Students to host vigil for Trayvon Martin Friday
A group of Central Michigan University students plan to host a candlelight vigil Friday in honor of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old Florida student who was shot and killed by 28-year-old neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman.
The vigil, which will be held at 7:45 p.m. in the center of campus outside of the Charles V. Park Library, will provide students the opportunity to grieve and share opinions about the Florida teenager's death, which happened on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla. Multiple vigils were held throughout the country on March 26, the one-month anniversary of the incident, as thousands of Americans called for justice for Trayvon.
According to police tapes, Zimmerman called 911 to report Martin as suspicious and said a series of recent break-ins occurred in the neighborhood. When Zimmerman told the operator he was following Martin, the dispatcher responded, "We don't need you to do that."
Martin was carrying a can of iced tea and a bag of Skittles on his way back from a convenience store when a struggle ensued with Zimmerman. One shot was fired by Zimmerman, and Martin was pronounced dead at the scene.
Zimmerman was not arrested following the incident, and Florida's controversial stand-your-ground law is one of the most protective self-defense laws in America.
Saginaw sophomores Chasney Gilbert and Taylor Wilson are organizing the vigil to raise awareness about the incident, which they consider the result of racial profiling.
Gilbert said the incident has opened up the eyes of many Americans who believed that racial profiling was a thing of the past.
"It’s significant to me, because he was an innocent young man and was defenseless against an older man who has been in jail before," Gilbert said. "I feel like this vigil will help many students on campus to open their eyes to the reality that these kind of things still happen."
Wilson said the incident particularly aggravated black communities, she expects CMU students of all races and cultures to show up for the event and remember Martin's tragic death.
"I hope this reaches all different cultures and that it won’t be just African-Americans supporting the vigil," Wilson said. "We invited just about everybody to come remember this tragedy together."
Wilson said she would encourage students to research the incident and make their own opinion before taking a side, though she believed the fact that Zimmerman followed Martin makes Martin the clear victim.
"I do feel like students should try to view both ends of the story and not take a biased viewpoint," Wilson said. "I was open to George Zimmerman’s side of it, but when I thought about it, it just didn’t add up to the other side of the story."
The vigil is expected to last about 20 to 30 minutes.
