but the reaction certainly was.  It was one of those moments where you watch life unravel so slowly, it seems — like you see what’s happening, can tell what will happen next, you know it isn’t going to be good, and yet, you can do nothing to stop it.

En route to my oldest son’s baseball game, my other 2 sons and I were killing a little time prior to the game’s start.  We had stopped at the local grocer just off the main highway in rush hour traffic.  It was a four lane highway with no median but a shared, center left turn lane.

A black sedan was heading north in the actual turn lane, while a smaller 4 door Ford was coming swiftly from the opposite direction, seemingly also looking to turn, but seemingly also indecisive as she was not yet in the shared turn lane.  In other words, both the black sedan and 4 door Ford were wanting to be in the same place at the same time.  With full traffic at a 6 p.m. pace, there was minimal room to maneuver and even less time to make the decision.

The driver of the Ford then made the fateful choice to turn in front of the sedan.  Watching from the nearby grocery lot, it was painstakingly clear such was not a wise decision.

The crash was both loud and immediate.  The front of the Ford was ripped off in an instant, as auto fluids quickly flooded the freeway.  There seemed little question of whether or not the car was totaled.

In that eerie silence after a car crash — when the shock of the unexpected meets the reality of needing to deal with it — the driver’s door opened on the now totaled Ford.  Out jumped a young, shoeless girl — a girl no more than 17/18 years old.  She instantly filled the space of the silence.

The young girl sprang out the door, began jumping up and down, waving her arms, screaming.  She was screaming so loud it was the only sound to be heard.  My heart stopped; for a moment I wondered if someone else had accompanied her — and perhaps that person was injured — but such was not the case.  She was alone.

The girl continued jumping, continued screaming, and then she proceeded to start running up and down the street… first through that not-to-be-shared center lane… then actually running across the rush hour lanes… then up and down the adjacent sidewalks.   The screams and hysterics continued until the sights and sounds of rush hour traffic resumed and drowned out the air space.  The young teen was hysterical, mad, and possibly also in shock.

Let me first say that even as an eyewitness, there is so much I don’t know.  I don’t know if she had insurance or if she was down to her last dollar or if she deceptively took her parents’ vehicle without their knowledge.  Even though I saw the action unfold, I do not know the entire substance of her screams.

I thus learned 2 things from the encounter…  First, even an eyewitness is incapable of making all conclusions.  Second, how often (and God bless the young girl…) but how often do we react hysterically to the bad things that happen in our lives, forgetting that so many others have it far worse?  I wonder if sometimes we are so focused on our own experience that we react in an extreme way, forgetting it could be worse… forgetting there’s always much to be thankful for.

There’s one more thing I learned this day…  Tough circumstances — scenarios we can’t control — can happen in an instant; hence, we shouldn’t take any day for granted.  If we truly knew that, such perspective would undoubtedly, dramatically affect our reaction.

Respectfully,

AR