Trayvon Martin’s Mom on Verdict: “I Couldn’t Believe It”


Trayvon Martin’s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, spoke to CBS This Morning today in their first interview since George Zimmerman was found not guilty of murdering their 17-year-old son. Fulton said she was “stunned” that Zimmerman was acquitted.

“I was in a bit of shock,” she said. “I thought surely he would be found guilty of second-degree murder—manslaughter at the least. But I just knew that they would see that this was a teenager trying to get home. This was no burglar.”

Fulton stressed that her son was just a child when he was killed. “Instead of placing the blame on the teenager we need to place the blame on the responsible adult,” she said. As for whether or not civil action might be taken against Zimmerman, Martin and Fulton’s lawyer, Benjamin Crump, said they are exploring all options and are also hoping for federal charges. “We’re asking the Justice Department, can a private citizen with a gun profile and follow our children home?” he said.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate