Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story (2018–…): Season 1, Episode 5 - Reasonable Doubt - full transcript

The George Zimmerman trial

is nearing its end.

Do you know
whose voice that was?

My son, George.

They tried to discredit me
about the 911 call.

And then, they bring
in witness after witness

to build up this great
community leader

that George Zimmerman was.

George was tutoring
some young children.

Best friend I've ever had.

They took the stand
and they lied under oath.



Just when I thought this case

couldn't get any more bizarre...

When I looked out the window,

I saw two African-American guys,

you know, sitting there
with a pair of rusty scissors

and my son in one arm.

Had nothing to do
with this case.

That was textbook.
White fear.

It's about
that fear of a black guy

coming through the window.

After 14 days of testimony,

slide shows, witnesses,

theatrics, and even
a little courtroom bickering,

the case comes down to this.



After closing arguments,

I was like, I'm leaving.

They didn't want
to watch their son die twice.

Police have
been urging the community

to keep things peaceful.

Now all eyes are on this jury.

And every
legal expert in the country

says you can never predict
what a jury will do.

Please be seated.
Good morning.

We're on the record.

Case Number 12CF1083A.

State versus George Zimmerman.

As a black person in America,

this trial was all-consuming.

Every single day was

waking up, turning the TV on,

and watching the entirety

of this trial play out.

Did Zimmerman deceive police--

The shell casing was

right by number eight.

Juror number three, yes.

Juror number four, yes.

Once these things
become TV media spectacles,

it just gets bigger and bigger
and feeds off itself.

You're looking at our design
of the Retreat at Twin Lakes.

You got headline news

breaking out
the eighth grade dioramas.

As they move,

he says Trayvon Martin
disappears out of sight.

This was reduced
to such a spectacle.

And we're talking about
very serious things here.

Today,
a former college professor

who taught George Zimmerman
Criminal Justice

testified via Skype.

Sir, I am telling you--

I have someone trying
to call in on this line.

As Pleasants'
face and screen name

were carried on national TV,

pranksters began
to join the video chat,

disrupting his testimony.

It was like a clown show.

I've watched trials before,

both as a civilian
and a journalist,

And nothing about what

the prosecution did
makes any sense.

The prosecution never really

stood up for Trayvon.

The State was afraid
that if it introduced

Trayvon Martin's personality,

the good achievements

he had done during his life,

the defense would counter it

with tweets and phone calls
and phone records

that would show Trayvon Martin

was not the perfect person.

But how are you going
to convince a jury

that he was

intentionally murdered

without showing something?

You know, just sitting
behind the prosecuting team,

and watching them, I felt that

who better to call as a witness?

I was the last relative

that he had conversed with.

I felt as though
I know him best.

I remember I begged and begged,

"Put me on
the witness stand."

But they didn't,

and I have
a huge problem with that.

After nine days of testimony,

and dozens of witnesses,

the prosecution
has just rested its case

in the George Zimmerman
murder trial.

And now,
it's time for the defense

to begin their case.

When they started out, they
called the shooter's mother.

Good afternoon, ma'am.

Good afternoon, Mr. O'Mara.

Tell us your name.

Gladys Zimmerman.

I want to have you
listen to the 911 phone call

by Ms. Lamilla
with screams in the back of it.

Does he look hurt to you?

I can't see him.
I don't want to go out there.

I don't know what's going on.

You need to call the cops.

Do you know whose voice that was

screaming in the background?

Yes, sir.

And whose voice was that?

My son George.

The way that he was screaming,

it describes to me as fear.

I would say terror.

She may have wanted it
to be her son,

but I know it was Trayvon.

I think this is a good example

of how both witnesses

can firmly believe

what they're saying
is the truth.

Both witnesses believed

what they were saying,

both mothers.

But obviously,
it couldn't both be true.

George Zimmerman's friends

took the stand today.

All looking to prove one thing:

That he was the one
pleading for help

during this confrontation

with Trayvon Martin.

And do you know
George Zimmerman?

Yes, I do.

The whole case starts to become

whose voice is it
on the 911 tapes?

Not only I just
heard the scream,

I felt the scream.

Like my nephew is screaming
for his life.

I just immediately recognized
it as George's voice.

There was no hoping
it was one person or another.

Do you know whose voice that is

in the background, screaming?

Yes, definitely.
It's Georgie.

I hear him screaming.

I thought it was George.

Can you tell me
why you think that?

