trayvon martin
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Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old black male who was shot to death by a white-hispanic neighborhood watch patrolman in Sanford, Florida in 2012. Martin had been suspended from his Miami high school, and both of Martins parents agreed that he should not have the privlage of being around family, friends, or his football coach while being suspended. Martin was going to stay with his fathers fiance in Sanford, for the time he was suspended. Martin was getting a bag of Skittles and an Arizona iced tea from a nearby gas station, and started to head home. As Martin was headed home, Zimmerman spotted Martin in a dark hoodie and found it to be very suspicious. Zimmerman didn't have the authority to arrest or restrain Martin from doing anything because he was only a patrolman. Zimmerman called an operator to report the suspicious teen, and began to follow Martin. The operator told Zimmerman that he should not continue to pursue Martin, and that an officer was on the way to the scene. Zimmerman decided to disregard the instructions given by the operator, and continued to follow Martin. Witnesses claim hearing a gunshot, and seeing a larger man (Zimmerman) standing over Martin. Martin had been shot in the left side of his chest, and bled out within minutes. Zimmerman was found not guilty for lack of evidence.
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michael brown
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The Michael Brown case in Ferguson, Missouri caused a civil rights uproar in 2014. Michael brown was an 18 year old black male who was shot to death by Daren Wilson, a white police officer. Some witnesses claim that they saw Brown reaching into the police S.U.V. to punch Wilson in the face. Wilson claims that Brown reached into the S.U.V. to fight for his gun that he had strapped to his police belt. Officer Wilson fired two close range shots from inside his car at Brown while he was standing outside the S.U.V.. One of the two bullets grazed Browns thumb, resulting blood to be spattered on the drivers side door of the vehicle. Brown reportedly started running away from Wilson with his hands in the air to show that he was unarmed, and then started running after Wilson for unknown reasons. Reportedly, Wilson fired multiple shots at Brown, striking him in the arm, and the head multiple times. Brown was shot a total of at least 6 shots. The fact that a white officer was the one shooting a black male started multiple protests across the nation. Across the United States, there have been peaceful protests to stop racism in police officers and to stop "innocent" people from being shot and killed.
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Freddie gray
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Freddie Gray was a 25 year old black male who died due to spinal cord injuries that were a result of having his medical needs ignored by 6 police officers. On April 12th, 2015, Gray was approached by police officers. While being approached by the police, Gray chose to run away and attempt to flee the scene. The police eventually caught up to Gray, and arrested him for carrying a pocket knife, which happened to be a legal pocket knife, making the arrest itself illegal. Gray was hand cuffed, and put in a police van laying down with his face and stomach on the floor of the van. Gray had been riding like that for blocks upon blocks, and was in need of medical attention. Gray requested a medic, but was denied by the police. The police had reportedly taken rough turns and stopped very quickly. These rides have been used by police on prisoners and suspects and are known as "Rough-rides". Gray was not seat-buckled in during the ride, which caused further injuries. Gray died a week later due to a spinal cord injury that he received while on a "rough-ride". The city of Baltimore became outraged and started an uproar of protests. Throughout Baltimore, stores were loitered, burned, and vandalized. Cars were set on fire , and riots raged through the streets. The protests spread across the nation.
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