Trayvon Martin's father says he was a good kid who collided with a bad law in a society which doesn't give young black males equal opportunity. Tracy Martin shared his message with a packed house Wednesday night at Fredonia State College.
Trayvon Martin would have been 20-years-old a week ago. Instead he was gunned down under Florida's Stand Your Ground Law nearly three years ago. His killer, George Zimmerman was acquitted on all charges.
Tracy Martin says he has talked to members of the state legislative committee which approved the bill and they say what happened wasn't their understanding of the legislation.
Martin says he has started the Trayvon Martin Foundation to help other kids.
"We're trying to target those 14 and 15-year-olds. Because right now, they are really lost and one of the problems that we have in our communities is our young men and young women are angry because a lot of them don't have fathers in the home," Martin said.
"What we're trying to do, we're trying to get engaged with the young men."
Martin says there is despair among young black males and one more incident of a cop shooting a young man might push them over the edge into continuing violence. He says that's why there has to be better discipline of police and better understanding by officers of young men.