Just the tone.

And did you have discussions
with him about gun safety?

Firearm safety is--
was always at the first,

the top of our list
of discussions.

The defense was pretty creative,

asking a sly question
here and there

about George's character,

even though it had nothing to do

with his actions that night.

George was tutoring
some young children

and I encouraged that.

And I was very proud
of him for that.

The fact that the prosecution

let so much of this evidence in,

without objecting was
a failure on their part.

He is my very dear friend.

I think of him as a son.

One time he asked me to show him

how to tie a Windsor knot

for a tie.

And that just touched

a very personal part
of my heart.

And he's always
been there ever since.

Every defense lawyer
would try to get character

in the question.

It's up to the prosecution

to make the objection.

But if they don't
make the objection,

go for it.

I was a combat medic in Vietnam.

It was the Tet Offensive.

1968.

Your job is to run.

You go to where they're at.

But invariably, because you know

the men that you eat
and sleep with,

you know who it's gonna be
before you get there.

Is it a male or female?

It sounds like a male.

And you don't know why?

Whose voice
do you believe that to be

screaming for help?

There's absolutely
no doubt in my mind

that is George Zimmerman.

And I wish to God I did not have

that ability to understand that.

He knows combat.

And he knows that scream.

And so once again,

you have the defense

just outclassing
the prosecution.

And it's not clear how hard

the prosecution is trying.

Oh, if you're
keeping score at home,

that's seven,
seven defense witnesses

who say it was George
Zimmerman yelling for help,

compared to only
two State witnesses

who say it was Trayvon Martin.

Of course they're
gonna say it was his voice.

They're all friends
with Zimmerman!

And then Chris Serino,

who was the lead detective,

gets called by the defense.

Over two days last week,

Serino testified
on behalf of the prosecution.

And once again,
it's the 911 tapes

that are under the microscope.

Did there come
a time that you met

with Tracy Martin

and his girlfriend,

Brandi Green, in your office?

Yes, sir, there was.

Do you recall
about how many days

after the event
of the shooting that was?

It was either the day after,

or the day
after the walkthrough.

I think it was the 28th.Okay.

I went ahead and played
the 911 recordings for him.

And what was
Mr. Martin's response?

Emotional.

I let him listen first

before I asked anything.

Okay, and what did you ask him?

I enquired as if

that was, in fact,
his son yelling for help.

And what was his response?

He...

Looked away,
and under his breath,

as I interpreted it,
said, "No."

When he said, "No,"

what question do you think
he was answering?

That the voice in the background

was not that of his son's.

I lost a lot of respect

for him at that
particular moment,

because I never said that

it wasn't him on the tape.

That was far from the truth.

So what happens?

Defense calls Tracy Martin.

The defense says,
"We'll put him on the stand,

and we'll call him a liar."

By them calling me to the stand,

you know, they thought that
I was gonna do some damage

to our case.

But I stood on

what I been standing on
since this incident happened.

After he played the tape,

he basically just said,

"Do you recognize the voice?"

And what was your response?

My response was

that's simp--I didn't... Um...

Tell him I didn't know...

I didn't tell him,
"No, that wasn't Trayvon."

I kind of...

I think the chairs
had wheels on them.

I kind of pushed
away from the...

Away from the table.

And just kind of shook my head

and said, "I can't tell."

So your words were,
"I can't tell."

Something to that effect,

but I never said, "No, that
wasn't my son's voice."

Did you really know

what to do at that point?

No, I was...

Our world was, from that point,

until today,

our world has just been

turned upside down.

The jury members saw
a father that was in pain.

And they saw the love

that Tracy has for Trayvon.

The defense tried to turn him,

as a witness,
against his own child.

It was one
of the more crass moments.

It didn't play well
in the public.

I think it was distasteful

for a lot of people to see.

One of the jurors just

had her hand over her mouth

like this the entire time.

Just because you can
doesn't mean you should.

The jury could say,
"Why are you not

leaving this family alone?"

You know, it's bad enough

that they lost their child.

I really wasn't
focused on Don West,

about Mark O'Mara.

I was just fixated
on the individual

that had killed my son.

I wanted to make eye contact.

I wanted to look into his eyes.

I wanted to see
what my son saw that night.

And he never
made eye contact with me.

I think the prosecution

made a decision early on

not to pursue this
as a stalking case.

But if they had pursued it,

I think they would've had
a stronger leg to stand on

because they could've used

George Zimmerman's background

to build a case that he had this

inordinate fear

of this young black man.

