Democracy Now 2 Stories

Tabitha Arambula

 

Trial begins in Case of Man Who Murdered Florida Teen Jordan Davis Over Loud Music (February 7th)

            On November 2012, a day after thanksgiving, there was a dispute over loud music at a gas station. Four teenagers were parked next to a man, Michael Dunn, who told them to turn down the volume. Dunn then says that he was being polite and that he overheard them saying something about killing. He felt threatened when he seen one of them reach down for something which he thought was a weapon, so he quickly reached for his glove compartment and grabbed his gun and started shooting. He shot four times and as the teens tried to drive away, he shot another five rounds. In total nine shots were fired and two of them got Jordan Davis. He was killed. Dunn and his girlfriend drove off to a motel 40miles away and ordered pizza. They went home the next day without calling the police. Later Dunn’s attorney stated that they changed the story and they blamed it on his wife, so his wife told him to go to the motel.

            There were witnesses in the gas station who saw it all. A homeless man got the license plate number and gave it to the police. They went to his home and Dunn told the officer what had happened. He was using the stand your ground defense in trial. Jordan’s mother stated how the teens had no weapon and that they were victims of an angry man over loud music. Jordan was her only son, and she will not have those wonderful memories of Jordan going to prom, or going to college. Dunn has not been out from jail since he was arrested because he is considered as a threat. Justice must be served because it all seems to be happening again, and they brought up the George Zimmerman case in this case.

 

 

 

An Olympic Snowden: U.S Athlete on Being Turned Into a Spokesperson for Verizon at 2006 Games (February 5th)

            The story was about an Olympic athlete describing her experience at the Olympic Games in Italy. Samantha Retrosi, was a Luge athlete, which she began from age 11. She was picked by the Verizon-USA Luge Slider Search program. This program goes out and recruits athletes. And she was chosen. Her contract was basically training to become a spokesperson for Verizon. She described the Olympic Games like the hunger games. The division of teams all going after the gold, or the purpose of winning. She stated how her contract told her what she could and cannot say. Apart from the sponsorship, most athletes had to get jobs to have money, because Verizon only paid for all their expenses. She stated how the tracks were made to be the fastest in the world, and how athletes from the place where the Olympics were held had more access to the tracks for practice, so when Samantha was there she only had limited access to it. During the games in Italy, she didn’t want to get through it for the medal she wanted to get through it safely. She ended up crashing and had a concussion, and stitches. She even said how a Georgian athlete died in the 2010 Olympic Games, and she was just happy she didn’t end up like him. She also said that when corporate sponsors pull out and don’t sponsor them anymore the athletes join the U.S Army World Class Athlete Program, which helps with living expenses. Besides the training they do for the Olympic games they also get boot camp, and they can be called to serve and they have to because they are in the army.