It was an impromptu sort of thing, as it was in the rest of the country.
Saturday evening, less than 24 hours after the not-guilty verdict in George Zimmerman’s second-degree murder trial, 30-year-old Dewayne Jenkins of Bunnell sent out word on Facebook that he’d be leading a march in memory of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed 17-year-old Zimmerman shot and killed in Sanford in February 2012, triggering a national debate on profiling, race, self-defense, gun laws and vigilantism.
By the time of the march at 2 p.m. Sunday, fewer than two dozen people had gathered at the south end of South Bacher Street in South Bunnell, where the march was to start. It was raining off and on, a few more people would come and go as a group worked on finishing a few signs, and in the end the number of people wasn’t much smaller than the 40 who marched in Atlanta or similarly small clusters in many towns and cities across the country. (Some 250 marchers protested in Washington, D.C., and hundreds grew into a few thousand as an improvised march waded through the heart of Manhattan Sunday evening.) It would be a more muted event than the “We Are Trayvon” march two Palm Coast women organized in March 2012, drawing some 125 people down Belle Terre.
For Jenkins and others who’d gathered in Bunnell Sunday, it was a chance to show solidarity with marchers elsewhere, to replay the trial and try to understand its meaning, and implications. But the atmosphere, in Bunnell as elsewhere, including Sanford, was distinctly calm, in contrast with the aftermath of the verdict that acquitted the four Los Angeles police officers who’d beaten up Rodney King, triggering the deadliest riots in Los Angeles’s history.
“I’m not going to say it was because of the verdict because obviously that can’t be changed, but just to show that it’s not appreciated,” Jenkins said. “This is not for right now, it’s for the future, in case this happens again. Because it’s a pattern that in Florida alone people are getting off for killing people.”
“It bothers me,” a Bunnell woman who identified herself as Trena, said, “because I’ve got a 17-year-old son and I work the overnight shift. He could be coming from the store or anything and somebody thinking that he’s trying to do something wrong and take the law in their hands and want to do something to him. Coming from his friend’s house, he shouldn’t have to have a curfew that it’s dark that you can’t come outside and put your hood on.”
Tony Williams, 26, was wearing a hoodie that commemorates his brother Eugene, who died in 2003. When he heard the verdict late Friday night, he couldn’t say anything. “I just tensed up,” he said. “I just froze. My whole body froze, because I really didn’t expect that. I was shocked.
“I got up and came outside and stood outside. I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t speak.”
Williams worried about another brother of his, taking the verdict as a signal that after all the talk of a post-racial America, being young and black can still feel like walking a tightrope. “I have a brother that just left for Job Corps, he’s up in Kentucky, he’s been up there for seven or eight months maybe,” Williams said. “It’s kind of rough out there, he’s only 19, he’s got a long life ahead of him, and I speak to him two, three times a week, I keep tabs on him. He called me and told me he got into a little thing, I talked him through it. I feel for him because he’s young, and it’s rough in Kentucky and he’s up there by himself.”
Most if not all the people who’d gathered on Bacher Street–all but one or two whites–had followed the trial closely and could analyze its two sides’ strategies in sharp details. Their conversation at times took the form of a town square debate, animated on occasion by the sound of an iced tea can popping open, or a bag of Skittles crumpling: Dewayne Jenkins had bought a box-full of both. Martin had been returning from a convenience store with a bag of Skittles and an iced tea when Zimmerman spotted him and set his suspicions loose.
“We don’t want no riot,” Roger Jenkins, 45, who is Dewayne’s uncle, said. “Everything should remain the same or even calmer, but this should open up a lot of eyes. Everybody needs to come and be one. This is the best country, we’re in America, right? And you’ve got all your rights, so why go kill somebody?”
“You know the scary thing about this whole thing now? It’s given people like Zimmerman the right to go ahead and kill a child,” Williams says.
Roger Jenkins again: “What if a kid walking home from school had to cut through a white neighborhood to come home? That’s his route. Then it’d be some ignorant person telling him, get the hell out of our neighborhood, and he says something back, then it turns into that, then he gets shot.”
