ORLANDO, Fla. — When George Zimmerman pursued and shot to death 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on a rainy night 10 years ago this week, he was the captain of a neighborhood watch group in a gated Sanford neighborhood that had grown increasingly worried about a rash of burglaries and drug activity.
Trayvon was returning to the townhouse of his father’s fiancee from a nearby convenience store. But Zimmerman, who had a state permit to carry a concealed firearm, said he acted in self-defense and police photos showed him with a broken nose and a bloody face. He was later acquitted of second-degree murder by a jury for the Black teenager’s death.
Two years ago, in a South Georgia neighborhood, residents also became alarmed about a rise in burglaries and break-ins. According to police, two men grabbed a handgun and a shotgun, got into a pickup truck, and — along with a third man — chased Ahmaud Arbery, who was jogging through the neighborhood. They shot and killed the 25-year-old Black man.
