Mediaboss Marketing

Marissa Alexander celebrates being released from house arrest

WJAX

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A Florida woman whose conviction sparked a change in the states gun laws is now completely free and says she plans to run an organization to help victims of domestic violence caught up in the criminal justice system.

Marissa Alexander told The Florida Times-Union that she wants to help others because from what Ive been through I know a lot more about the system and how it fits together.

Ive been contained since 2011, Alexander said. But Im excited to have the chance to give back using whatever platform I have.

Alexander attracted national attention after she was sentenced in 2012 to 20 years in prison for firing a shot near her estranged husband during an altercation. She argued she had fired a warning shot and unsuccessfully tried to use Floridas stand your ground law as part of her defense.

According to Alexander, her estranged husband, Gray, accused her of having an affair and questioned whether their 9-day-old baby was his. She says she locked herself in the bathroom until he broke through the door and shoved her to the floor. She says she tried to escape through the garage but the door wouldnt open. She retrieved a gun from a car, went back inside and says she fired a warning shot after Gray said he would kill her - an account backed by one of his sons. No one was injured.

Her husband denied abusing her and said she shot at him in anger after he insulted her former husband. Prosecutors insisted it wasnt a warning shot because it hit the wall behind Gray and not the ceiling.

Alexanders case became noticed because it was contrasted against what happened to George Zimmerman who was acquitted in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin after he said he shot the unarmed Martin in self-defense.

Alexanders conviction was thrown out on appeal and she reached a plea deal in 2014. Her case was cited by legislators when they altered Floridas mandatory sentencing law nearly three years ago.

Alexander was released from home detention this past week. She has begun the process of setting up the Marissa Alexander Justice Project which will not only focus on female victims of domestic violence but will be critical of minimum-mandatory sentences like the 20 years Alexander once faced after she was initially convicted.

She told the newspaper that her fame is still something she struggles with, rolling her eyes when a reporter tells her shes famous but also acknowledging the oddity that many people whove never met her are familiar with her case.

The surreal moment for me was getting mail from Great Britain and Australia, Alexander said.

2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Here is the original post:
Marissa Alexander, Fla. woman jailed for firing a "warning shot," now free - CBS News

Jaleesa M. Jones , USA TODAY 12:58 p.m. EST January 30, 2017

by Sybrina Fulton

(Spiegel & Grau)

in Memoir

The world will never know who Trayvon Martin the unarmed 17-year-old fatally shot in Florida by neighborhood watch coordinatorGeorge Zimmerman on Feb. 26, 2012 could have grown up to be.

In a way, wenever knew who he was. His humanity was lost, broken down intoschool records,headlinesand 140 charactersin the ensuing media scrutiny and trial of Zimmerman for his role in the altercation that ended in Trayvon's death.

In Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin (Spiegel & Grau, 331 pp., ***out of four stars), Trayvons parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, gather the pieces and attempt to present the whole of who their sonwas when he was just a boy before he became a martyr and before his death sparked the Black Lives Matter movement.

USA TODAY

Trayvon Martin's parents, five years after his shooting, weigh political bids

He was aboy whofell in love with aviation and dreamed of flying beyond the world he knew. A boy trying to find his place in a society that already viewed him as a man.

But as much as the book is about Trayvon's life, it's also a meditation on the criminal justice system that his parents believe did not do himjustice.

Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin have written 'Rest in Power.'(Photo: Adrian Freeman)

In Fulton and Martins words, it was Trayvon their "Tray," who called his mom "Cupcake" and counted everyone he met as a friend who was put on trial. In alternating chapters, the parents detail how their son's nonviolentinfractions were examined under a microscope while Zimmerman's previous run-ins with the law were, in their view, glossed over. (Zimmerman was arrested in April 2012 after nationwide protestsand charged with second-degree murder. At his trial, Zimmermansaid he felt threatened by the teen, whom he had followed in his car and then on foot. He was later acquitted.)

The divorced couple tunnel into how the prosecution was barred from using the phrase "racial profiling" and how cultural differences and linguistic racismhurt the credibility of the prosecution's key witness, Trayvon's friend Rachel Jeantel.

Later, Fulton and Martin write that prosecutors neglected to ask the right questions and present more character witnessesto humanize Trayvon in the eyes of the jury.