Dewayne Jenkins: “This trial, him being found not guilty paints this picture that if someone is walking through your neighborhood that you don’t recognize, you can go confront them, pick a fight, they kick your ass, and you can shoot them. That’s basically what that’s saying. That’s all that verdict says. You see someone walking through your neighborhood, you can stop them, pick a fight, if they can start beating you up, you can shoot them.” His direct opinion of Zimmerman? “He’s a vigilante is what he is.”
Most could not fault the jury for finding Zimmerman not guilty of second-degree murder, but most couldn’t accept that he’d simply walked free.
“I’ll go as far as saying this,” Dewayne Jenkins said. “If I was on the stand, if I was one of the six jurors, and just went on the evidence from the trial, not knowing anything outside, I’d probably side with Zimmerman too. I wouldn’t have pushed for second-degree murder. But manslaughter?”
Emma Sanders, originally from Bunnell, had come to the march from Palm Coast, with her 2-year-old daughter. She faulted the prosecution, but she also faulted Zimmerman.
“They didn’t do a great job,” Sanders said. “Honestly, I’m not surprised by the verdict. I would have rather they did manslaughter than not guilty because I felt they did not prove second-degree murder because of the evidence in the case that they had to work with. But they at least could have proved manslaughter because the child was killed by actions set in place by Zimmerman, and just the fact that everybody keeps saying the same thing, he kept pursuing instead of going back to his car, waiting on the police, that right there is manslaughter because you initiated an altercation. If you would have let this child go, he probably would have still been walking. You could have let the people do their job and he would have still been here. But you wanted to go above and beyond what you were supposed to do as neighborhood watch, and I think that right there alone is a good plea for manslaughter. But I knew he wasn’t going to get second-degree murder from watching the case and the job that the State did. They didn’t do a very good job. But it is what it is. I’m just here to show support.”
“It may not have been a racial thing, but it was a profiling thing,” Sanders added, referring to Zimmerman. “He said fucking punks, he didn’t say this fucking nigger, you know, or whatever like that, but I was just, right or wrong, that’s what I’m here for, and I just felt like it could have all been avoided, and it didn’t have to happen. But everything does happen for a reason.”
Dewayne Jenkins again and again would bring the discussion away from any racial suggestions, assuring his listeners that if roles had been reversed, if a white boy had been killed by a black man, he’d have been just as upset. And he did not want the march to be seen as anything more than a marker on Martin’s behalf.
Still, he had his own anxieties about the outcome.
“Every time we get close to end racism, or dying down, not erase it, something like this happens,” Jenkins said. “And that plants seeds in other people’s heads who are already on the border.” Jenkins said he’s not worried for himself. He doesn’t consider matters of race to be part of the way he sees the world. And he believes that racism can and will be eradicated.
But another man in the crowd wasn’t so sure. He told Jenkins he was “right there with you,” but then, quite recently, he was driving home to Palm Coast through Daytona Beach, he was pulled over by Daytona Beach cops, was never given a reason—the man is black—and was soon surrounded by four cruisers before the first cop got out and asked him if they could search his car. Which they proceeded to do the next two and a half hours before letting the man go. Still without explanation. It’s illegal to pull anyone over without probable cause. But it happens all the time. Most people don’t fight it. Many, blacks especially, know that if they do, they could be in for worse trouble, starting with a much longer detention.
Jenkins likes to think that things are different now in Bunnell.
After Jenkins sent word of the march on Facebook, a Bunnell cop showed up at his door—not to hassle him, but to offer the department’s support, and ask if the police could do anything for him or the marchers. He was grateful. Sunday afternoon, as people gathered on Bacher Street, two cop cars were parked a block away, and one briefly drove down Bacher, turned around, its officer waving at the small group, and drove off. By the time the march began, most of the iced tea and Skittles had been consumed. The small group walked, chanted, urged people sitting on their porches to join in. Some did. Most didn’t, preferring instead to wave their support. And a little after 3 p.m., the group had faded into the gray afternoon.
Jorge Fundillo-Asqueroso says
It is an outrage what white people do to the black peoples in America.
We will stay in canada because it is better here.
This americans amaze me.
