Eyes of U of R Students on Trayvon Case

The glare of the spotlight was on George Zimmerman today as he made his first appearance in a Florida courtroom in connection with the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

Zimmerman is accused of second-degree murder in the Feb. 26 death of Martin, who was shot as he walked to his father’s home inside a gated community. The boy had gone to a convenience store, where he purchased an iced tea and bag of Skittles when authorities said he was confronted by Zimmerman, who was on patrol as part of a neighborhood watch program.

The eyes of the country are on the case. Among those watching are students at the University of Redlands, have who started a Trayvon Martin Committee and working toward launching several initiatives at the school, including unconscious bias training, mediation training and a safe routes workshop.

More than 20 University of Redlands students, faculty members and clergy hosted members of the city’s Human Relations Commission’s Social Justice Committee and other Redlands business community members for a meeting of the Trayvon Martin Committee last month. Convened by student George Newhall to “reach out to the community and ensure what happened in Florida does not happen here,” action was the order of the day.

The first meeting of the Trayvon Martin committee produced a hoodie action on April 1. All students were asked to don their hoodies and have themselves photographed on the Commons and, reportedly, the supportive demonstration was huge.

Martin was reportedly wearing a hoodie the day he was shot, according to officials. Zimmerman told a 9-1-1 dispatcher the boy was in an area that had been hit several times by burglars. He also reported the boy looked suspicious. He admitted to the dispatcher that he was following the boy and was advised to stop.

According to the Associated Press, prosecutors have outlined their murder case in court papers, saying the neighborhood watch volunteer followed and confronted the black teenager after the dispatcher told him to back off.

Zimmerman did not enter a plea; that will happen at his arraignment, which was set for May 29, the Associated Press reported.

Local efforts to honor Martin continue. Details will be released as soon as they are available.