Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Trayvon Martin’s family, joined Melissa Harris-Perry on Sunday morning shortly after having spoken with Martin’s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton. He shared a fresh reaction from the late teen’s mother to Saturday’s verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed her son nearly 17 months ago.
Zimmerman pleaded not guilty to the charge of second-degree murder, saying he acted in self-defense when he shot the unarmed teen.
Noting that many had approached Fulton telling her that the not guilty verdict was the “worst thing that could’ve happened to her,” Crump shared her response. “She said, ‘No, the worst thing happened on February 26, 2012.’ Last night was a decision made by six people on a jury, but that does not define her son, Trayvon Martin, and they’re going to define the legacy of their child.”
Host Melissa Harris-Perry immediately related that sentiment to the one voiced by Mamie Till about her son, Emmitt–who was infamously lynched in 1955 in Mississippi. Crump had drawn that parallel himself in a Saturday press conference after the verdict was announced. Crump told Harris-Perry that the family plans to form a call to action to “make sure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else’s child.”
See above the full opening segment from Sunday’s MHP, including an update from Sanford, Fla., by msnbc’s Craig Melvin. Editor’s note: George Zimmerman has sued NBC Universal for defamation. The company strongly denies the allegation.
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