GlobalGrind.com: On Monday afternoon, the mother of Trayvon Martin spoke at Harvard Law to continue her fight against controversial self-defense laws, usually dubbed “kill-at-will.”
Sybrina Fulton addressed a crowd with her attorney, Benjamin Crump, to discuss the “Stand-Your-Ground” laws that state ”there is no duty to retreat (from) an attacker in any place in which one is lawfully present.”
Since 17-year-old Trayvon was killed in February 2012, Fulton, Crump, Trayvon’s father Tracy Martin and brother Jahvaris have continuously pushed for reform of the legislation.
Trayvon Martin forum in Cambridge tackles racial profiling, safety
Photo by Erin Baldassari/Wicked Local Cambridge.
Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, sat down with Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree for a forum to address racial profiling at St. Paul AME Church in Cambridge Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013.
Cambridge —
For Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton, the worst moment after her son’s death was not the immediate phone call informing her he had been shot and killed. It was seeing him in a casket, looking like he was about to go to prom.
“It was at his home funeral service, seeing him in a white casket with a white suit on looking like an angel,” Fulton said. “It made it just that much more difficult to realize that he wasn’t going to be going to the prom. He wasn’t going to be graduating. He wasn’t going to walk through the front door again. It’s the simple things that make me realize death is so final. Death is so final.” A crowd of over 100 people tackled questions about racial profiling, safety and liberty at a community forum with Fulton and her lawyer, Daryl Parks of the Parks & Crump Law Firm, moderated by Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree at St. Paul’s AME Christian Life Center in Central Square on Sunday, Nov. 17.
http://www.cctvcambridge.org/node/203460
Benjamin Crump: ‘Zimmerman Belongs Behind Bars’
http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2013/11/george_zimmerman_belongs_behind_bars_says_attorney.html
On Tuesday, an admitted killer walked free—again.
And after a Florida judge set George Zimmerman’s bail at a mere $9,000, he was able to make bond—and walk away hours later—after his second arrest in connection with a domestic disturbance following his acquittal in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
Pending trial, Seminole County Judge Fred Schott imposed several conditions for Zimmerman’s release, including a monitoring device, a ban on possessing firearms and a restraining order that limits Zimmerman’s contact with Samantha Scheibe, the 27-year-old girlfriend now accusing him of battery and assault with a deadly weapon.
Zimmerman, who infamously claimed self-defense in the Trayvon case, has a history of arrests for domestic violence, though to date, he’s avoided conviction in all his brushes with law enforcement.
And on Tuesday, in response to the latest reports about their child’s killer, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin—Trayvon’s parents—released this statement:
“We, like many others, are watching these latest proceedings against a man who killed our son with a keen interest; however, we’re more focused on the Trayvon Martin Foundation and defining his legacy.”
Regarding possible charges for violation of Trayvon’s civil rights, Attorney General Eric Holder told the Washington Post that the Department of Justice will announce a decision “relatively soon” on whether Zimmerman should face charges.
Following Zimmerman’s recent arrest, Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump, and Natalie Jackson, the family’s local Florida counsel, spoke to The Root about the family’s lingering pain, the possibility of civil charges against Zimmerman and why, despite the demoralizing acquittal in July, Crump still believes justice will be served.