Stand Your Ground or Hunt Your Target? The Trayvon Martin Case

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On a regular normal night in February of 2012, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin walked into a 7/11

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for some snacks.

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That was it.

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That was his crime.

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At least in the eyes of George Zimmerman.

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Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watchman with a history of, "Let's call it,

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questionable decision-making," saw Trayvon and decided that he looked suspicious, and he

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made a choice that would change both of their lives forever.

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A two-minute encounter turned into a national firestorm, one that exposed deep divides

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in America's justice system, and, frankly, in common sense.

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This case is more than about one tragic night.

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It's about everything that led up to it, the fallout that followed, and why Trayvon

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Martin's name still matters more than a decade later.

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Before we dive in, if you like your true crime, brief and binge-able, you're in the right

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place.

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It followed now for at least two new episodes every week.

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This is 10-minute murder.

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Let's get into it.

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[Music]

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Others are saying that nothing is ever black or white, that life exists in the gray where

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nuance matters.

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And sure, if every single moment of someone's life was put under a microscope, most people

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wouldn't walk away looking perfect.

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But some people don't get the chance to walk away at all.

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Seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin didn't ask to be a symbol.

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He didn't ask for his life, his choices, or his name to be dissected by strangers, debated

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by politicians, and twisted into talking points.

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He was a kid, a real person, and before his name became a headline, before his face was

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on every screen, Trayvon was just a teenager with big dreams.

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Born in Miami, Florida, in 1995, Trayvon had always been good with his hands.

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As a kid, he could take a part of bike and put it back together like it was nothing.

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It wasn't just a hobby, for Trayvon it was instinct.

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Fixing, repairing, understanding how things worked.

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It was a skill that would evolve over time, shaping his plans for the future in ways that

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no one could have predicted.

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Like a lot of kids, Trayvon Martin had big dreams.

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And for a while, those dreams revolved around football.

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He had the skills, the teamwork, and the drive.

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And it wasn't hard to picture him possibly going pro.

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But then something else caught his attention.

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Something bigger.

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Aviation.

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The same hands that spent years fixing up bikes now had a new focus, airplanes.

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In 2009, Trayvon enrolled in a seven week aviation program.

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By the time it was over, he knew.

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This was it.

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This was his future.

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It didn't matter if he was flying the planes or repairing them.

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He just wanted to be around them.

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His interest ran deep, and he put in the work to prove it.

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The following year, he returned to the program.

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This time as a volunteer, helping teach new students.

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He was building something for himself.

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He had a future.

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But none of that would matter when he crossed paths with the wrong person on the wrong night.

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After completing the aviation program, Trayvon didn't move on.

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He came back.

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The next year, he returned as a volunteer, helping new students learn the same skills he had

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just mastered.

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He was serious about making it his future.

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College was next.

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Either the University of Miami or Florida A&M.

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He had options, and he had a plan.

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No one gets through their teenage years without a few missteps.

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Trayvon wasn't perfect.

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No teenager is.

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He had his run-ins at school, the kind most kids rack up at some point, showing up late,

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skipping class, pushing boundaries, then came graffiti.

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Then a search of his backpack turned up a marijuana pipe with a bag of residue.

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That last one called him a 10-day suspension.

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His mother made a decision.

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She sent Trayvon to live with his father in Sanford, hoping a change of an idea.

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Even environment might help him get back on the right track.

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He wasn't in trouble with the law.

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He wasn't violent.

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He was just a teenager, figuring things out.

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But none of that mattered when he met George Zimmerman.

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Trayvon's parents had divorced when he was five.

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His father remarried, then divorced again.

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And by 2012, he was living with his new fiancee in a gated community in Sanford, Florida.

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That's where Trayvon had been sent to stay after his latest school suspension.

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On the night of February 26, 2012, Trayvon's father and his fiance went out to dinner, leaving

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him and is soon to be stepbrother at home.

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At some point, Trayvon decided to walk to the local 7-11-4 snack.

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It wasn't an unfamiliar trip.

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He knew the neighborhood.

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He had spent time there before and even played football with the other kids in the area.

