A Trayvon Tragedy PJ Laake ‘13 Trayvon Martin’s night started by going to a local convenient store in Sanford, Florida to get an iced tea and skittles, but ended with him getting shot by George Zimmerman. Was it in self defense as Zimmerman claims or was it a racial dispute that turned ugly fast? I think George Zimmerman is guilty of murder and is trying to cover it up by saying it was self-defense. After weeks of this “criminal” running free throughout Florida, the police have finally arrested him. The case is finally about to take place in Florida to decide the fate of George Zimmerman. Trayvon was just 17 years old when his life was taken from him abruptly on February 26. While visiting his father’s fiancée in Sanford, Florida, a suburb of Orlando, Martin went out to the store for a snack when the neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman, spotted him. Zimmerman pursued Martin after calling the police and saying he was “looking like he was up to no good”. What happened next was an altercation, a fight, shots and a dead teenager on the side of the road. Police had hardly any evidence to charge him and Zimmerman was let go just hours after killing a n innocent teenager. The tape of the phone call to the police by Zimmerman was released by NBC a week into the investigation. On this crucial piece of evidence Zimmerman called him a “suspicious black man”. The whole investigation took a big turn because race could be involved. People around the country were rallying for the police to arrest Zimmerman until NBC came out and admitted to altering the tape to make him seem like a racist. Even if he isn’t a racist, he still targeted an innocent teen on a random night in February. Millions in America have held rallies and protests to arrest George Zimmerman. Martin’s mother posted a petition online that over 2.2 million people have signed. It was the largest online position ever. Cities around America have had “Million Hoodie Marches” to symbolize the hoodie Trayvon was wearing while he was killed. Carmelo Anthony, President Obama and the Miami Heat showed their support by wearing hoodies in pictures. Some of the most drastic forms of protests that have happened are students staging walkouts in the middle of school, and the Black Panther Party offering a ten thousand dollar reward for the capture of George Zimmerman. Even though I am in favor of the victim, this case has been blown way out of proportion. I don’t think race was a factor in this but it is still obvious that he committed a crime and should be punished for it. The people of America shouldn’t have overreacted the way they did but the good thing that came from all these crazy protests is that now Zimmerman is going to court. But now there is still the question, do they have enough evidence to convict him? All Zimmerman has on his side is that it was self-defense but there is no way to prove that he is telling the truth. Somehow no one saw or heard anything the night of the murder. The only witnesses are Zimmerman and Trayvon who obviously can’t tell anyone what happened since he is dead. The bottom line is there is a dead teenager and they have the man who killed him. Hopefully this monster is out behind bars so another one of these tragediesis avoided.