FRANK DILIBERTO says
Like elect them to the highest office in the land?????
The Truth says
After a post like this, I can’t imagine why so many feel our country hasn’t progressed at all from the 50s.
Mikeylikesit says
Correction, Jorge. A hispanic did this, not a white person.
jp says
What Americans do to Blacks? He’s not innocent, he just not guilty! The State didn’t prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt! OJ killed two white people, and everyone knew he did it, but like this you have to prove that. Yet you don’t see white people jumping up in down in protest…..White people understand the burden of proof lies with the State…..
Ben Dover says
I would like to think with a black president , black people would stop and think , not let someone like Al Sharpton do their thinking for him , when you look up the word racist in the dictionary there ought to be a picture of him. Look up his arrest record , he notoriously lies , was even found guilty of defamation of character when he coerced a young black girl in trouble for coming home past her curfew, that the towns assistant district attorney raped and sodomized her , it was later revealed he got the girl to make the false accusation , he was found guilty and ordered to pay 65.000 , which he of course being the tax evader he is refused to pay it. and that`s just the tip of the ice berg on his long long rap sheet. If black people would calm down and step back , really think about who is responsible for Trayvon`s death , its the young black males committing the home invasions and robberies in that housing complex , if not for them , a neighborhood watch wouldn t have needed to be formed, George Zimmerman wouldn t be the watch captain , and would not have been looking for suspicious young black males, if none of the numerous break ins had not occurred , George wouldn t have given Trayvon a second glance, if they want true justice , they`d spend all this pent up outrage on finding the individuals responsible for getting the ball rolling , for putting this complex in fear, for not only getting Trayvon profiled , but ultimately killed, these are the people the Martin family should be exacting their pound of flesh from , after all without them , there`d be no watch and no captain George, if only they would look at the big picture , but by buying into Mr Sharpton`s tired old battle cry, they are letting the real bad guys get away with murder
Magnolia says
@ Jorge: White people? It is an outrage what the Democrat party has done to black people in America. Allow you to kill your babies and call it “choice”. You keep listening to the very people who are teaching you hate.
What about all those babies being murdered on a daily basis on the streets of Chicago? That’s Obama’s town and they are doing nothing to stop it. It is not whites who are doing that.
As long as you see everything in color, things will never get any better.
This country elected a black President and all he has done is to divide us and stir up more hate.
Florida Native says
The blacks with the help of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and their ilk continue to broaden the chasm of race relations in this country and the racial tension continues to grow. This was never about race but the blacks and their “leaders” make it racial thus separating the two races even more. If they can live with it I can. I’m white.
A.S.F. says
Yes, if only dem blacks, jews and spick immigrants would keep in their place, what a wonderful paradise America would be once again…NOT.
The Truth says
Unfortunately, this article will be filled with racist remarks from many. The truth is this:
1. Trayvon Martin was not doing anything against the law. He had the right to be where he was, he just went to the store and was talking on the phone.
2. Zimmerman criminally profiled Martin. He followed him, made the assumption he’s up to no good and “these assholes always get away”.
3. Zimmerman continued to follow Martin even after he began to run. He ignored a request from the dispatcher to not follow Martin.
4. Zimmerman put himself in the position where he needed to defend himself. He approached someone he assumed was a criminal and created the confrontation.
5. Zimmerman deserved to be punished for his actions, it’s a shame that he’s going to walk free (for now) after taking someone’s life for no reason at all.
Bill says
@ the truth??
1. true trayvon was not doing anthing against the law BUT neither was George.
2. criminally profiled? then why was he not charged with that so called crime?
3. the “request” was not a lawful comaned he had to follow
4. True he did put himself in the situation BUt that did not give the right to Martin to attack zimmerman or take away zimmermans right to self defence from the attack.
5. With him being foundnot guilty of thecharges what other law/laws did he break??
Tawanna says
This is the most RACE BAITING web site I have ever seen.
Jennifer S says
to the jenkins’ men… thank you for being a beacon in our community of how real men, good men stand. god bless.
Jon Hardison says
I think it’s more amazing what people do to people everywhere. Some use race as an excuse to mask their contempt, but the reality is far scarier. If there was only one race we would simple turn on each other for other issues like issues of class or education or what team you supported.
