Trayvon Martin's Dead Body Splashed On Gawker, MSNBC!

[RetroGamer1971]

I am shaking right now, and trying not to cry. I was making the round of my feed this morning, and clicked on www.gawker.com. I was greeted with a blown up. full color photo of Trayvon Martin dead on their freaking front page! There was no way to unsee it. Apparently, MSNBC has been running Mr. Martin's death photo on their site too. I am outraged that they need for page clicks has completely overrun the need to respect the wishes of the parents in these situations.
I am not weighing in on the criminal case against Mr. Zimmerman here. I am just asking what standards should we hold to when photos of dead kids are involved?

I will post the link to the Gawker article here, but I will not post the actual picture out of respect for the deceased's parents.
http://gawker.com/this-courtesy-of-msnbc-is-trayvon-martins-dead-body-753370712

14 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Time expired
	Gawker Was Okay Running The Trayvon Martin Death Picture.
	12 (86%)
	Gawker Crossed The Line Running The Trayvon Martin Death Picture.
	2 (14%)
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[JustAnotherGen]

1. I saw it too

I don't know if the jury saw it - but I hoped they did. I hope they saw it. He was so young.

[Mr. David]

2. That picture should be the result of the verdict of murder of the second degree.

A child is dead.

[hlthe2b]

3. Given the rampant number of Zimmie defenders who have demonized, dehumanized Martin

I actually think this NEEDED to happen. And, frankly, I would bet Martin's family would now agree, against all the ugliness that SOMETHING had to get through to those who remain at least minimally "human" and not irreversibly biased, that this was a totally preventable HUMAN LIFE taken.

Normally, I would be aghast, but I'm not sure this is as gratuitous as might be initially assumed.


On edit, I am reminded that it was the family of Emmett Till, who demanded that his horrendously disfigured remains be shown to all in open casket after his horrendous murder. So, yes, I do believe Martin's family might well agree with this unpleasant publication of Trayvon's body at death.

[bushisanidiot]

4. He looks so young!

no stains on his knees from the alleged "fight".
i'd like to see a closer pic of his hands, but i don't see any blood on them which would
have been present if z's story were at all true.

[CakeGrrl]

5. Maybe could have come with a warning, but a needed wake-up call

for people who assume Zimmerman was justified because of the PERCEIVED image of the black 'menace' he felt he had to kill.

The picture puts a lot of lie to that. All there is is a dead young kid, not dressed as some scary gangbanger.

It's reminiscent of some of the lynching photos of Jim Crow days.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. It is about bloody time they show

The results of gun violence unvarnished, not yellow blankets, nothing. That photo is part of the evidence shown as well.

[sinkingfeeling]

23. +1

[PennsylvaniaMatt]

7. It is unfortunate if the family didn't want that picture out...

But, I think people, especially right wing Zimmerman defenders who don't give a damn about what happened because it was done to a black boy, need to see that picture to grasp the full extent of what was done to Trayvon

[HipChick]

8. I so sorry he died alone, scared, at the hands of this punk..

[JaneyVee]

9. That image is a reality that cannot be told by words.

And sometimes people should be forced to face reality.

[HockeyMom]

10. I cannot look at that

a very young human being's life is over, for no reason whatsoever. I don't need to see a picture to be inflamed.

[premium]

11. Haven't seen it, won't look at it,

seen enough dead bodies in my lifetime.
The only thing I will say is

R.I.P. Trayvon Martin.

[riverwalker]

12. the thing about that photo

(I have seen it before) is that the headphone earbuds are found right next to his head. It's much clearer in the blow ups I have seen, it's by the evidence marker 6, you can see a little bit of black. If Trayvon had been about to attack Zimmerman, he would have taken his headphones off, and tucked them in his pocket. Trayvon was surprised/grabbed by Zimmerman, while still on the phone, exactly as Rachel describes.

[polly7]

28. Yes. Especially if he'd been waiting in the bushes to jump out at Zimmerman from.

(I think I heard the defense say once.)

[dorkzilla]

13. You really get the sense that Trayvon was just a kid from the picture

And perhaps if we saw the result of this kind of behavior more often, we could shame rather than empower these fucking killers.

[snagglepuss]

34. His being just a kid comes across so strongly in the photo.

It does send a powerful message.

[Amaya]

14. It should seen by all!

[Perez Pradosky]

15. It's free speech

Let MSNBC do what it does.

[hrmjustin]

20. Do you think Zimmerman is innocent or guilty?

[nolabear]

16. I think it depends entirely on what his family wants.

If they think a lesson can be learned and don't mind, then let the world look and weep and be angry. Emmett Till's mother insisted her son's coffin be open so people could see what was done to her boy.

[Laurian]

17. This photo represents reality. Seeing it helps prevent the

all to common tendency to minimize/marginalize the consequences of gun violence.

[LordGlenconner]

27. I couldn't agree more

This is the reality behind the afternoon soap opera that this case has turned into. Frankly, I think it would be better if more people saw this kind of imagery. It takes the entertainment value away -- completely -- which should have never been there in the first place.

To me, above all, this photo, ghastly as it is, represents TRUTH.

[MADem]

18. I am horrified, and what I see is a dead CHILD--a kid, a teen.

Nicely dressed, carefully groomed...and DEAD. A mother's little boy, a father's pride and joy...DEAD.

Is the jury seeing this? How can they not convict? That's not a THUG, that's is a young boy who went out for candy, who was shot by an asshole with a gun and no business taking the law into his own hands.

[CurtEastPoint]

19. it is on free rep and the comments are vile

Lots of calls for ammo

[Tx4obama]

21. There are NO grass stains or dirt on his pants/knees !!!

I do not remember that being said in Court. IF it was a missed it.

There's NO way that Trayvon could have been on top of Zimmerman straddling him on wet grass and end up with clean pants!

[riverwalker]

22. OMG you are right!! n/t

[JustAnotherGen]

26. You are correct

[justiceischeap]

30. It's really hard to tell from that photo but his knees don't even look wet

If that's true, that says a lot about what did and didn't happen.

[olddots]

24. It may be a long hot summer

n.t.

[justiceischeap]

29. It's images like this that often change the tide

Think of that image by Eddie Adams, the one he took of the guy getting shot in the head. Kinda changed the tide and opinion of what was happening in Vietnam, along with a lot of other photojournalism from there.

[Spirochete]

31. Maybe that picture needed to be seen

That kid lying down in the picture is never going to get back up, and it's all because of a trigger-happy vigilante.

[UncleYoder]

32. This is why,

“Let them see what they’ve done.” -- Jacqueline Kennedy.

“I want the world to see what they did to my baby." -- Emmet Till's mother.

“I owed it to him as his mother, the good, the bad and the ugly." -- Noah Pozner's Mother.


Slap them with the evidence of why guns are not welcome until they come to their senses.

[alcibiades_mystery]

33. However much I hate to see it

It is revealing in all sorts of ways.

So the claim is that that skinny kid was beating the crap out of a 200 pound full grown man, up to his fearing death?

That skinny kid?

Wow. Wow.

I've said on this board many times that I was about Martin's size when I was 17: 5'11", 160lb. And yes, that is what I looked like, size-wise. I remember how skinny my legs were. I wondered whether Marton's were as well, and the answer is clearly yes. That skinny child was beating the crap out of George Zimmerman?

Come on, now.