Sharpton breaks promise to Trayvon supporters, fails to show up in Sanford for Easter ‘Occupation’On Easter Sunday the Rev. Al Sharpton, an MSNBC host, broke a major promise he made to those supporting him and the family of slain teenager Trayvon Martin: He didn’t show up in Sanford, Fla., to “occupy” the town.
On March 26 Sharpton vowed to “occupy” Sanford over Easter weekend to show support for Trayvon, the 17-year-old black teen who was shot by Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman on Feb. 26.
“We’re going to have a full blown occupation of Sanford with tents and everything over Easter weekend until [authorities] either arrest George Zimmerman, or arrest us for praying for his arrest,” Sharpton told ABC News about two weeks before Easter.
On Easter weekend, however, Sharpton is nowhere to be found in the central Florida town. Instead, according to his Twitter feed, he’s in Harlem.
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It’s unclear why Sharpton chose to abandon supporters of calls for “Justice for Trayvon.” Neither National Action Network spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger nor MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines responded to The Daily Caller’s requests for comment on why he broke his promise.
The reason may be related to recent disclosures about the Martin shooting — facts which have not mirrored the point of view presented by Sharpton and his allies. Since Sharpton first promised he would occupy Sanford over Easter weekend, several elements of his favored storyline have fallen apart.
UPDATE:
In emails to TheDC on Sunday, National Action Network spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger claimed Sharpton publicly announced last weekend that his Easter plans had changed. She was unable, however, to provide any evidence to support that claim. CNN did report that Sharpton held a press conference last weekend, during which he rebutted reports that he would organize a boycott of Sanford, Fla. businesses. Neither Noerdlinger nor TheDC, however, could find evidence that Sharpton reconsidered his promise of “a full blown occupation of Sanford with tents and everything over Easter weekend.”
Reverend Sharpton has been involved in enough racial (and racialized) incidents to smell a loser. He pumped this case for everything it was worth, now he’s getting out while the getting is good.
His employer appears to be backing away from the case as well.
Filed under: Playing the Race Card, Racism | Tagged: Playing the Race Card, Racism | 38 Comments »
