Sabrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, has spoken to the family of Michael Brown in an open letter that was published in Time Magazine.
“I hate that you and your family must join this exclusive yet growing group of parents and relatives who have lost loved ones to senseless gun violence” she writes. “But Michael is much more than a police/gun violence case; Michael is your son.”
Two and a half years ago on Feburary 27, 2012, Fulton’s son was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a volunteer neighborhood watch captain. The case quickly drew national attention as weeks went by without formal charges.
President Barrack Obama publicly addressed the case, just as he has done in the wake of 18-year-old Michael Brown’s tragic death at the hands of Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson.
And as we’ve seen with the Brown shooting, protests in support of Trayvon and his family went nationwide.
Zimmerman was charged on April 11, 1012. Then in July of 2013, he was found not guilty of second degree murder.
In the Brown shooting, a grand jury may begin to hear testimony as early as Wednesday and decide on whether to return an indictment against the police officer who killed him, Darren Wilson.
Fulton writes the Browns will “hear character assassinations about Michael which I am certain you already have.”
She adds, “This will incense and insult you. All of this will happen before and continue long after you have had the chance to lay your son to rest.”
“Honor your son and his life, not the circumstances of his alleged transgression,” Fulton writes. “I have always said that Trayvon was not perfect. But no one will ever convince me that my son deserved to be stalked and murdered. No one can convince you that Michael deserved to be executed.”
Fulton pledges that “neither of their lives shall be in vain” and ends her letter with a fiery call to action. “If they refuse to hear us, we will make them feel us.”
“Some will mistake that last statement as being negatively provocative. But feeling us means feeling our pain; imagining our plight as parents of slain children. We will no longer be ignored.”
Information from CNN, Time Magazine and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
