Compare and Contrast Essay Essay

Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis were just two young teenage boys whose lives were taken from this world. The two cases for these two boys have some similarities between each other they were two 17 year-old African-American boys, both boys were unarmed, and the stand your ground law was used for each case. There are also some differences between the cases such as George Zimmerman was found not guilty while Michael Dunn was found guilty, Zimmerman stayed on the scene of the crime while Dunn did not do the same, and last eye witnesses were present to Dunn’s case but Zimmerman had zero eye witness. This is the twenty-first century yet we still have hate towards other races. In February 26, 2012 â€Å"Trayvon Martin a seventeen year old African American boy went to the store for some candy and a soft drink. George Zimmerman a Hispanic man was the neighborhood watch captain for the Retreat at Twin Lakes† (HLNtv.com). Now in November 23, 2012 Michael Dunn a White man â€Å"leaving a wedding reception for his son pulled into a gas station for wine and chips next to the SUV Jordan Davis† another seventeen year old African American boy â€Å"and three of his friends were in† (CNN.com). Zimmerman was monitoring the neighborhood when he calls 911 to report â€Å"a suspicious person.† He was â€Å"instructed to not get out or approach the person† who was. Martin. Zimmerman â€Å"disregarded the instructions given to him by the police and moments later shot Martin† and unarmed boy (CNN.com). If he was unarmed walking back to his house how could he have had any intention of being aggressive towards another man? In Dunn case he got into an argument with Davis and his friends about the loud music asking them to turn it down. Dunn said he â€Å"saw Davis reach down in his passenger seat to pull out a 12 or 20 gauge shotgun.† So â€Å"Dunn grabbed his gun an open fired ten bullet, three of which struck Davis.† Later when the car was searched no gun was found in the car (usatoday.com). Davis just like Martin was an unarmed boy. In the presence of both cases Zimmerman and Dunn both found there selves in a self-defense situation in other terms the â€Å"stand your ground law† (huffingtonpost.com). The Zimmerman case was considered self-defense but he would not have had to defend himself if he didn’t approach Martin. Also when Martin was unarmed what did Zimmerman need to defend himself of? Dunn on the other hand was not in a calm state of mind he was the â€Å"prosecutor portrayed him as a gunman whose â€Å"blood started to boil† because an armed teenager had disrespected him† (usatoday.com). Even though Dunn thought Davis had a gun he should not have fired off ten rounds rapidly. Dunn could not have been defending him and his wife when the teenagers were unarmed. They were no harm to Dunn and his wife. Zimmerman was the neighborhood watch men and was patrolling the street when he saw Martin. There were not one eye witnesses to seeing what happened at the scene besides Zimmerman a nd Martin who was dead. The only thing they had to go off of was the bruises forming and blood running from the back of his head, also the recording of the gun shot from the police recording of Zimmerman’s phone call. In Dunn’s case he was at a gas station with people around including the four men he was talking to about the loud â€Å"rap crap† music as he called it (CNN.com). Usually when you flee the scene of a crime it means you are guilty. After Zimmerman got out and came up too Martin and defended himself by shooting him. He stayed at the scene was it because no one was around and he already called the cops, and he knew that with his head bloody it was constituted as the â€Å"stand your ground law?† As for Dunn he fled forty miles back to his motel as soon as he shot off ten rounds. There he took â€Å" his dog for a walk, ordered pizza, and drank rum and cola† (CNN.com) Zimmerman was found not guilty after a year and six months went by. The six women jury found George Zimmerman not guilty. The jury had three choices to convict Zimmerman of â€Å"guilty of second degree murder, to find him guilty of the lesser charge manslaughter, or to find him not guilty. The jurors deliberated for more than sixteen hours total, including the thirteen on Saturday alone† (CNN.com). Now for Dunn even though he had pretty similar crimes as Zimmerman he was found guilty. Dunn received â€Å"a minimum of twenty years on one count, another twenty year count, and another minimum of twenty  year count† (usatoday). Works Cited Neale, Rick. â€Å"Fla. USA TODAY. Larry Kramer, 16 Feb. 2014. Web. 9 Apr. 2014.