Trayvon Martin, left, and George Zimmerman. right.(Photo: AP)

But while Rest in Powerlaments the pitfalls of the case and the state of racial justice, Fulton and Martin also offer a glint of hope in the rallies for justice, the support which extended from Hollywood to the White House, and the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement, which brought together people who understood that, no,Trayvon wasn't an angel because he was a human being.

Rest in Powerstands as a reminder not only of Trayvon's life and deathbut of the vulnerability of black livesin a country that still needs to be reminded they matter. It also offers a prayer that someday, as Fulton writes, "the killing will stop" and "the healing will begin."

Go here to see the original:
Trayvon Martin's parents honor son's 'Enduring Life' - USA TODAY

Five years after their son was killed in a shooting that sparked controversy around the country, the parents of Trayvon Martin have written a book in memory of their son and his life.

The book, titled "Rest in Power," was released Tuesday and chronicles the lives of Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton before and after the death of their son, and the eventual impact of his passing.

At the time, Trayvon's death and the acquittal of shooter George Zimmerman sparked protests and debate across the country about racial profiling and justice. The case would help to fuel the beginnings of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton joined Radio Times host Marty Moss-Coane to talk about their experiences.

We really dont know what happened those 71 seconds, Martin said of the time before Trayvon was shot. Preceding the shooting, the sequence of events between him and Zimmerman left room for interpretation, as there is still time unaccounted for. Martin said Zimmerman was unafraid and looking for trouble.

Click through to listen to their whole conversation.

Fulton and Martin will be at the Free Library of Philadelphia Thurs. February 2, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. for a conversation with Associated Press reporter Errin Haines Whack.

More:
'Rest in Power': Trayvon Martin's parents talk new book, heartache on Radio Times - Newsworks.org

The founders of Black Lives Matter urged UC Riverside students and community organizers to rely on one another at a time when they say President Donald Trumps administration is targeting women, immigrants and people of color.

Its going to take all of us to stop what 45 is doing right now, said Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, referring to Trump, the 45th U.S. president.

Cullors and Alicia Garza, who together founded Black Lives Matter, an international organizing network, talked to a packed crowd at UC Riverside on Wednesday. The room at the Highlander Union Building appeared to be filled to capacity. Some students stood against the wall. A number of security guards were present.

The duo talked about the origins of Black Lives Matter, which started as a hashtag reacting to the July 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman, a Florida neighborhood watch volunteer, in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager.

A large part of the UCR discussion dealt with how people from different backgrounds can work together to organize against the number of executive actions Trump recently has signed.

Trump has moved to temporarily ban refugees and immigrants from seven mostly Muslim countries from entering the U.S. He also has moved to deport immigrants convicted or charged with committing a crime.

Earlier this year, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Republicans would move to defund Planned Parenthood as part of a push to repeal Obamacare.

Theyre coming after all of us, and we dont have the luxury of abstaining, Garza said.

This is an opportunity for us to build a different movement, she added. Thats not to say that this is the time to stop holding people accountable for the ways that we get erased or moved out of the way.

Whats the work that we need to do together, she asked, so that we can actually fight together?

The event was co-sponsored by UC Riversides Center for Ideas and Society and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which had given UCR over $450,000 in grants over three years to conduct seminars on campus diversity and marginalized groups.

Advertisement

Read this article:
Black Lives Matter founders urge unity during Trump era - LA Daily News

Five years after their son was killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, the parents of Trayvon Martin have released a book.

Fulton and Martin appeared on "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah" to discuss the book surrounding their 17-year-old sons death, which sparked nationwide protests and conversations about race relations.

Zimmerman was subsequently acquitted of second-degree murder, and the Justice Department decided not to prosecute him on civil rights charges.

The book reportedly alternates between the parents lives before their son was killed and the impact of the teens death.

When Fulton and Martin sat down with Noah, the interview took an especially emotional turn when Martin shared a story: Years earlier, Trayvon had apparently saved his life by pulling him from a house fire.

"It hurt knowing that he saved my life for me not to be able to be there February 26 to save his life," Martin said. "Hes my hero and hes everything to me.

See the full interview below.

Read more:
Trayvon Martin's parents release book on son's life, impact of death - ABC15 Arizona