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the zimmerman trial
“The Zimmerman Trial”

On February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman, a Hispanic and neighborhood watch volunteer was patrolling the retreat at Twin Lakes, a Townhouse Development in Florida. At 7:09 pm Zimmerman called a non-emergency police response line, reporting a suspicious person walking about. The person whom Zimmerman saw was 17 year old Trayvon Martin, who was walking back to his father’s fiancé’s house from a convenience store, with nothing on him but a pack of candy and a drink. At 7: 13 pm, Zimmerman ends the call having told by the police that dispatch was on the way. Despite prohibitions from the police, Zimmerman follows Martin. At 7: 17 pm the first officer arrives on the scene and finds Martin dead. This particular incident led to a very high profile case and also spawned many incidences of collective behavior that took place before and after George Zimmerman was put on trial for the murder of Trayvon Martin. There were numerous protests around the US prior to Zimmerman’s indictment on murder charges on April 11. The 44 day delay in charging Zimmerman also led to online petitions urged by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The NAACP called for the Justice Department to file civil rights charges against Zimmerman. Over a million joined the online petition. After Martin’s death a ‘Hoodie march’ was also done in solidarity against racial profiling. After the ‘not guilty’ verdict was announced even more uproar was initiated by the people who were monitoring the development of the case. Outrage erupted online and twitter was filled with people’s tweets voicing their disappointment and anger about the outcome of the trial. Other people opted to voice out their disappointments in the streets of New York, Florida, Oakland, Miami, and Los Angeles, where several peaceful protests, rallies, vigils, and demonstrations took place. But there were also a number of riots that occured, where protesters burned US and

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