That he became the aggressor

and decided to chase him.

For the defense,

it's a different story.

The argument became the idea

that there was a fight

and that that is
the most important

aspect of their interaction.

Call your next witness, please.

The defense
will call Adam Pollock.

Adam Pollock
owned Kokopelli's Gym,

where he trained people

in MMA-style fighting.

And one of those people
that he trained

was George Zimmerman.

Let's talk a bit
about Mr. Zimmerman.

Do you know him? Absolutely.

When he came to your gym,

was he grossly obese?

Absolutely.

And was that a main focus

of his workout regimen?

That was the main focus
of why he was there,

was to lose weight
and get into better shape.

That was not true.

This guy is a wannabe
police officer.

And he was taking
this fighting class.

So it's almost astounding

that the defense
brought someone up

who teaches people how to fight

to convince the jury

that George Zimmerman was slow,

and he was out of shape,

and he didn't really
know how to fight.

He's just physically soft,

and a very, very pleasant,
very nice man,

but he was predominantly fat.

Not a lot of muscle.

They tried to downplay

Mr. Zimmerman's physical
capabilities

because when you hear that
someone has been training

in physical combat,

the average juror
would expect that person

to physically dominate someone.

You know, you look at him

in the courtroom today,

he gained 110 pounds
since the incident.

Is that part of this?

Is it possible
he put on the weight

for this reason?

The George Zimmerman
I saw in the courtroom,

who came walking in

looking like
he was out of shape,

looking like he didn't
know how to throw a punch

is not the same militant,

fit George Zimmerman

that we saw the night

of the Trayvon Martin shooting.

And that's what's critical.

On a scale of one to ten,

what number would you
assign to his abilities?

.5.

Less than a one.

Yes.

Well, he
admitted George Zimmerman

trained with him,
but what he said was

he didn't learn
any real techniques

or have any real ability.

But that seems
to be inconsistent

with Mr. Zimmerman's
statement.

When he came to see you
after Trayvon was killed,

what did he say to you
that night?

The first thing he said
to me was "Thank you,"

and you know,
I said, "For what?"

And he said,
"You helped save my life."

He told me
that he was having his head

smashed into the sidewalk.

When he was hitting
my head against it,

it felt like my head
was gonna explode.

And I thought I was gonna

lose consciousness.

He said, "Well, you
taught me how to move

if you're in a bad situation."

And he was able
to move just a little bit

to get onto the grass.

So here we have
a man who is claiming

that he was on
the brink of death

when he shot Trayvon Martin.

But when the ambulance arrives,

they ask him if he wants

to go to the hospital,

and he says no!

There's no dispute

there was a fight here,

but Zimmerman's injuries
paint a conflicting picture

about the severity
of this fight.

George Zimmerman only had

a two centimeters long

lesion on the back of his head.

You have to wonder

whether he really was
in fear for his life.

A prior
witness for the prosecution

said he did not see anyone

get their head smashed

against the sidewalk.

Did you see at any time
the person on top

grab the person
on the bottom's head

and slam it into the concrete?

No.

There was no blood

on the sidewalk where
Zimmerman said this happened.

In addition, Trayvon Martin's
body was found

almost ten feet
from the sidewalk

and Zimmerman said
he never moved the body.

Now, the defense is calling

Dennis Root, a former
law enforcement officer

and an expert witness
in the use of force.

When it was time
for the prosecution

to cross-examine Dennis Root,

it actually started off
pretty well.

Okay, and the defendant
didn't describe to you

how it was they moved

from where he claimed
the confrontation started

to where they ended up?

No, there was no explanation

as far as how they transitioned.

I think you said you
reviewed some medical records

Yes, sir. - Okay.

Did you review
the medical record

that... Um...

Where the woman measured

the longest laceration

on the back of his head
as two centimeters?

I don't want to quote the dis--

Yes, there was a...
They weren't that large.

Is that what you're asking? - Right.

Two centimeters, right?

That's less than an inch.

Okay, I'm really
not good with that.

I gotta be honest with you.
I get confused.

But then
he brought out the dummy.

And that's when things
kind of...

Went downhill.

Right? Yes, sir.

Okay.

Well, when they
brought the dummy out,

I was very concerned.

I thought,

"What is this?"

So as the defendant
described it to you,

Am I... Is this the way
he described it

in the area of his belly button?

