Claim: Photographs show shooting victim Trayvon Martin.
Examples:[Collected via e-mail, March 2012]
Is this in fact a picture of the 17-year-old student who was shot last month?
Origins: In March 2012 the web site Twitchy.com posted a photograph purportedly showing 17-year-old shooting victim Trayvon Martin flipping off the camera, exhibiting quite a different pose and attitude than the pictures of him that have commonly been featured in the news media. The photo was juxtaposed with one of George Zimmerman, the man who shot him (a photo that was also quite different than the pictures of Zimmerman that have commonly been featured in the news media), with an accompanying caption reading: "Because nothing says fair like putting a mugshot looking photo in "county orange" next to a 5-year-old picture of the victim as a child. But hey, two can play that game":
The site's commentary on this image stated:
Recognize these two people? If you don't, we'll help you out. The man on the left is George Zimmerman, the man accused of murdering the boy on the right, Trayvon Martin. The mainstream media won’t show you these two photos because they convey a message that no one else wants to take into consideration.
As many other sites noted, the displayed photograph was taken from the Facebook site of a different Trayvon Martin, not the 17-year-old boy killed in Florida:
The kicker? The photo on the right was of a different Trayvon Martin. One that was still alive and in no way related to the deceased. [T]he photo in question came from a Facebook profile belonging to a living breathing, middle-finger-flipping Trayvon Martin who lists his school as Myers Middle School not Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School. Additionally, all of his relatives are listed as living in Savannah, Georgia. The late Martin grew up in Miami Gardens.
Twitchy.com subsequently posted a correction, stating:
We made a mistake. The photo on the right is not of the Trayvon Martin who was shot by Zimmerman. We apologize to our readers and to the Martin family.
The Daily Caller later presented a photograph showing a somewhat similar pose which they identified as a picture taken from the Twitter feed of the late Trayvon Martin:
Another purported photograph of Trayvon Martin was circulated in May 2012 to illustrate the statement that he was 6'2" and weighed 175 lbs:
One of my favorite rants...the liberal controlled media... television news... newspapers... magazines... radio... all continue to show 12 year old Trayvon... NOT 17 year old Trayvon... they continue to show the 5 year old picture BECAUSE it helps to cement in your mind the little, cute, Hoodie wearing youngster who was stalked by this monster.
In reality.."little Trayvon"...at the time of his death...stood almost 6'2" tall...weighed 175 muscular pounds.
This is not a photograph of Trayvon Martin but rather a picture of rapper Jayceon Terrell Taylor, better known by his stage name Game. The confusion apparently came about because the latter's photo was used to accompany articles in which he commented on the Trayvon Martin shooting. The medical examiner's report on the death of Trayvon Martin indicated that the deceased was actually 5'11" and weighed 158 lbs.
