On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin an unarmed 17 year old African-American, high school student was shot while visiting his father. He was killed by George Zimmerman, the head neighborhood watch volunteer of this gated community. There were no witnesses to the incident and Zimmerman, who appears to be white, but has a hispanic mother, claimed self-defense. He had obvious injuries consistent with a fight, bloody nose, cuts on head.
The Sanford police initially declined to charge Zimmerman, and Trayvon's parents went to the media questioning the performance of the department, sparking a national debate about race relations in the USA. Trayvon had no criminal record and was out buying a can of juice and some skittles from the store. Was it the fact that he was wearing a hoodie that made him suspicious? Was it the fact that he was a black male?
The picture originally used by the media to portray Trayvon as a thug when the reality was that he was enrolled in high school and had no criminal record.
There were protests and countless debates by talking heads, there was even a Million Hoodie March where activists from all over the country gathered together to shine light on what they felt was a gross injustice.
Zimmerman was eventually arrested and charged with second degree murder. The prosecution claimed that the trigger happy, wanna-be cop, had a history of escalating situations where it was clearly unnecessary. Between the years of 2004 and 2012, Zimmerman had made more than 50 calls to police from everything from loud parties to open garage doors, to potholes and children playing in the street. They cited the fact that he had even called several times in the months before the shooting to report "suspicious" people, who, his reports revealed, were black and male every time.
the Defense cited the fact, the police had been called 402 times in the month prior to the shooting. There had been dozens of attempted robberies in the community, leading to an atmosphere of fear. Zimmerman was the head volunteer of the neighborhood watch and it was well within his right to follow a suspicious individual even when police told him not to. Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law was also brought into play. It states that individuals are allowed to use force and not retreat if they are in danger (or perceived) danger of bodily harm. After a very public trial, Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges.
Sources:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/florida-teen-trayvon-martin-is-shot-and-killed
https://www.cnn.com/2012/05/18/justice/florida-teen-shooting-details/index.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Trayvon_Martin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-your-ground_law