Trying to solve the race problem is like trying to fix a headache without removing the tumor. The pain pills work for a while but the cause is still their slowing killing you from the inside.
We need to start to look at the reasons for racism, basic things like social inequity, and start to understand that many of these things are reasonable responses bent or blown out of proportion. We are all looking for the cause of our discomforts and failures in life. Some look inward. Others blame Mexicans for the fact that they can’t find a job for example.
I think we’re less sick than we are confused, but there is no place on Earth without bigotry of one kind or another. It is a human problem we will all fight it for the rest of our days.
m&m says
The only people who play the race card are the blacks when they don’t get their way.. I thought we were all getting along pretty good until Obama was elected. Now it’s a boiling pot like back in the fifties..
Maryjoe says
Not that it’s funny…but the same thing, about being pulled over and other cops coming…happened to my husband and we are white. They came with guns drawn and everything. They searched the car. He was on his way to work in Brooklyn…early morning hours, still dark out, in a nice car. They felt he ‘didn’t belong there’. Really has nothing to do with color ya know.
Here in Palm Coast, I was pulled over in my own neighborhood..night time, surrounded by THREE cop cars… they were ‘disturbed’ I was driving with my bright lights on..in the dark..on the curving roads, lol. You should have seen how ‘gingerly’ the cop came up to my car…stood by the back window like I was going to shoot him or something. I’m in my mid 50’s, white and live there. Really has nothing to do with color a lot of times. Has to do with fear, lack of training, suspicion of out of the ‘ordinary’ things (which is logical).
HonestlySpoken says
Now receive that treatment on a daily basis and see how LOGIGAL it is to you.
Popo3984 says
Maryjoe in case you don’t realize most cops were killed by people they didn’t expect how about you thank the officers for the service they provide instead of bashing them in sure your the first person to call the cops when you need them though right
Jon Hardison says
It’s really hard reading some of these comments. “The only people who play the race card are the blacks when they don’t get their way.”??? Really? You realize that’s pulling the race card, right?
Describe for us what it is to be on the receiving end of bigotry. Write an article about it for Flagler Live. I really want to hear your take on it.
Aaaaand GO!…
Jon Hardison says
I can’t recommend this video enough. Please give it a watch. It might give you a little insight to how it impacts non-minorities.
Jim R. says
Meanwhile back in Wash. D.C. The criminal element that is in charge continues to enlarge the security state, push the U.S. closer to a fascist police state, allow the Corporate interests more and more power over our laws through so called Free Trade deals, give the Banking interests a free hand to fleece the people and use the MSM as a propaganda tool to distract the people from what they are doing.
If Z was 1/4 white would this still be a race issue? how about 1/8 or 1/20? Keeping the people divided whether it’s about using Race or the two party scam of Republican vs Democrat benefits the criminal element of rich elitists that are running this country into the ground, and they intend to make slaves of us all no matter what color you are.
Tax Payer says
Can’t we all get along?
JEL says
I’m thankful my sons are white, because I truly believe if they were black, I’d fear for their lives. It’s a travesty that today, in America, a teenage black boy wearing a hoodie can’t be looked at as just a kid walking home from the store. Zimmerman had no right to view him as a criminal because he was a teen, because he was black, or because he was wearing a hoodie. He had no right to view him as a criminal because he was running between the houses to get home faster in the rain. In America, we are innocent UNTIL proven guilty. Trayvon Martin didn’t get that right. I hope that they prove Zimmerman violated Trayvon’s civil rights. I hope that some day, some justice will be done to Trayvon.
I’m disgusted at the verdict. I was raised in Seminole County. Sanford is my old stompin grounds. My Mom and sister still reside there. And I know Sanford people are not like Zimmerman. Zimmerman is not from Sanford. I hope the heck he goes back to what ever hole he crawled out of.
E.C.H. says
Maybe we should recognize that two people made multiple decisions that provoked violence that night. Both of them could have just gone home. Neither of them chose to.
What good does taking sides or blaming each other do when two other people clearly made choices that led to their conflict?