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But this time, the walk back wouldn't be routine.

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Because that night, Trayvon Martin crossed paths with George Zimmerman.

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Born in Virginia in 1983, George Zimmerman was raised in a strict household.

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His father was a former military man who spent 22 years in the US Army.

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When he wasn't enforcing discipline, religion filled in the gaps.

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George grew up in a devoutly Catholic home, serving as an altar boy from age 7 to age 17.

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He had structure.

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He had rules, and for most of his early life, he seemed to follow them.

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At 14, he joined the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps with plans to become a Marine.

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By 15, he was working three part-time jobs to buy his first car.

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On paper, his early years suggested someone with ambition, drive, and a clear path forward,

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much like Trayvon.

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But somewhere along the way, something changed.

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George had a plan for his life, and then he lost control of it.

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George Zimmerman had once envisioned a future in the military.

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But after high school, instead of enlisting, he moved to Florida and took a job selling

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insurance.

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That alone wasn't a red flag.

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Plenty of people take different paths than they originally planned.

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But at some point, things started to shift.

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His first arrest came when he allegedly assaulted an undercover police officer who was in the

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process of arresting one of George's friends.

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The charges were dropped in exchange for him completing an alcohol education program.

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But a month later, he was back in legal trouble.

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This time, a former fiancé filed a restraining order alleging he had been physically abusive.

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It wouldn't be the last time his name would come up in connection to domestic violence.

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But back then, people around him weren't putting the pieces together yet.

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A few years later, George married a woman named Shelley Dean and moved to Twin Lakes,

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the same gated community where Trayvon Martin's father lived.

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He took jobs at car dealerships and a mortgage audit firm.

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But at night, he was pursuing something different, an associate degree in criminal justice.

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It looked like he was trying to realign his life, maybe even work his way toward law enforcement.

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And to make that happen, he became the self-appointed head of his neighborhood watch.

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That decision would change everything.

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On the night of February 26, 2012, Trayvon was walking home from the 7-11, a trip for snacks,

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a normal night, nothing out of the ordinary.

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Except for one thing.

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George Zimmerman was out patrolling the neighborhood.

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Trayvon was on the phone with his girlfriend when he realized he was being followed.

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Zimmerman was also on a call, reporting a "suspicious person."

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The dispatcher told him to not approach.

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He did anyway.

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It happened next, played out in less than two minutes.

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A confrontation, a struggle, a gunshot.

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By the time police arrived, Trayvon Martin was dead.

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He had no weapon.

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He had a bag of skittles and a can of Arizona iced tea.

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Zimmerman, on the other hand, had injuries.

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Black eyes, a broken nose, cuts on the back of his head.

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He claimed self-defense.

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He said he had no choice.

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After five hours of questioning, he was released without charges.

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But the case wasn't closed, not by a long shot.

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Word spread.

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Protests erupted.

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Thousands of people demanded justice for Trayvon Martin.

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And when the 911 calls were made public, the outrage only grew.

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In one recording, the dispatcher clearly told Zimmerman to stay away.

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He ignored it.

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In another, a voice believed to be Trayvon's can be heard screaming for help before the

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fatal shot.

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Public pressure worked.

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Six weeks later, Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder.

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At trial, he leaned on Florida's Stanyard Ground Law, a controversial policy that allows

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the use of lethal force of a person feels threatened.

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The jury bought it.

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Zimmerman walked.

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People were furious, but legally, it was over.

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For brief moment, Zimmerman was seen as a hero in certain circles.

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Just four days after his acquittal, he made headlines again.

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This time for pulling a family from a crashed SUV.

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Some saw it as redemption.

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Others saw it as a convenient timing.

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But whatever good will he gained didn't last long.

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Months later, his estranged wife called 911, claiming he assaulted her father and threatened

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her with a gun.

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The case didn't stick.

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Then another woman accused him of holding her gunpoint.

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Another charge dropped.

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Then came the domestic assault case, where he allegedly threw a bottle of wine at a woman.

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And then there was the road rage incident.

