Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
If you turn on a news channel you're sure to see a story on the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
I will admit, Martin's death and the circumstances surrounding it are very suspicious.
In case you only read the Quay County Sun (and thank you for doing so), the 17-year-old Martin was fatally shot Feb. 26 by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer patrolling the neighborhood Martin was visiting with his father when the shooting occurred.
To date, there have been no arrests or charges filed.
It's still a shock to me that Martin was shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer, and it makes me grateful I've never had any experiences like that. They've all ended with either me being asked to leave, or me identifying who it is I'm visiting.
To add fuel to the fire, journalist (and I use that word lightly) Geraldo Rivera made some comments I'm sure he would like to have back.
"I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Martin's death as Zimmerman," Rivera said during an interview on Fox News.
Yes, I was watching Fox News. I was flipping through the news channels and that is the one I stopped on when the phone rang.
Rivera continued to make remarks about the association of "hoodies" and their demographic link to criminal activity. In fact to paraphrase Rivera, " you see a kid walking down the street, particularly a dark-skinned kid, the instant identification is those crime scene surveillance tapes."
Of course his comments sparked some outrage and people have since begun to wear "hoodies" in response to those comments.
Rivera has since issued a public apology for offending anybody, but stands by the substance of the remarks.
Though if anything I think Rivera can look forward to some positive things to come from his comments. He may get a thank you card from retailers for the drastic increase in the sales of 'hoodie" type apparel.
As the case continues to unfold I will be most interested to see if Zimmerman's claim of self defense holds up. I have many questions in regards to this fatal shooting, none of which center around what Martin was wearing, or the color of his skin or if Zimmerman truly felt threatened by the 6 foot 140 pound teen.
My question is this: What is a neighborhood watch volunteer doing patrolling with a gun? Had he recently been threatened by the children of the area during a heated hopscotch match? Perhaps the squirrels in that particular neighborhood are quite vicious.
We'll have many answers by the time this all unfolds. I just hope they're for the right questions.
Thomas Garcia writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at: [email protected]