Can pushing the race button provoke more divisions or even violence?
RG says
The Dept of Justice to investigate further? Really ? I guess the nation does not respect the florida justice system. Well why should they The florida state attorney doesnt even respect the Sanford court’s verdict.
So lets bring out more evidence that the state didnt bring out to hang Zimmy with. Like trayvons texts you know the ones that expose his trying to buy guns. the ones of street fighting. The pictures of growing pot.
And then there is being suspended from school. Of course the infamous Creepy White ass Cracker thats not racist thats just how we talk in Miami Gardens,Fl. This is what the defense will use to tarnish a dead 17 year olds character so that we can seek justice that has already been played out. White or Black is not the issue so dont drag us into it we wont put up with it!
A.S.F. says
…Or, like how George Zimmerman has been criminally implicated in Domestic Disputes and a prior assault on a police officer, which begs the question: How does someone with THAT kind of history get to keep a gun on him and prowl around like some wannabe cop with a license to kill? I don’t know where you got your information about Trayvon Martin but, I’m betting the source is less than fully credible. By the way, I am not suggesting that George Zimmerman set out to kill a Black person. I think he was predisposed to think that Trayvon might be up to no good because of recent break-ins in his neighborhood COUPLED with the fact that Trayvon was a Black kid wearing a hoodie, which can be loosely construed as profiled. As for GZ defending himself, you don’t think a young Black male might be rightfully concerned about a a figure in the dark cruising around and confronting him, when he had done nothing to warrant that sort of attention except to be a Black kid walking home from the store? Alas, in the end, it turns out that Trayvon Martin had very legitimate reasons to be concerned, as he is now dead.
My Daily Rant says
Remember OJ he got away with killing 2 white people but that was because there were many Blacks on Jury.
Tess says
So let me see if I get this right. A member of a neighborhood vigilante watch group was patrolling his neighborhood when he spotted someone out and about on a dark rainy night dressed in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt and decided that even though the rain on his windows and windshield definitely obscured his vision, this person had to be black so he was going to follow him because:
(1) only blacks folks go out on a dark rainy night (to buy skittles and ice tea), and
(2) only black folks wear jeans and hooded sweatshirts (all other people of color – white,cream, brown, tan, yellow, red – do not wear hooded sweatshirts and jeans to conceal their skin)
Now, knowing that there have been a recent string of break-ins and drug dealing had infiltrated the neighborhood (hence the need to form a neighborhood vigilante) because the police couldn’t afford to respond every single time someone called about a break-in or drug dealing, this neighborhood vigilante member decided to approach the person for being out and about on a dark rainy night. Who knows, maybe if the young man had responded reasonably, the neighborhood vigilante would have offered the young man a ride home since it was raining. But, apparently, that did not take place. Why?
As a woman, there is no way I would offer a male a ride if I deem him to be a potential threat, even if the person was hitching a ride. I would for a woman if she looked harmless (there was a case recently of a 83 year old woman who offered three young teenage girls a rides and ended up being beaten, robbed and had her car stolen). If I were a man and packing a firearm, which would make me feel reasonably safe, I would.
My brother, who lives in a relatively safe middle class subdivision, house was broken into while he was at work. He had cameras around his house and everything was caught on tape. When he called to report it, he was told by the cops that though they knew who the individuals were because they had already fingered them for robbing a string of houses around the area, they wanted to link them to several more burglaries so than they can send them away for a very long time. So my brother went out a bought a gun and the neighborhood got together and set up a vigilante neighborhood watch group. And that is how a neighborhood vigilante group gets formed – ordinary folks getting together and protecting their homes and loved ones when the law fails them.
Magnolia says
Let’s try this…how about we just love one another? Trayvon didn’t die in vain. Look at the sadness and the thinking going on here.
Just love and be kind to one another, people. It is just that simple. Do that and Trayvon didn’t die in vain.
Levondia Washington says
Only when the brothers stand up for themselves will these murders stop.
When we get together were strong. We aint going away you should know that.
We wont go away until Zimmerman goes to jail. This aint over.
I am proud to be african american. That something you cant take away from me.
