Rest in Power by Sybrina Fulton

Author:Sybrina Fulton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2017-01-30T16:00:00+00:00

“You all have to hold him accountable,” Crump told the commissioners. “Nobody else can do it here this evening. You all have to ask these questions, take the names, and if they did not do their job, would they lose their job?”

The mayor broke in.

“I’ve stated several times that’s the path we are going down,” Mayor Triplett responded, remaining in his chair with his hands and palms open. “That’s the only path. I can’t change what transpired. But I swear to you. I swear to you—”

Crump took a moment to silence the crowd again.

“And, Mr. Mayor, we do owe you a debt of gratitude,” he told the mayor. “Because it was your leadership to release the 911 tapes. This family wants to have faith in the system. My God, they’ve been waiting for so long for them to get simple answers. We don’t want anything extra…just equal justice….It is hard to ask them to trust you and to have patience….There has to be something where you all have to take a stand to let us know we can believe in you, that you will do the right thing, that you won’t sweep it under the rug when the cameras go and when everybody goes home. Because they’re never getting Trayvon Martin back! And they are depending on you all to do your job, just as we would have prayed that Chief Lee and the Sanford Police Department would have done their jobs.”

Crump paused and asked, “Can’t you understand that none of this would be going on if they simply would have treated George Zimmerman like they would have treated Trayvon Martin…”

He was again interrupted by chants and cheers.

“In conclusion, I would only ask that you consider your children when you make these decisions that you have to make,” Crump told the commissioners. “And imagine if you can,” he said, pausing for a moment to address the commissioners and the city manager. “If that was your child and the police refused to make an arrest. You let your heart and your conscience be your guide and you determine what would you do to your employee who refused to arrest the person that killed your unarmed child. It’s as simple as that.”

He sat down to thunderous applause.

Still, the commissioners appeared unmoved. I didn’t understand what was happening.

The meeting stretched on, as a number of notables spoke, from Reverend Jesse Jackson to political leaders like Marc Morial, former mayor of New Orleans and president of the National Urban League.

Pastor Jamal Bryant, the young, fiery minister from Baltimore who would become one of our most ardent supporters, spoke next, loudly, passionately, and angrily.

“The justice system in Florida is sick,” he said. “Thirty days after a young man was brutally and innocently killed, and after the 911 tapes have been released, and after we know exactly who the culprit is, there still is not an arrest. Around the world, people are looking into Sanford trying to figure out how sick is a system that would allow a young boy to be killed and no one is arrested.

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