Trayvon Martin’s dad: Markeis McGlockton’s death is a direct result of George Zimmerman’s acquittal
By Chauncey Alcorn | July 30, 2018
The July 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin led to more than just the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement, according to Trayvon’s father, Tracy Martin.
“What that acquittal did was empower white supremacists to feel as though they can go out and shoot and kill unarmed black men and say that they were afraid for their lives and get away with it,” Martin said Sunday during a Q&A session at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City, following a preview screening of the new docuseries Rest In Power: The Trayvon Martin Story.
One of those alleged white supremacists, according to Martin, is Michael Drejka, a white man from Clearwater, Florida, who fatally shot Markeis McGlockton, a black man, less than two weeks ago. Drejka was allegedly heard having a disagreement with McGlockton’s girlfriend, Brittany Jacobs, around 3:30 p.m. July 19 after Jacobs and McGlockton pulled up to a local Circle A convenience store and parked in a handicapped space.
Drejka was reportedly upset about the illegal use of the handicapped space, according to Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who detailed the incident during a 29-minute press conference July 20. After searching the outside of Jacobs’ car for handicap decals, Drejka, 48, began arguing with Jacobs in the parking lot while McGlockton and his 5-year-old son, Markeis Jr., were shopping inside the store.
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A witness came inside and told the store clerk about the argument. McGlockton overheard the discussion, which compelled him to go outside, Gualtieri said.
Drejka had a history of making racist comments and engaging in angry arguments over the store’s handicap space, according to the store’s owner, Ali Salous, and septic tank truck driver Richard Kelly. (Kelly got into an argument with Drejka for the same reason a couple months before Drejka’s fatal encounter with McGlockton.)
“He’s always hanging out in the parking lot here,” Salous, the owner, told WFLA July 20. “If he sees anyone parking illegal or something like that, he just wants to argue with them and fight with them.”
Kelly said Drejka called him “the n-word” and threatened to kill him during their argument several weeks prior.
“He flipped out on me, called me every n-word, said he’s going to shoot me,” Kelly told Spectrum News 9 of Drejka on July 24. “He said he was going to kill me, and he went back to his truck, got something out of his truck and walked back up on me.”
After witnessing the July 19 shouting match between Drejka and Jacobs, McGlockton walked up to Drejka and shoved him to the ground, prompting Drejka to pull out a concealed handgun — which authorities said he was licensed to carry — and point it at McGlockton. Surveillance video shows McGlockton stepped away from Drejka before Drejka shot McGlockton in the chest.
McGlockton covered the bullet wound with his hand as he retreated back into the convenience store, where he collapsed in front of his son. He was declared dead at a local hospital less than an hour later.
The next day, Gualtieri told reporters that McGlockton pushed Drejka with “great force” during their altercation, and that his department could be sued if it arrests Drejka because of Florida’s Stand Your Ground law — the same self defense legislation that initially dissuaded officers in Sanford, Florida, from arresting George Zimmerman after he shot and killed Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, 2012.
“We’re precluded from making an arrest in this type of a situation,” Gualtieri said during a July 20 press conference. “We gotta follow the law.”
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