sportiani) (Obstruer
A p ril 11.2012
Pacific Northwest
College Spotlight special
Page 19
edition
Tensions Rise in Sanford
Florida town
awaits
prosecutor’s
decision
(AP) — Tensions are rising in
Sanford, Fla., as a special prosecu
tor nears a decision on whether to
charge George Zimmerman with kill
ing Trayvon Martin.
Someone shot up an unoccupied
police car Monday night as it sat
outside the neighborhood where
Martin was killed. And a demon
stration by college students closed
the town's police station earlier in
the day.
Some residents Tuesday said
they worry there will be violence
if prosecutor Angela Corey ac
cepts Zim m erm an's claim of self-
defense and decides not to charge
the neighborhood watch captain
with a crim e. Corey has not said
when she will announce her deci
sion, but many in town believe it
will be soon.
Police aren't saying what, if any,
precautions they are taking.
"W e're ju st anxious to know
what's going on," Tiffany Lawson
said as she fished along the St.
John's River, across the street from
City Hall.
M artin's killing as the unarmed,
black 17-year-old was walking
back from a convenience store
Feb. 26 has touched off protests
around the country and stirred a
debate over racial profiling and
George Zimmerman
Parents o f slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin, Sybrina Fulton (C) and Tracy Martin weep after speaking
with their other son Jahvaris Fulton during a rally to protest the reaction to their son's death.
self-defense that has reached all
the way to the W hite H ouse.
Zim m erm an's father is white, and
his m other is Hispanic.
The case took a bizarre turn Tues
day as Z im m erm an's attorneys
stood outside the courthouse and
announced they were dropping him
as their client for ignoring their ad
vice in contacting the prosecutor.
But they said they still believe his
claim of self-defense.
W hile tensions are high, some
think this city of about 53,000 —
around 57 percent white and 30
percent black— will come through
Grand Jury Clears
Portland Police
A grand jury has found no crimi
nal wrongdoing by four Portland
p o lice o ffice rs w ho shot and
wounded a man as they searched
for a vehicle linked to a robbery.
In addition to that finding, the
Multnomah County grand jury has
indicted the wounded man, 31 -year-
old Jonah Potter, on two counts of
second-degree robbery in a market
holdup and four counts of menac
ing in connection with his actions
before he was shot on March 26. He
remains hospitalized with multiple
wounds.
Police say Potter was shot when
he got out of a car carrying what
looked like a large black handgun.
It turned out to be a Daisy air
pistol.
the crisis without violence, as it
did during sim ilar uproars.
Two years ago, after a black
hom eless man was beaten by the
son o f a Sanford policem an, pas
sions soon cooled. The assailant,
Justin Collison, initially wasn't
charged but eventually was ar
rested after footage o f the ep i
sode went viral on YouTube. He
pleaded guilty to a m isdem eanor
and received probation.
Jam es Carder, a m echanic at
M cRobert's Auto Center, put a
m essage on his shop that was
readily visible to anyone driving
down First Street: "Sanford is still
a good little town."
U ntil the M artin sh o o tin g ,
Sanford was probably best known
as the Florida stop for the Auto
Train, the Am trak line that carries
tourists and their cars between
suburban W ashington and cen
tral Florida's theme parks.
"I put it up because I do care
about my good little town," said
Carder, who is white. "It has prob
lems ju st like everywhere. But it's
still a good little town. It always
has been and alw ays will be."
Over the w eekend, a group of
stu d e n ts from a cro ss F lo rid a
m arched 40 m iles from Daytona
Beach to the Sanford police sta
tion. Once the three-day march
ended, a small group staged a mini
shutdown o f the station by sit
ting in front o f the main entrance.
Eddie Jones, a 58-year-old black
m an and life lo n g resid en t o f
Sanford, said Zim m erm an's arrest
is param ount to keeping the pro
tests peaceful.
"They need to go ahead and
arrest this guy before som ething
happens," he said. "Sanford is
screw ed up. This place ju st didn't
get corrupt."
Eric Arzate, who is white, said
he and others in Sanford ju st want
things to go back to the way they
were before the shooting.
"I think everybody's ready for
it to be over," he said. "Every
body wants justice. But let the
judicial system run its course."
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(503) 284-7838
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In Loving Memory
£
Barbara A. Simington
p
Funeral services for Barbara A. Simington will take place Satur
day, April 14 at 12 p.m. at Grant Park Church, 2728 N.E. 34th Ave.
For a full obituary and to sign the guest book go to
terryfamilyfuneralhome.com.
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