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NBC Producer Fired Over Edited Trayvon Martin 911 Call As Neo-Nazis Begin Patrolling Sanford
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 7, 2012
Modified Apr 7, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 7, 2012
Modified Apr 7, 2012
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The 911 call made by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman on the night he fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is at the crux of the U.S. Justice Department's investigation into whether they will prosecute Zimmerman. There have been independent analyses of the call trying to discern whether Zimmerman uttered a racial epithet, to determine whether the shooting could be characterized as a hate crime. Now, an NBC producer has been fired for editing the call to make it seem as though Zimmerman told police that Martin was black without being prompted.
During the clip which aired on the "Today" show on March 27, Zimmerman tells the 911 operator: "This guy looks like he's up to no good. He looks black." According to the transcript of the call, Zimmerman first said: "This guy looks like he's up to no good. Or he's on drugs or something. It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about." The dispatcher asked: "O.K., and this guy—is he white, black or Hispanic?" Zimmerman responded, "He looks black."
"During our investigation it became evident that there was an error made in the production process that we deeply regret," NBC News said in a statement. "We will be taking the necessary steps to prevent this from happening in the future and apologize to our viewers." Nevertheless, they have not released the name of the producer. One source characterized the misleading edit to the Times as a mistake, not a purposeful act.
Friends and lawyers have come out of the woodwork to defend Zimmerman—who is still in hiding, and hasn't appeared in public since the shooting—in the media. Among other things, they've pointed out that Zimmerman handed out fliers at black Sanford churches a year ago, outraged that a white police lieutenant's son—who was captured on video sucker-punching a homeless black man—was not arrested on the spot.
Meanwhile, a disturbing new group has reportedly come to Sanford, Florida, where the shooting took place. According to the Miami New Times, neo-Nazis have started conducting heavily armed patrols in and around Sanford, and are "prepared" for violence in the case of a race riot. "Whenever there is one of these racially charged events, Al Sharpton goes wherever blacks need him," said Commander Jeff Schoep of the National Socialist Movement. "We do similar things. We are a white civil rights organization."
He cited the New Black Panther Party's recent offer of $10,000 for a citizens' arrest of George Zimmerman among other things. "We are not advocating any type of violence or attacks on anybody, but we are prepared for it," Schoep said. "We are not the type of white people who are going to be walked all over."
Tagged
911 call
fired
florida
george zimmerman
nbc
neo-nazis
sanford
trayvon martin
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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