Introduction

Police brutality is a very sensitive and serious topic that some people choose to ignore and not acknowledge. There has always been racism in the country we live in, since the 50s and the 60s in the Civil Rights Era there has been discrimination and separation between African Americans and the whites of the world. In the last year, 2020, there have been more than 1700 cities in the 50 states of America that have bad protests over police brutality following the Black Lives Matter movement and organization. Over 30 states that had protested had the National Guard activated to “protect the city”. The National Guard interrupted something that was written in the Constitution of the United States under the 1st amendment, which is our right as citizens to protests, assemble, and the right to our freedom of speech. The majority of these protests in the last year were peaceful and their intentions were to keep them peaceful and to bring a change by using their voice. Not all the protests were peaceful and they were seen as riots, buildings were burned and stores were burglarized, this clouded people’s judgment and saw all protests as riots when it only accounted for a small percentage of them. The movement behind the slogan “BLM” or “ACAB” follows the Black Lives Matter organization created in 2013 after the Zimmerman case. The Zimmerman case was when George Zimmerman, a local police officer, shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old boy. In the court case ruling Zimmerman was acquitted to all degrees, one section of his case included him being asked questions about the Black Lives Matter organization, and he repeatedly states that the movement created was not an organization but a terrorist movement. I am here to show you why the validity of George Zimmerman’s statement and that the Black Lives Matter organization is not a terrorist group.

1. News Source: NBC News

The video was created and published by NBC News on Youtube, NBC News is known for publishing articles that are in the middle of the spectrum when it comes to being more liberal or more conservative. Their information they put on their website is equal to both sides but sometimes can lean more towards the liberal or left-leaning side. Along with NBC News, other similar news outlets include Google News, Bloomberg, ABC News, and USA Today, all of these fall closer to the left-leaning information they publish on their websites. NBC News falls in between more liberal news sources like CNN and NPR and outlets like Fox which usually is more conservative.

When NBC News originated the average age of the audience was in their older 60’s. For the past 4 years the broadcasters have been trying to attract younger viewers, they have tried online streaming to try and intrigue the younger population. The younger population generally is more open to change and wants to see the change, In July of 2017, NBC News launched a daily news show called “Stay Tuned” on an app called “Snapchat” in hopes to bring more younger listeners to their broadcasts online. The Zimmerman case video was published in 2017, the title of the video relates itself to the Black Lives Matter organization in hopes of attracting the younger population. The original case was in 2013 but because of the younger population, technology, and current events, NBC News published a clip about George Zimmerman relating the Black Lives Matter organization to a terrorist organization. Because of NBC News’s mixed audience, the title of the video is pretty straightforward, “George Zimmerman Says Black Lives Matter ‘Are Terrorist Cowards’” (NBC News) without any bias leaning toward more on one side or the other.

2. George Zimmerman: man accused, police officer, man responding in the video.

George Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch/undercover police officer in Sanford, Florida. On February 26th, 2012, Zimmerman fatally shot and killed a 17-year-old “person of interest” named Trayvon Martin. Martin was a black teenager who was unarmed. Zimmerman testified he shot Martin in self-defense after Martin had started attacking him after being approached. Mr. Zimmerman in his case trial said he shot Martin “in self-defense after the teenager knocked him to the ground, punched him and slammed his head repeatedly against the sidewalk” (Alvarez). The jury had deliberated for over 16 hours and over 2 days before the final calling. The jury had acquitted Mr.Zimmerman on all counts because he “feared great bodily harm or death” (Alvarez).

The case began small in the city of Sanford, but quickly protesters had gotten out of their houses and stood up for what they believed was wrong. This case set off nationwide talk about race relations in America. As the verdict was read, Mr.Zimmerman had a smile on his face, a smile after he had shot and killed an innocent 17-year-old boy in his car. At the time, Zimmerman was an underwriter and looked into law enforcement, he completed a “citizens’ police academy program” (The Week Staff) and was enrolled in a neighborhood watch system. He would get help from the Sanford Police Department but wasn’t a part of the national Neighborhood Watch organization. He had made multiple 911 calls over the years he worked there and recent calls focused on what he deemed “suspicious characters” (The Week Staff) in which most of them were black. Zimmerman was indeed not a certified police officer and still got off in the end after killing an innocent boy.

After that night in 2013 when the verdict was read and broadcasted aloud, hundreds of protesters were already out by the courthouse gathering throughout the day and night. From visual standpoints many people were outside, “their numbers building s the hours passed, began pumping their fists in the air, waving placards and chanting ‘No justice, no peace!’” (Alvarez). The prosecutor named John Guy deliberately said this to the public: “That child had every right to be afraid of a strange man following him, first in his car and then on foot. And did that child not have the right to defend himself from that strange man?” (Buckley). Martin was afraid and scared of some man following him and accusing him of doing something he did not do, he had every right to fight against something that was wrong.

3. “First of all, they’re terrorists, it’s not a movement as you have said now. I see them as terrorists, if you’d like to address them correctly. ” (0:24)

The first claim the video makes involves George Zimmerman saying that the Black Lives Matter organization was a terrorist group. He does not want it to be called a movement but as terrorists. The defense attorney asks ZImmerman if the Black Lives Matter movement started from his case, once he says the movement Zimmerman chimes in with his claim it is a terrorist movement and organization. When he says terrorist movement, he is talking about the BLM organization in America and the protesters at his street and by the courthouse. This would be defined as domestic terrorism from his standpoint. Terrorism that happens in the United States is domestic terrorism. From the USA Patriot Act, they define domestic terrorism as, “if they do an act ‘dangerous to human life’that is a violation of the criminal laws of a state or the United States…” (ACLU). Protesters that are peacefully protesting do not fit under that definition. Examples like in the Vieques Islands, people were “participating in civil disobedience on a military installation where the United States government has been engaging in regular military exercise… the protesters illegally entered the military base and tried to obstruct the bombing exercises” (ACLU). This would be included in domestic terrorism because the protesters broke a federal law. Protesting outside of a courthouse and around the country peacefully is not the same.

When talking about domestic terrorism, many can be persuaded by what they see and take it as something that reminded them of the incident. Some ways terrorism in the United States can fit in is if “the act appears to be intended to: (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population” (ACLU), protesting is a right under the constitution with the first amendment which allows a citizen the right to protest. If the population tries to “(ii) influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion” (ACLU), peaceful protesting again doesn’t quite fit that description. The Black Lives Matter organization was designed for peaceful protests to help prevent systematic racism, and racism in general. Domestic terrorism is a very broad accusation to say when the definition doesn’t quite fit what you are describing.

4. Trayvon Martin: kid shot and killed, Zimmerman case.

Trayon Martin was a 17-year-old Black boy who became the first advocate for the Black Lives Matter movement. He was born in 1995 and grew up with his mother which his parents were split, Martin struggled with school and was suspended on many occasions, during one of the suspensions, he spent time with his father in Sanford, Florida. On February 26th, 2012, Martin left his father’s house to go to the store wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt. He was spotted by George Zimmerman on his way back from the store and Zimmerman called 911 saying he saw a “suspicious person” in the neighborhood. Zimmerman was instructed to stay in his car at first but approached Martin instead, Zimmerman was armed with a handgun and after a short confrontation and aggressiveness by both, Zimmerman fatally shot and killed the unarmed 17 year old.

Trayvon was not the “suspicious person” and all he was doing was going to the store. He was unarmed and still a teenager living his life. Zimmerman was advised to wait but he took matters into his own hands by approaching Martin by himself. Trayvon Martin was doing something anyone could have done and got killed in the end for it. He was innocent and his family eventually had to pay for something that should have not even happened in the first place. Zimmerman’s bail was at $150,000 originally and after he pleaded not guilty it was set to $1,000,000. After Trayvon was killed, the announcement of the verdict brought numbers of peaceful protests in many cities across the United States with the “hoodie” sweatshirt as a key symbol during all those protests. Zimmerman was able to do a couple of months of training to be able to hold and carry a gun in the United States, police brutality is a real thing and it does happen more often than not. Trayvon Martin had his whole life ahead of him and not even a real police officer shot and killed him before making out of his teen years.

5. “No, sir, and again, they’re not a movement, as much as you try and give them credence. They are not a movement.” (1:37)

In the video, Zimmerman claims that as much credit you want to give them, give them, but the Black Lives Matter organization is not anything, not even a movement. The Black Lives Matter movement started with a hashtag in 2013, after Zimmerman had shot and killed 17-year-old Trayon Martin in Sanford, Florida. The hashtag was trending on twitter right after the acquittal of Trayon Martin’s murderer. The Black Lives Matter tag and mission was to “eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities” (Garza). They wanted to affirm the lives of all Black people who had lost someone close to them or been harassed because of their skin color in any way. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter developed throughout 2013 and 2014, they used it as a platform and an organizing tool. The hashtag was created by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, all hoping it would boost their project in response to the Zimmerman case.

The project is now a global network of more than 40 chapters, the members organize and build local power to intervene in violence in Black communities. Now 8 years later there is still major conflict between White and Black communities, but the hashtag has turned into something everyone now knows and talks about. Police brutality is a serious issue in America, the space that the Black Lives Matter organization continues to uphold brings that topic to light. The many different protests that have been held around the country have shown that many people do care for change and care for doing the right thing for equality. The Black Lives Matter term is used to show that all lives do matter but recently it seems that Black lives have been mistreated and been shown disrespect and inequality.

Zimmerman refused to call them an organization and repeatedly said they were not one. From Cambridge Dictionary, the definition of an organization is, “A group of people who work together in an organized way for a shared purpose” (Cambridge). A group of people who work together for one shared goal is the whole purpose of all the protests organized by the Black Lives Matter movement. People all over the country worked together in hopes of denouncing racism and teaching people how to be more accepting of everyone around them. “Seven years in, the organization is beginning to shift its focus from condemning the powers that be to fighting for new legislation and policy changes… As for the global network, organizers fear the divide between the international entity of its local chapters will only grow” (Adams), all the members in the organization fear that the movement will only grow and get bigger which would bring massive change.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have debunked George Zimmerman’s ideology of how the Black Lives Matter organization is a terrorist group. Starting with the discussion of how there were more than 1700 cities in the United States that had protested recently in the last year about police brutality and over Goerge Floyd’s death, we talked about NBC News and how general all their information is. NBC News is right in the middle of the spectrum whether more liberal or conservative. Then, we discussed George Zimmerman’s background and the important details of the Zimmerman case, he was only trained for a couple of months and he was able to use and carry a gun. Next came his first claim about how he believes the group is terrorists, which by the definition of domestic terrorism the Black Lives Matter organization does not fit. While there were some instances of “riots” across the US, the BLM movement’s intentions were to keep everything peaceful and legal. The organization was created to denounce white supremacy, and racism across all aspects of the US and in other countries. I lastly covered the life of Trayvon Martin and the details of how it had gotten to that point. He was only a teenager and the Black Lives Matter organization was only trying to avenge him. During the trial, President Obama made a statement expressing his sympathy towards the Martin family: “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon” (Buckley).

The featured image is from Life Matters on Pexels.