I ware a hoodie whenever I want. Nothing is changing.
Magnolia says
@Levondia: I don’t agree with you on this one, but I’ll stand with you. This isn’t about “them and us”. We are all in this world together.
I think this is a tragedy but it’s not racism. We have a black President and a black Attorney General. It’s not racism.
In this case, it was a bad states attorney who just couldn’t make the case.
confidential says
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/15/john-henry-spooner-trial_n_3600984.html
And the unjustified killings of children proceed…
I/M/O says
Last night on Piers Morgan Rache Jeantell riteenerated her claim that Trayvon Martin attacked George Zimmerman because he believed him to be a homosexual predator. That Trayvon Martin went looking for Zimmerman to protect his younger brother from this “Homosexual Predator” who might be cominmg to the father’s girlfriends house to rape the boy.
That would make Trayvon Martin guilty of a Hate Crime against Geroge Zimmerman under both Florida and federal law. Iy would be a clear cut case of “Homosexual Gay Bashing.”
Trayvon Martin attacking Geroge Zimmerman after mistakenly profiling him as a homosexual would make Trayvon Martin guilty of violating the civil rights of Zimmerman at the federal level.
The more the facts of this case come out the more it is obvious Zimmerman was the victim here. How does one simply look at a man and believe he is a homosexual and a predator. That is profiling at it’s very worst.
After Jeantell’s statements last night on MSNBC an immediate investigation by Eric Holder’s Justice Department into the violation of George Zimmrman’s rights is called for.
I/M/O says
What is the most disturbing false narrative from the media as to this case?
That would be that Sabrina Fulton was the loving and dedicated mother of Trayvon Martin.
The fact is she gave up her son to her husband and his second wife when Trayvon was 3 years old. Trayvon was raised by his step mother Alicia Stanley for the next 14 years. He lived with her and his Father Tracy Martin.
This poor woman whom was married to Trayvon’s father Tracy Martin had no idea he had a girlfriend he was seeing in that Snaford gated community. She was home raising his son and her two daughters and he was out gallivanting in an adulterous relationship.
Then Travon was killed. Tracy Martin immediately told hi second wife to take a hike as he and Sabrina Fulton put on this act for all of this nation that they were the devoted parents of Trayvon Martin. Of course they did. There were millions of dollars to be made from the lawsuit against the gated community and by copy writing their dead son’s name. But it was all an act. It was all evil greed to accumulate money.
Now Tracy Martin want nothing to do with his wife Alicia Stanley or his two step daughters. When she showed up at Trayvon’s funeral this woman who had nurtured him cared for him when he was sick, piad his bills and loved him was told “Go sit with the friends “You are not family!”
Here is the real Mother of Trayvon Martin. Not that phony Sabrina Fulton who put on her act in that courtroom.
A.S.F. says
I/M/O: Now you want to smear this dead kid’s family as though they are somehow responsible for his death? Look on the news and you will hear many sad and terrilble stories of WHITE parents who have done far worse things to their kids everyday. The death of a young person is a terrible tragedy and can happen to even the most perfect of parents.
A.S.F. says
BY the way, I/M/O–Should we ask how George Zimmerman’s parents have contributed to making thier son the person he is and what reflection thhat might cast on THEIR characters?
A.S.F. says
By the Way, speaking of parents, have you read the e-book released in June 2013 through Amazon (for $3.99, what a bargain) by none other than Robert Zimmerman Sr.? It’s titled, “Florida v. Zimmerman: Uncovering the Malicious Prosecution of my son, George.” In this learned tome, Mr. Zimmerman Sr. states that the following organizations are, in fact, dangerously racist:The Congressional Black Caucas, The NAACP, all of Trayvon family’s attorneys (of course), The Black Chamber of Commerce, The National Association of Black Law Enforcement Officers, The United Negro College Fund and (ready for this one?) The National Basketball Players Association. Mr. Zimmerman Sr. also claims in his book that Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to investigate whether Trayvon Martin’s death may have violated Federal Civil Rights Laws has resulted in the FBI not having “adequate resources to investigate clearly identified potential terrorist (sic) in the Boston area.” Now there’s a paragon and role model for you!