I'm not a big fan
of demonstrative evidence.

Lawyers should've learned from

"If the gloves don't fit,
you must acquit."

Were you aware
that the defendant described

to his best friend

that, um, when he slid down,

the defendant slid down,

that Trayvon Martin

is up around his armpits?

Were you aware of that?

And when John Guy

gets the dummy in his hand,

he's playing,
essentially, the role

of Trayvon Martin,

and he's on top!

He's basically conceding

that George Zimmerman

is on the bottom.

Completely flip-flopped

from what the opening statement

said the facts would show.

How do you win a case that way?

He gives the jury

two different versions

of what could've happened.

And that's
the classic definition

of reasonable doubt!

The strange thing here

is it usually doesn't

come from the prosecution.

And then you see, you know,

Mark O'Mara and Don West

licking their chops.

So I'm clear, would you consider

a big ol' piece
of concrete a weapon

if I hit you in the head
with it?

If you hit me
in the head with concrete,

yes, I would consider
that--How about if I just took

and smashed it on the concrete?

So...

George Zimmerman,
Trayvon Martin.

Were the injuries
on Mr. Zimmerman's...

Back of his head consistent with

someone doing this

on cement?

Mark O'Mara uses that dummy

to demonstrate for the jury,

and sear into
their memories forever,

George Zimmerman's
head just getting banged,

and banged, and banged
on the ground.

What about somebody
resisting the attempt?

There's a moment where Bernie

is pretty clearly
chewing John Guy out.

Bernie was looking really upset

and was just in John Guy's face

During the trial, I heard

negative things about my son.

But it's always a practice to

blame the victim.

Mark O'Mara decided

that what he was going
to do in this trial was

to prosecute Trayvon Martin,

make him seem
like a thuggish attacker.

He wasn't just walking home,

but was actually waiting

for the opportunity
to commit a crime.

So you said there was
no evidence that Trayvon Martin

was doing anything wrong,
correct?

None whatsoever.

You don't know
that though, correct?

No, I do not.Right.

Matter of fact, there was
a type of a tool found

in the area where Trayvon Martin

may have been hiding.

You looked in the bushes
and you found... What was it?

It was a piece of a
window. Looked like a Slim Jim,

the device used to go ahead

and jimmy-lock some vehicles.

Race permeated every aspect
of this case.

These are the cards
that were dealt,

and they played them.

There are studies that suggest
that aggressive behavior

can be residual

from marijuana use.

We also know from
looking at the 7-11 video

that Mr. Martin is swaying.

We also know from the evidence

that Mr. Martin
is carrying a lighter.

Listening to his attorneys

speak negatively

on Trayvon was torture.

He's not even on trial!

And it just hurt.

Emotions running high

in the courtroom today
while the defense calls

one of their final witnesses:

A former neighbor
of George Zimmerman.

An event happened
at your residence

where a crime was committed.

Yes.

Can you explain to the jury

what happened with that?

I was home on a Wednesday

with my son; he was, I think,
nine months at the time.

And I heard someone
ring my doorbell.

When I looked out the window,

I saw two young
African-American guys

wearing blue shirts.

So I just assumed they were
with a company or something.

But then they kept ringing
over and over again.

And I just knew it was bad.

I called 911.

They said to get
to the farthest room

and grab anything
you can use for a weapon.

I heard them come up
the stairwell.

And he was shaking the doorknob,

trying to get in,

and I was sitting there
with a pair of rusty scissors

and my son in one arm.

And the police came
and they ended up leaving.

They had stolen my camera,

laptop,

and they had tried
to get our TV.

She was pretty.

She had a family.

I saw the jurors nodding

during her testimony.

But I kept on thinking
why is she even testifying?

What does this have
to do with Trayvon Martin?

Had nothing to do
with this case!

This witness may have been

talking about a home invasion,

but the real focus here

seems to be about race.

She suggests that the reason
George Zimmerman

was right to suspect
Trayvon Martin

was because two young black men

had broken
into this woman's home.

It was so manipulative,

and it was playing
the elephant in the room.

It was playing that race card

without really playing it.

I think that it would be
an unfair characterization

to suggest that we were

playing to a race issue on that.

I don't think so.

It is shortsighted
and simply ignorant

of anybody to think that
both sides did not factor in

race into every aspect
of their cases.

Mark O'Mara
knew who his audience was.

His audience wasn't, you know,

the millions of people
watching that trial.

His audience was the people
sitting in that jury box.

