In an interview with The Washington Post yesterday, Travyon Martin’s parents disputed the official record of Sanford, Fla. police in the 17-year-old’s shooting death last month at the hands of neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.
The police version of events the boy’s father, Tracy Martin, relayed to the Post, hews closely to ZImmerman’s account of being assaulted by Trayvon before acting in self-defense using Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which allows residents to use lethal force when they believe their safety is threatened:
According to Tracy Martin, the Sanford, Fla., detective recounted this sequence of events: Trayvon Martin walked up to Zimmerman’s vehicle and asked why he was following him. Zimmerman denied following the youth and rolled up the car window. Minutes after Trayvon walked away, Zimmerman got out of his vehicle.
Then came the second encounter, according to Tracy Martin’s recollection of the detective’s account. Trayvon Martin appeared from behind a building in Zimmerman’s gated community, approached him and demanded, “What’s your problem, homie?”
When Zimmerman replied that he didn’t have a problem, Martin said, “You do now.” The unarmed teenager hit Zimmerman, knocked him to the ground, pinned him down and told him to “shut the [expletive] up.”
During the beating, Zimmerman pulled his gun and fired one shot at close range into Martin’s chest. “You got me,” the teenager said, falling backward.
But Tracy Martin, sitting with his ex-wife and Trayvon’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, told the Post, “That was bull.”
And indeed, there may be evidence to back up the elder Martin’s assertions. A surveillance video obtained last night by ABC News from Sanford police shows Zimmerman being led into an interrogation room for questioning after Trayvon Martin’s death with no obvious signs of injury. Furthermore, the detective leading the investigation into the shooting is expressing doubt about Zimmerman’s claims of self defense and has recommended that Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter.
The “Stand Your Ground” law will face further scrutiny in D.C. today with a rally outside 1100 Vermont Avenue NW, headquarters of the American Legislative Exchange Council, a think tank that writes conservative bills for use by state legislators. The organization helped shepherd “Stand Your Ground” bills in 30 states, according to the rally’s organizers, which include several labor unions, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Urban League.
Watch Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton’s interview with the Post below:
