Florida state attorney Angela Corey announced at a press conference today that George Zimmerman has officially been charged with second-degree murder in the case of 17-year old Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman is expected to plead not guilty.
“We simply wanted an arrest,” said Trayvon Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton. “We wanted nothing more, nothing less. We just wanted an arrest, and we got it.”
Zimmerman has been out of sight since the fatal February shooting, which came about after he allegedly followed and confronted Martin on the street for being “suspicious”. Martin, who was wearing a hoodie at the time, was unarmed and was simply walking home from the store. The hoodie has become a symbol for injustice and has made appearances in celebrity circles as people from all over the country show their support of Trayvon and his family.
The shooting has sparked a tidal wave of debate, rumors, and conversations about whether or not the incident was racially motivated, and calls for Zimmerman’s arrest have resounded on just about every internet platform there is, especially Twitter. Film director Spike Lee landed himself in some hot water recently when he tweeted an address supposedly belonging to Zimmerman, but which actually belonged to a Florida couple who are not associated to Zimmerman in any way. They say they received hate mail and death threats and were forced to leave their home for fear of their safety. Lee eventually apologized to the couple and is compensating them for the loss of their property.
Twitter reacted to the news of Zimmerman’s arrest today:
George Zimmerman has been arrested & charged with 2nd degree murder. They’re going to have to put him on suicide watch!
Tweet me when they say “life without parol” for George Zimmerman! Custody does nothing for me mentally!
Yes I’m serious. Thanks for the angry retweets…Free George Zimmerman!
http://t.co/qdhlpG05 ARRESTED!!! JUSTICE FOR TRAYVON!!! THERE IS A GOD!!!! THANK GOD FOR JUSTICE
Zimmerman Arrested | NewsOne:It just baffles me how people can support and defend George Zimmerman.
Does anyone find it funny that George Zimmerman was wearing a hoodie to walk into jail tonight?