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Commentary: Trayvon Martin Likeness Made Into Gun Targets

A Florida retailer is out to make a profit off of disgracing the memory of a dead teenage boy.

By Cord Jefferson

Posted: 05/11/2012 07:00 PM EDT

Filed Under Guns, National News, Trayvon Martin, Florida

Few things happen in regular society anymore that are actually abhorrent. You have people who are insensitive and stuff that is offensive. But when it comes to outright barbaric maliciousness, we’ve thankfully reached a point in society when that’s generally not tolerated. Every once in a while, however, something comes along and reminds you that there are Americans who are still as medieval as people were hundreds of years ago. Case in point, this piece from the Huffington Post today:

A Florida entrepreneur said he had sold out of gun range targets depicting a faceless, hood-clad figure holding an iced tea and a bag of Skittles meant to look like Trayvon Martin.

"The response is overwhelming," the seller told Orlando's WKMG news team over e-mail. "I sold out in two days." The station did not identify the seller, and said it found the ad on a popular firearms auctioning website.

Here’s the description of the target from the website where it’s being sold: “Everyone knows the story of Zimmerman and Martin. Obviously we support Zimmerman and believe he is innocent and that he shot a thug. Each target is printed on thick, high quality poster paper with a matte finish!”

We’ve heard a lot of chatter about the Trayvon Martin killing from both sides of the aisle. Countless sports stars, musicians, and others have come out in support of Martin and his family, while others, like Geraldo, have come out to say they’re not sure George Zimmerman is necessarily in the wrong. It’s OK to have a difference of opinion on what happened to Trayvon the night he died — only he and Zimmerman know for sure. What’s not OK is trampling on a dead kid’s memory by profiting off gun nuts out to shoot his likeness. The targets offend even Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara, who said of them, "This is the highest level of disgust and the lowest level of civility.”

Whoever bought the targets should be ashamed, and whoever brought them into the world should be even more ashamed. I’m ashamed to share a country with these people.

The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of BET Networks.

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