George Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday for shooting and killing unarmed Trayvon Martin, and many students at Syracuse University think it’s about time.

‘It took too long,’ said Lamar Stephens, a senior communication and rhetorical studies major who said he was shocked upon hearing the news. ‘This should have happened the exact moment after the shooting.’

Florida prosecutor Angela Corey announced the charge at a press conference in Jacksonville, Fla., according to an article published Wednesday by The Washington Post. Corey said Zimmerman was being held in the state after turning himself in.

If convicted, Zimmerman will face a maximum sentence of life in prison under Florida law.

Martin was killed Feb. 26 while walking to his father’s fiancee’s townhouse on the way back from a nearby convenience store after purchasing a bottle of iced tea and a bag of skittles. He was unarmed.

Zimmerman called the police to report a suspicious person in the neighborhood and maintained that he acted in self-defense upon shooting Martin. Florida police chose not to charge Zimmerman until Wednesday in accordance with Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law, which allows a person who feels threatened to use force as a means of self-defense.

The decision spurred a wave of protests across the country and at SU as well. In the past two weeks, a ‘Hoodies for Trayvon Martin’ rally was held at Hendricks Chapel, as well as a forum to discuss the shooting. ‘1,000 Campus Vigil for Trayvon’ was also held simultaneously with campuses across the nation April 4.

For the most part, SU students believe Zimmerman’s charge was overdue.

‘I feel like it took long enough. I’m glad he’s been charged under the legal process,’ said Jesse Wilson, a junior marketing management major. ‘When you kill someone, even if it’s self-defense, you arrest them first thing.’

Other students, like Moises DeLeon, think the charge wasn’t enough.

‘I feel like, if anything, it should have been first-degree murder, based on what witnesses have said,’ said DeLeon, a freshman entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major.

Zimmerman should have been in jail this entire time, said Priscilla Bly, a sophomore marketing management major. She said despite the ‘Stand Your Ground’ law, there was enough evidence of some form of assault.

‘And if he was black, Zimmerman wouldn’t be able to walk free or run away,’ she said. ‘That’s sad and upsetting, and shows that there needs to be change.’

Although some students think the penalty isn’t enough, they are happy justice is at least being served. Evin Robinson, a senior communication and rhetorical studies and economics major, said he believes the charge has restored faith in the legal system once again and that it has brought back the notion that harmful actions committed against humans must be justified.

‘Arrests can be made first, and then we can go about the right ways of judging innocence,’ Robinson said. ‘Humans need to be held accountable for their actions, and then it can be judged if it’s appropriate to let them off the hook.’

Zimmerman ran away and had been in hiding for more than 40 days since the incident. His two lawyers, Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig, withdrew from the case Tuesday after claiming that Zimmerman took action without their consult, according to The Washington Post article.

Henry Spalding, a sophomore finance and political science major, said he believes it was the devotion of protestors nationwide that allowed Zimmerman to eventually be charged.

He said it is interesting to see how public support can actually produce results and that it would have ‘gone wayside’ without the activism.

Said Spalding: ‘I give big credit to American activism and how it can accomplish something. It’s a really cool thing.’

meltagou@syr.edu 

Published on April 12, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Marwa: meltagou@syr.edu | @marwaeltagouri