Trayvon Martin case: Black Sanford residents recall past police department brutality (VIDEO)

theGRIO VIDEO - The shooting of 17 year old Trayvon Martin has reopened old wounds for many in Sanford, Florida's black community, fueling an existing distrust of police. ..

The shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin has re-opened old wounds for many in Sanford, Florida’s black community, fueling an existing distrust of police.

At an NAACP town hall meeting, held at a church in the city’s predominantly black Goldsboro neighborhood on Wednesday, that mistrust boiled over, as residents described past incidents that they say show a pattern.

THE CITIZENS OF SANFORD RECALL POLICE BRUTALITY IN THEIR COMMUNITY
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Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett attended Wednesday’s town hall meeting after traveling to Washington D-C with a delegation, to urge the Justice Department to review the case, including why police failed to arrest the shooter, George Zimmerman.

But the main source of mistrust, many residents say, is the department led by a man who wasn’t there Wednesday, Sanford police chief Bill Lee.

Outside the town hall, a group of young men from a local church wore Skittles candy boxes around their necks to signal their fear that they could become victims of racial profiling, just like Trayvon.

National NAACP president Ben Jealous says the fear of profiling, especially after the killing of Trayvon Martin, is not limited to Sanford.

The Department of Justice and a Florida grand jury are now investigating the police handling of Trayvon Martin’s death.

Follow Joy Reid on Twitter at @thereidreport

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