Trayvon Martin was 17 years old when he died. On February 26, in a suburb community of Orlando, FL, Trayvon bought a pack of Skittles and iced tea at his local 7-Eleven. Then he walked back to his girlfriend’s father’s house—only to be shot to death by a neighborhood watch captain. This case has drawn so much attention because of the sheer brutal randomness of Trayvon’s death. Moreover, Trayvon was black, and his killer, George Zimmerman, is white and Latino. Zimmerman was on patrol when he saw Trayvon and immediately called the police to report a ‘suspicious’ person, according to CNN. The 911 operater informed Zimmerman that police had been dispatched, and not to pursue Trayvon. Zimmerman, however, continued to follow the teenager. Why did Zimmerman single Trayvon out, follow him for a long time in spite of the 911 monitors’ advice and allegedly eventually come to blows with him? Explaining why he trailed Trayvon, Zimmerman described the teen as black, asserting that Trayvon was acting strangely and could have been on drugs. Zimmerman, carrying a gun, made assumptions about Trayvon and decided to take justice, responsibility, or whatever he may have thought he should do into his own hands. Trayvon was wearing a hoodie, and supporters have rallied around it as a symbol of the racial profiling and stereotyping that many believe contributed to Trayvon’s death. Responding to neighbors’ 911 reports of a gunshot, police quickly questioned, then released Zimmerman, who claimed he acted in self-defense. According to the weekly journal “The Nation,” Zimmerman claims he stopped stalking the teenager and returned to his car, but Trayvon approached him from behind, exchanged hostile words, and then quickly overpowered Zimmerman and basically beat him up. Trayvon’s death might have been an accident. But to say that Trayvon, a 17-year old kid who had the nickname ‘Slimm’ because he was so thin, physically attacked and overpowered the much older and larger Zimmerman is a less than convincing claim. Trayvon was a minor. Zimmerman is an adult, someone who believed vigilante justice is needed to protect his community from any perceived threats. Trayvon has no criminal record at all. Zimmerman, however, has been arrested and charged with ‘resisting a police officer with violence,’ and his ex-fiancee filed a restraining order against him, citing domestic violence. It has been suggested that Zimmerman has had problems with alcohol. In any case, I would not want to have this guy patrolling my neighborhood. And definitely not with a gun. Zimmerman claims that because he acted out of self-defense, the law protects him–not Trayvon—and guarantees him immunity. The law, called “Stand Your Ground,” states that the use of deadly force to protect one’s person from any self-perceived threat is permitted wherever such event might occur. Many states have this type of law. Some, however, like Massachusetts, have Castle Doctrine laws, which simply permit the use of force against intruders in the home. The idea that any citizen in his own home is king has long been ingrained in American psyche. But “Stand Your Ground” laws legalize and protect citizens taking justice into their own hands. It bypasses the police force and justice system and lets citizens act without liability. In a Letter to the Editor in “The New York Times,” a citizen named Sam Levine highlighted the fundamental flaw with the “Stand Your Ground” law. He wrote, “If citizens are to be entrusted with the responsibilities of gun ownership, they must be held accountable for their actions. Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ self-defense law, along with the 20 similar laws across the country, effectively removes that accountability.” Zimmerman has no right to protection under the “Stand Your Ground” law because he was the provoker and the offender who chose to follow and argue with a minor. It was Trayvon whom, if he did indeed respond with violence, would have been protected under such law. This confusing and tragic scenario is only one of a countless number of cases that all show the moronic, harmful nature of the “Stand Your Ground” law. The local Floridian police team investigating the crime, after its first police chief stepped down after protests of mismanagement, has asked for patience and to let the law run its course. Yet the bungling and confusing way this case has been handled shows the inability of the government to protect its citizens. For the legacy of Trayvon Martin, justice is between a rock and a hard place. Sam Koffman is a three-year Upper from Princeton, NJ.