And the people sitting
in that jury box,

everyone can relate
to having someone

who looks just like them

saying that this was a concern.

And I think that's sort of

part of what was
at work in that jury pool.

They saw Trayvon Martin

as that black guy I fear

who could've broken
into my house.

Those are the kind
of presumptions

that prevent black people

from getting justice.

White fear!

You, jury members, you should be

scared too, of the black people,

'cause they're
gonna come get you next.

Olivia Bertalan says in the end,

it is George Zimmerman

who makes her feel safe.

I was just appreciative

that he was offering his hand

and had told me I could

spend time with his wife,

because I was so afraid.

Did any of your interactions

with Mr. Zimmerman
in this regard

leave you with some impression

that he was just too involved

in trying to help you out?

No.

Did you think that his behavior

was helpful to you?

Very.

In calling upon that

sense of nobility,

that men are protecting
white women

from the violence of black men.

I mean, we're calling back
to the days of lynching here.

As if we're back in the 1950's

with the death of Emmett Till.

Emmett Till, the teenager

killed in Money, Mississippi.

The picture of his
disfigured face and body

helps to set off
the Civil Rights Movement.

The person who stalks

and kills this young black man

is a civillian.

He was lynched for supposedly

whistling at a white girl.

That is the age-old trope,

that whiteness and White America

is actually embodied
in white women.

And that we have to
protect White America,

therefore, we have
to protect white women.

I think that that is not
a leap at all.

But just deeply historical.

It's a historical truth.

I know that's the stereotype.

It's been exploited

ever since what? Jim Crow?

But I don't quite get

the connection to this case

unless you're suggesting

that we were doing that somehow

on purpose to appeal

to the women on the jury.

No, that's offensive to me.

And there's nothing to suggest

that race was a motivator

in George Zimmerman's actions.

If you think racial animus

was George Zimmerman's motive,

it has to be proven

beyond a reasonable doubt.

I didn't feel like
George was racially profiling.

It wasn't that
he was looking out for

a young black kid just because

he didn't like young black kids.

He was looking out
for a young black kid

because a young black kid
is the one

that broke into our home,

and that was creating crimes.
And he was walking.

Throughout the neighborhood.

But the problem
is that's the definition

of racial profiling.

At some point then,
one of those people

were found and arrested
and charged with that crime.

Yes.

A month or two afterwards,

a police officer came to my door

and showed me a lineup

and asked me to identify

the guy who broke
into our house.

She then told me that he lived

on the other side
of our neighborhood.

He was 17.

He walked away from it untouched

because he's a minor.

Yeah,
he said they always get away.

They did, they got away
from my house.

They got away
from the neighbor's house.

Even when they did get caught,
they still got away.

They got sent back home
with a slap on the wrist.

Ms. Bertalan,
I believe you said

that this crime happened to you

on August 3, 2011.

Did you have contact
with George Zimmerman that day?

Correct? Yes. Yes, sir.

And the
reason he came to your house,

as he described to you was that

he had heard you
had been a victim, right?

Yes, sir.

And that wasn't the only
conversation you had

with this defendant
about that case

and you becoming
a victim, right?

Right.

Is it correct to say that
you and he talked about this

approximately
20 times after that?

Probably around there.

And you discussed
that that person

lived in Retreat at Twin Lakes

near the back gate, right?

Yes.

She tells her story
of George Zimmerman

trying to protect his neighbor

because he thinks
that young man may be back.

Is this a
case of mistaken identity?

Who did George Zimmerman think

he was following that night?

And did he have ill-will

and spite in his mind
when he did it?

Number one: If you think
this is the same assailant,

you've now called 911.

Why not wait for the police?

Why not do as they tell you?

Zimmerman made multiple calls

to the non-emergency line,

and may have been
doing this for months.

If you think this
is somebody dangerous,

and committing home invasions,

probably it's not a good idea

to pursue them into the dark.

Trayvon Martin was running away

from Zimmerman that night.

And this testimony reveals

that Zimmerman may have been

acting out of rage.

And he winds up
killing this teenage boy

because of spite,
because of animus.

And because he's not the victim,

he's the villain.

That was the story
that was missing

in the prosecution
of George Zimmerman.

You should not get to
get away with murder

because you lost a fight
that you started.

We begin with the latest

on the George Zimmerman trial.

Closing arguments
set to start today.

After 12 days of testimony

and more than 50 witnesses,

there is a lot
of summing up to do.

