Trayvon Martin’s death as he walked through a gated community where he was visiting his father has evoked powerful responses. The local police and prosecutor took no action, fueling outrage. Many emotionally identified with Martin as an innocent victim, guilty only of being black and unrecognized by an armed neighbor who had styled himself as a “neighborhood watchman.” Martin’s hooded sweatshirt became an iconic symbol of the suspicion with which black men are so often greeted while doing nothing out of the ordinary. Public and media attention intensified when the president observed that if he had a son, the child would look like Martin.
George Zimmerman, the gunman, evoked the sympathy of many who saw the killing as an instance of self-defense when two men struggled, or identified Zimmerman as a principal in a tragic misunderstanding.
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