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A man named Matthew Aparson called the police, reporting that Zimmerman had followed and

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threatened him.

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Aparson later confronted him, allegedly saying, "You don't know you were wrong for killing

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that little black boy?"

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Zimmerman retaliated by stalking him.

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Months later, Aparson fired a shot at Zimmerman's truck, narrowly missing him.

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Aparson was convicted of attempted murder.

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In the years that followed, Zimmerman found a new way to make money, selling paintings

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online.

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His first piece, an American flag, which sold for over $100,000.

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But then came another controversy.

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Turns out his original artwork wasn't so original.

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He had been copying other people's work without credit, sparking yet another scandal.

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More than a decade after Trayvon Martin's death, George Zimmerman continues to surface in

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the public eye, not because he's changed, but because he hasn't.

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From lawsuits to public appearances, to selling the gun he used to kill Trayvon, Zimmerman

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seems less interested in staying quiet and more focused on doubling down.

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He became a symbol, not of self-defense, but of what happens when accountability slips

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through the cracks.

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And for a lot of people, he represents a justice system that doesn't always live up to

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its name.

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Trayvon Martin was 17.

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He had no weapon, no criminal record, and no idea that walking home with a bag of

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skittles could end his life.

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Zimmerman walks free, with a platform and a price tag on his notoriety.

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And while the courtroom chapter of this case may be closed, the conversation around it,

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about race, justice, and who gets to claim fear as a defense, is still very much open.

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Thanks for listening to this episode of 10 Minute Murder, Brief and Bingeable True Crime.

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I'm Joe, I'm the host, and if you're a new listener, hit subscribe wherever you're listening

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right now.

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And that'll more easily help you catch up with what's going on with the podcast.

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If you're an OG listener, you've been around a while.

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First of all, I love you.

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Don't change.

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Second, make sure you're still sharing the show with your friends and family.

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The numbers continue to show that you are.

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Because a lot of you reach out and say, "Hey, how can we help the show?"

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What is it we can do to help keep this thing going?

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And since day one, that's kind of what I've always said.

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The way you can best help 10 Minute Murder is to tell more people about 10 Minute Murder.

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Since I know that murder podcasts aren't for everyone, I have another one.

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It's about mystery, 10 Minute Mystery.

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So if they're not into murder, maybe they're into mystery.

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And what kind of mystery, Joe?

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I'm glad you ask.

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Bigfoot, UFOs, missing people.

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If it's a mystery, you name it.

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I'm probably going to talk about it on that podcast.

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So let them know about 10 Minute Mystery as well.

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If you want to get in touch with me or see photos from the episodes that we talk about,

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all the stuff lives at 10minuteMurder.com.

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And because I know probably a dozen of you are going to reach out and say, "Joe, what's

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your opinion on George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin?

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Do you think it was self-defense or do you think it was murder?"

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And I'm really not sure why I would get that question, but I know I will, even though

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I'm about to say what I'm going to say, I'm still going to get the...

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It's not everyone listens this far into the podcast.

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To be honest, let's be honest, not everyone listens way deep into where I'm just rambling

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about things.

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But I will tell you, there's a reason I've put it on a 10 minute murder podcast because

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I think it's murder.

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At best, it's second degree murder.

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And I think that's what he should have been charged with.

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I think that's what should have happened, but obviously it didn't.

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That's why I'm talking about it on a murder podcast.

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And a lot of people on the other side of it like to bring up Trayvon Martin's background

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and say that he liked to fight.

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He had marijuana in his possession at one point, didn't he?

238
00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:46,040
Does that mean he should be killed because he's walking home from a store?

239
00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:47,040
No.

240
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Doesn't matter what's in his background, the George Zimmerman had no right to go and shoot

241
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him.

242
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He chased him down and shot him, despite the fact that a dispatcher told him to leave

243
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him alone.

244
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They were going to handle it.

245
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So yes, I think it was murder.

246
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I hope that clears it up.

247
00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:03,840
Alright, that's going to do it.

248
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That's your episode for today.

249
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Thank you again so much for listening to 10 Minute Murder.