During closing arguments,

I was really hopeful.

I don't know if
I was being naive,

or I just didn't understand

the court system,

but I was hopeful.

It's their last opportunity
really

to rehabilitate the case

in Trayvon's favor.

We're not used to
rooting for the prosecutor.

The state that has locked us up,

that has been responsible

for all of this destruction
of our communities,

now we turn to you

to protect us.

Trayvon Martin's parents
are sitting in that courtroom

hoping for this place

to bring them justice.

They have to believe in it,

because there is nothing else.

A teenager is dead.

He is dead
through no fault of his own.

He bought Skittles

and some kind of watermelon,
or iced tea,

or whatever it's called.

That was his crime.

Bernie tends to see

everything in black and white.

He had $40.15 in his pockets.

He's not comfortable
with racial issues.

And I think that was something

he struggled with in this case.

The prosecutors themselves
is white people

participating in a white drama,

could not stand up to defend

this young black boy
who had fallen.

If the minimum you're going for

is at least to hang that jury,

you gotta give that jury
something to hang onto.

You gotta give them a narrative.

The back of his head,
you recall testimony

There was two.
How small were they?

You recall the testimony
of the witness, Ms. Colgate,

I think I had it--
Tell me how big it was.

I think she was...
It was hard to keep...

Anyway, you remember.

Bernie was asking
questions of the jury

in his closing arguments.

You don't ask any
questions of the jury

in your closing arguments!

You give them answers!

Why are his hands not injured?

If this 17-year-old young man

is wailing on him,

how come
he's not defending himself?

And what is the jury left with

but we don't know what happened.

That's a reasonable doubt!

Armpits...
How does he get the gun out?

The truth does not lie!

Then we move onto Hannity!

He tells one lie after another.

You said on the 911 call
that he's running.

Maybe I said running,
but he was more...

You said, "He's running."

Yes, he was like skipping...

Going away quickly.Mm-hmm.

But he wasn't running
out of fear.

But what does he say?

Oh, he's skipping away.

La, la, la.

That's what he's claiming.

Confusion is doubt.

Doubt is acquittal.

Mr. O'Mara,
whenever you're ready.

Thank you.
If I may sit...

It's not like Mark O'Mara

and his team had
the best closing argument

in the history of trials.

You can't help
but have a first impression.

You might have an impression
of George Zimmerman.

You might have
an impression of him

because he's standing
at the defense table.

Maybe, in fact, that because
the City Attorney's office

decided to charge him,

he has to have done
something wrong.

He stayed focused.
Self-defense,

his client was in fear
of his life,

and he reasonably
defended himself.

That's cement.

And that is not

an unarmed teenager

with nothing but Skittles

trying to get home.

Had Trayvon Martin
been shot in the hip,

and survived,

what do you think he
would've been charged with?

Aggravated battery?

Two counts?

You go back to that room,

and say, "Let's talk first
about self-defense."

If I think George may have
acted in self-defense,

we are done.

And the prosecution
couldn't prove

beyond a reasonable
doubt otherwise,

that's the essence
of what happened.

It wasn't till
the final closing arguments

before the prosecution

included that really passionate

narrative about a scared kid.

The human heart.

It has a great many functions.

John Guy, the final
voice of the prosecution,

tells a beautiful sort of tale

about how we owe it to the dead

to serve in their memory,

and to do the right thing
for their families.

So if we really want to know

what happened,

out there behind those homes,

on that dark, rainy night,

Should we not look
into the heart

of the grown man,

and the heart of that child?

The defendant didn't shoot
Trayvon Martin

because he had to.

He shot him
because he wanted to.

This is the truth.

Thank you for your time.

He tried to make that case,

but he didn't make it
throughout the whole trial.

He made it in his closing,
but that was too late.

I think the prosecution
utterly failed.

And they failed every day
until the very end.

Ladies and gentlemen
of the jury,

I thank you for your attention
during this trial.

At this time, if all of you
will please take your notes

with you and follow
Deputy Jarvis

back into the jury room.

All right.

Thank you very much,
Court is in recess.

After both sides

did their closing arguments,

we went into
this conference room.

I remember just getting
an eerie feeling.

Our attorney said
that we should stay there

during deliberations.

I was like,
"Listen, I'm leaving."

If I have to catch
a flight home,

if I have to catch a bus home,

if I have to rent a car,

it doesn't matter,
I'm leaving here.

