Locals protest Florida shooting

St. Mary Parish residents are joining the Justice for Trayvon Martin movement, a public outcry over the death of a 17-year-old Florida teen who was shot by a watchman after ignoring directions from a 911 dispatch not to follow the teen.

Leaders of the St. Mary Parish Chapter of the NAACP and pastors have joined professional athletes and American leaders who have all have spoken out in recent days, saying they have one goal – to stop racial profiling.

One local deciding to take action was Summer Renee Richard. The Baldwin native said she was so tired of the lack of progress in the case that she staged a march in the Baldwin to take a stand in Martin’s memory.

She said the events that led to the shooting were the result of racial profiling, according to Richard.

“This happens all the time. Racial profiling and stereotyping and people need to stop. There are a lot of parents who have 17 year olds,” she said.

“My God, when Trayvon died, all he had in his possession was a pack of Skittles and an iced tea!”

The march drew participants like former LSU Tiger and New Orleans Saint, Baldwin native Harry Coleman. St. Mary Parish NAACP members also took part in the event.

“We all need to get up, get out and take a stand on this incident,” Coleman said. “And we need to register to vote, and vote. Our mothers, fathers, grandfathers, grandmothers, and their parents fought many a battle for us. Let’s go and do it.”

St. Mary NAACP President Reginald Weary said his organization will hold a similar rally in Martin’s memory, on Monday at 5 p.m., on the steps of the Parish Courthouse in Franklin.

“This injustice, like all injustices need to be addressed time, time, and time again,” Weary said. “I’m baffled at how Zimmerman can remain free, over a month now, to possibly await a fair trial, after he shoots and kills someone who he believes to be a suspicious subject.

“What rights does the Martin family have? The stand-your-ground law does not give you the authority to aggressively pursue someone, confront them, kill them, and then plead self-defense. You are allowed to use deadly force, but how much danger was Zimmerman actually in? He was 11 years younger than Zimmerman and probably 100 pounds lighter.”

Willie Peters, vice-president and legal redress chairman of the St Mary NAACP, said the date the group picked for the second rally is significant because it is the day before a grand jury is set to convene in Florida to discuss the case.

“We’ve all got work to do, plenty of work. Now is the time to move into action,” Peters said.

Peters also encouraged the group to write state lawmakers and congressional officials to change the stand-your-ground-law, which is also in effect in Louisiana.

“I can’t see how the U.S. Supreme Court would uphold it, when it gets to them,” Peters said. “With all the racial profiling today, this law is dangerous for our black men.”

Rev. Patrick Jones, Pastor of the Good Hope Baptist Church of Patterson, said he attended the march in Baldwin, because he believes that, “Justice needs to be raised for all mankind.”

“With me, this is not about a race issue; it’s about the right issue,” Jones said. “This could have been anyone’s son. Right now, you can see every member of the human race walking around with hoods on.

“You know, America is the only country in the world that promotes racism. And as a black man, I say this because I’ve been to many countries. People from Germany, are known as Germans, and from Spain, Spaniards. Why do we as Americans label ourselves? Why can’t we just be Americans?”

The Rev. Ron Bias, Pastor of the Visions of Life Ministries in Morgan City, however, feels a call to race differentiation is necessary, particularly in the wake of the Trayvon Martin incident.

Bias, also a Morgan City Councilman, was a guest on The Jerome Boykin Show recently, where he presented copies of a three-page Facebook conversation involving a deputy who is a member of Narcotics Task Force of the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office.

Bias said the comments in question were made by sheriff’s office employee Duval Arthur III, who is caucasian. Bias said he was presented with the copies by someone who works in St. Mary Parish Government.

In the conversation, Arthurt reportedly said:

“That’s the thing, ya’ll just look at he murdered a kid. Actually he is an adult. 17 year old is considered an adult. Due to the lack of info that we all have, people just look at it as they guy just hot him and killed him. until u see the facts of the case, which we all don’t have, you can’t say he is innocent or guilty. But what I gather from this. Sounds like a good shoot to me.”

Another comment Bias pointed to was the following:

“well from what is gathered from what I see, it’s a good shoot. I mean I feel for the family that lost martin but if it’s a justifiable shoot then it’s a good shoot.”

Bias said he is alarmed because Arthur is paid to protect and serve all citizens of St. Mary Parish.

“When you start making these kinds of statements, it makes you wonder. When you start saying things like, ‘This sounds like a good shoot’, it’s like we went hunting for deer, we bagged our deer, and we when home,” Bias said. “Then when you look at the comments the NOPD officer made about Martin…”

“I want all citizens to me made aware, to let them know what’s going on right under your nose,” Bias added.

St. Mary Sheriff’s Deputy Duval Arthur III has not returned any phone calls for comment.

However his father, Duval Arthur Jr. has commented on his son’s facebook page.

The elder Arthur is the Director of Homeland Security for St. Mary Parish.

Arthur also presented copies of the conversation, which actually is a thread that spawns more than 11 pages, where his son is discussing the media’s coverage of the case with friends.

Other parts of the conversation, which Bias did not mention while he was on the Boykin show, include comments that show the deputy in a less confrontational light.

From other portions of the conversation:

“I’m not taking zimmerman’s side on this. I’m just trying to get people to understand that it’s not always what they hear from the media and stuff.”

In another thread, Arthur writes:

“Yeah I never said he was a punk or thug or criminal or any of that crap, b/c I don’t know him nor know what he was doing. I’m not going to sit here and say that or even say he wasn’t doing anything wrong. That’s where ya’ll r wrong. We don’t know so don’t say.”

And on a separate page, he continues:

“I’m down for some more debates.”

Duval Arthur Jr. said he believes the conversation has come to light because of some recent arrests his son made.

“Some people don’t like what happened, so they are trying to retaliate against my son.”

Also, he explained that the terminology for “good shoot” isn’t comparable to the term “good shot”.

He said the term “good shoot” is used nationwide by various members of the legal field, in describing an investigation where gunfire was used, as to whether it was justified or not.

“It does not mean that that the person is happy or excited that it was good shot and the subject is now dead,” the father said.

Arthur Jr. said that he and his son have since turned over copies of the entire conversation over to St. Mary Sheriff Mark Hebert.

Contacted regarding the Facebook comments, Hebert said he reprimanded Arthur III for using Facebook on company time. That reprimand was a written warning.

“Otherwise, he made comments that were his opinion and not those of the Sheriff’s Office. Once again, what he stated was his opinion, and not ours.”

Clad in hoodies, a number of St. Mary Parish residents took to the streets in Baldwin to protest the death of 17-year-old Florida teen Trayvon Martin. 

HOWARD J CASTAY JR | TRI-PARISH TIMES