The former neighborhood watch volunteer called Sanford, Fla. police 46 times about increasing levels of crime in the few years prior to the Trayvon Martin confrontation inside the infamous gated community. Prosecutors argued in court on Tuesday, June 26 that the jury should hear tapes of previous calls Zimmerman made to authorities where he complains about “suspicious” black people in his neighborhood.
Richard Mantel, the state prosecutor, told the judge presiding over the trial that he can illustrate through the taped calls to police that Zimmerman had a pattern of “profiling” and had a building frustration of crime in his community which, in his opinion, reached its peak when Zimmerman saw Trayvon Martin walking through his neighborhood.
In a call made to authorities in the earlier part of February 2012, Zimmerman reported seeing a black man going through the bins. “I know the resident,” he said. “He’s Caucasian.”
Zimmerman claims he shot Martin in self defense after being “viciously attacked.” If Zimmerman is found guilty, he faces up to life in prison. The trial is expected to last between three and four weeks.