I prayed about it,
asked God to guide me

in the right direction.

That direction was
packing our stuff,

getting on the Turnpike,
heading South.

I didn't fold anything up.

I just brushed everything
into the suitcase,

and put my stuff in the vehicle.

That probably was the longest,

quietest three-hour ride
that I've ever rode.

I don't remember no one even

conversating on the way back.

All I saw was

the Turnpike headed home.

Please be seated.
We're back on the record.

I understand
that we have a verdict.

In the circuit court

of the 18th Judicial Circuit

in and for
Seminole County, Florida,

State of Florida versus
George Zimmerman, verdict:

We, the jury,
find George Zimmerman

not guilty.

So say we all for a person.

No! No! Oh my God!

They found him not guilty? No!

Thank you all very much.

Court is adjourned
for this case.

Thank you, Judge.

I'm just fortunate
that I went down to Miami

because if I stayed...

I would've gotten arrested.

I honestly
don't think the bailiffs

or the sheriffs
that was in that room

would've been able to come

between me and what I was going

to try to get at.

Outside the
Seminole County Courthouse,

protestors were devastated.

That's not right!

That's not how this world
is supposed to be!

Justice for Trayvon!

Justice for Trayvon!

How can you murder
an innocent child

and sleep at night?

As Zimmerman walked the halls,

people yelled, "Shame."

Shame! Shame! Shame!
Shame! Shame!

Others could only shed tears.

I couldn't imagine
being that family right now.

I just thought we were
gonna get some kind of justice.

For black America,

it was the cold water
in the face again.

Here we are.

And I just started crying.

I saw grown men knees buckle.

They just went
down to their knees.

It was so much disappointment.

There was no energy
in them to fight.

There was no energy in them
to burn down nothing,

because all the energy
had been spent

praying and hoping

that this man get some time.

It was a sad situation.

So many people pulling for us...

So many people
depending on us...

We didn't want the verdict

to define
who Trayvon Martin was.

We wanted to make sure
that we defined

who Trayvon Martin was.

Sybrina said that this isn't it.

We had the eyes of every
camera in the nation,

and we had our voices.

Nationwide protest!

Nationwide protest!

We had to go out there

and we had to tell the world
that this wasn't over.

Even though the killer
of our son got acquitted,

we got work to do.

Thousands of demonstrators

taking the streets
across the country.

In San Francisco,

200 people on the march.

Not one more!

In Chicago, signs reading

"We are all Trayvon."

In Los Angeles,
hundreds of marchers

shut down an entrance
to Interstate 10.

In New York, a mass of
demonstrators

shut down Times Square.

And in Oakland,
protests turn violent--

flag burnings
and broken windows.

But at the epicenter
of the case, Sanford, Florida,

Sunday morning sermons
requesting understanding.

Violence doesn't solve anything.

We had to fight
for not only my son,

but everybody's son.

Reaction to the verdict

dominating social media.

In the hours after the verdict,

nearly 4 1/2 million tweets
were unleashed.

The whole movement of
young people becoming active

started with
that not guilty verdict

and Black Lives Matter.

Patrisse Cullors,
Opal Tometi, Alicia Garza--

young black actors
were ready to go.

I looked
into Alicia Garza's post.

I was like,
"What's Alicia writing?"

I took it out and I was like,
"Let's put a hashtag on that."

We wanted to call
attention to the fact

that this would
not have happened

if he was not a black teenager.

We weren't just going to go

protest in black communities.

We were going to protest
in Beverly Hills.

It goes to
the heart of whiteness.

Our slogan right now
is "Black lives matter."

So I see these folks

with these
"black lives matter" signs,

and I'm like, "Whoa, I think
we're on to something."

Civil rights organizations plan

to hold 100 rallies
at federal buildings

across the country
this Saturday.

Those protestors in Tallahassee

at the governor's office
continuing their sit-in.

People who I had never
seen at a protest

or a rally were asking,
"When's the next one?

What are we going to do next?"

These demands for justice

showing no signs of stopping.

Trayvon Martin, Trayvon Martin.

His initial introduction is

meek, mild, humble.

That charade wears off.

Oh, yeah.

George referred to black
people--

it's not "black people."
It's "monkeys."

That's not appropriate
right now.

Drop it.
- Say to me what?

These witnesses were
scared to death of this guy.

That guy's gonna
come kill my whole family.

He's a scary person.

He should not be on
the streets holding a gun.