This should explain it.

Posted for NSC Lord's identical thread: [quote]Treyvon Martin, a troubled black youth, was walking in a suspicious manner through a community that has recently been troubled by a rash of burglaries. George Zimmerman was a watch captain for the neighborhood watch, he noticed Martin walking, and followed him, as he was suspicious that maybe Martin was the burglar. He phoned the police to report the suspicious person, and they advised he keep his distance. He lost Martin, and got out of his car. Martin, suspicious of why he was being followed, confronted Zimmerman, and a fight broke out. No one knows who started the fight. Zimmerman lost the fight, and while Martin was bashing his head against the ground, pulled his gun and shot Martin in the chest, killing him. The local police department, who has a history of racism, decided to not investigate, as Zimmerman looked to have "Stood His Ground." Since there was no investigation, the local black community started a protest, calling the Sanford PD racist. When the media picked it up, the more liberal network (MSNBC) attempted to portray Martin as an angel and Zimmerman as a monster. The more conservative network (Fox News) portrayed Martin as a vicious drug dealing thug, and Zimmerman as a patriot guarding his community. Reality was more in the middle. The Sanford PD finally opened an investigation, arrested and released on bail Zimmerman, and then tried him. They charged him with 2nd degree murder or Manslaughter. He was found not guilty yesterday.[/quote]

In Sanford, Florida a 17 year old African American by the name of Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by Hispanic adult George Zimmerman. The initial reports of the crime led many to become enraged at what had happened. Zimmerman was a member of a neighborhood watch group that protected his gated community, and he saw Trayvon walking late at night, and believed Trayvon to look suspicious. Trayvon was wearing a hoodie and had a bag of skittles in his pocket. He called the police and informed them of the supposedly suspicious Trayvon, and the police proceeded to tell him not to follow, he followed anyway. Neighbors reported hearing an encounter, and eventually the police arrived to find 17 year old Trayvon dead, and Zimmerman injured. Zimmerman claimed he acted in self defense, and as a last possible resort against a violent encounter after following Trayvon. He claims that Trayvon was assaulting him, and he needed to defend himself. Needless to say, this crime created a large backlash on behalf of the community in regards to race and gun ownership. This caused the case to get a large amount of media coverage. Many people wanted justice for Trayvon's death, claiming that Zimmerman was a racist and only thought Trayvon looked suspicious due to him being African American. Others believed that Zimmerman acted in self defense, as he did not seem to be racially motivated. And even others cried out for control over concealed firearms. None of that matters, as recently the final trial on the case took place. State of Florida v. Zimmerman found Zimmerman not guilty of both murder and manslaughter, the jury consisting of six women, one of whom was from a minority background. Evidence for the defense included grass stain locations on Trayvon and Zimmerman's clothing, location of the bullet hole on the various articles of Trayvon's clothing, and both forensic expert analysis of Zimmerman's wounds and Trayvon's wounds as well as eyewitness accounts. The verdict made a lot of people upset, and believe that justice has not been found for Trayvon and are protesting the results of the case. Zimmerman got off as innocent due specific self defense laws that are present in many locations across the United States. Edit: When in doubt wikipedia: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Trayvon_Martin[/url]