This witness that broke the story about a gang of teens beating up a Hispanic man and saying it was ‘for Trayvon’ has come out to let the community know she definitely heard what she said she heard, despite police saying it has nothing to do with Trayvon Martin and the verdict in the George Zimmerman case.
Watch:
ABC 2 – Christina Dudley has called Patterson Park home for seven years, in part because of the tight knit community and never having to see the things she saw Sunday night.
Dudley was on a corner near her car when all of a sudden she says a large group of black teens ran right by her chasing a Hispanic man while pointing a gun.
She and others immediately called 911
“Yeah there are some kids running down the street where we are, one of them has a gun,” said one witness according to 911 recordings
Dudley says the group then started beating the man.
It was during that beating she heard the refrain that has triggered a reaction well beyond the streets of Baltimore or a Florida courtroom.
“It was toward the end when we started screaming we were calling 911. They were just screaming this is for Trayvon.” [How many times did you hear it?] “I can’t be sure but it was at least three, I would say.” [And you heard it clear as day?] “Very clear,” Dudley said in her first television interview since the assault.
Dudley goes on to say she heard the refrain ‘For Trayvon’ in both a male and female voice in that group of about 10 to 12 juveniles.
Then another call is made to 911, this time from a different witness who told the dispatcher, “a bunch of black kids just tried to beat up a Mexican guy and throwing him down in the street because he is Mexican.”
Shortly after, Dudley took to the community’s facebook page to post what she saw; she says it was to help inform and protect her diverse neighborhood.
“We just have a very tight knit community in Patterson Park and it’s the fastest way to get the word out. We have over 800 members on our facebook page and I was concerned about our Hispanic community.”
It was that post that would start a media firestorm that went national overnight because of a seemingly racially charged assault stemming from a widely publicized trial.
But now, four days after the assault, Baltimore city police are saying they are pretty confident the incident has nothing to do with the Trayvon Martin case.
“Our investigation is basically saying that there is no Trayvon connection. This incident is again, an isolated incident,” said Baltimore Detective Angela Carter-Watson.
Police say they are basing that on interviews with several other witnesses and the victim himself who doesn’t remember the teens yelling ‘For Trayvon.’
Detectives say the motive may most likely be robbery, although nothing was taken.
As for Dudley, she maintains she heard something very different.
She says she has no desire to feed what she calls the sensationalism around last weekend’s verdict but only wants her community to hear what she knows she heard that night.
Dudley tells us she’s been called by all the major news networks but has not granted them interviews because she feels it may continue to sensationalize what is obviously a very sensitive issue in both Baltimore and around the country.
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