2. The Infamous Trayvon Martin Shooting
The 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin sparked a nationwide dialogue about gun rights and racism. George Zimmerman, captain of the Sanford, Florida, neighborhood watch, called 911 on February 26, 2012 to report a suspicious person. The dispatcher told Zimmerman not to follow or confront the person, but Zimmerman disregarded the warning. Instead, he followed the person who turned out to be 17-year-old Martin. Only Zimmerman truly knows exactly what happened when the two faced off, but it ended with Zimmerman fatally shooting Martin. Zimmerman claimed that Martin attacked him, and that Zimmerman was acting in self defense. He was not initially charged for the killing of Martin, as police said it was impossible to disprove his version of events. Nearly everyone, including President Barack Obama, weighed-in on the issue, and general public sentiment was that Zimmerman should be held accountable. He was eventually charged, but the jury found him not guilty of murder or manslaughter, which was in large part due to Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” law. This controversial death gave raise to the Black Lives Matter activist movement.
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