The neighborhood crime watch volunteer who shot an unarmed teenager dead, made dozens of frivolous 911 calls in the months before the shooting.
46 calls were made over just 12 months and many were reportedly about black youths, who like Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman claimed were suspicious.
George Zimmerman: “There’s two suspicious characters that came to my neighborhood. I’ve no idea what they’re doing. They are just hanging out, loitering.”
911 operator: “Can you describe the two individuals?”
Zimmerman: “Two African-American males.”
Then this call:
Zimmerman: “This gentleman was walking in the neighborhood I’ve seen before on trash days, going around picking up trash. I don’t know what his deal is.”
911 operator: “White, Black or Hispanic?”
Zimmerman: “Black.”
No call was too trivial to make and police responded every time to the quiet gated community outside Orlando, Florida.
Zimmerman called 911 once and reported, “Somebody did leave their garage door open.”
He called another time and said, “The kids in the neighborhood have gotten accustomed to playing in the street. They play in the street and they just run out in front of cars.”
Chris Tutko is the National Sheriff’s Association’s Director of Neighborhood Watch. He said Zimmerman is a case study in what not to do.
INSIDE EDITION’s Paul Boyd asked Tutko, “George Zimmerman was making calls about garage doors being open or people loitering, what’s the threshold for calling law enforcement?”
Tutko responded, “This is a common sense organization. Common sense tells you if you call eight times and eight times they come and eight times they don’t have anything to do, what’s going to happen the ninth time?”
He also said that neighborhood watch volunteers should never be armed.
“I know of no neighborhood watch group that would allow a person to go out carrying a weapon,” said Tutko.
Meanwhile, Trayvon Martin’s girlfriend is coming forward. She says she was on the phone with him when he was first confronted by Zimmerman and she overheard what happened.
“He said this man was watching him, so he put his hoodie on. Trayvon said, ‘What are you following me for?’ Then the man said, ‘What are you doing around here?’ Then somebody pushed Trayvon because the headset fell,” explained Martin’s girlfriend.
Sheryll Underwood wept on The Talk as the latest developments were discussed, and Aisha Tyler was forthright about what she believes happened.
“This is a guy who is waiting for crime at every corner. He is waiting to use his gun,” said Tyler.
With public outrage building, the lawyer for Trayvon Martin’s family is calling for George Zimmerman’s immediate arrest.
Martin’s lawyer said, “Arrest George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin in cold blood, today!”