Gayle King recalls making CBS This Morning to put a national spotlight on Trayvon Martin's killing

Los Angeles Times

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the death of the unarmed 17-year-old Black teenager, who was shot and killed by neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman in Florida. King tells the Los Angeles Times that when she first brought up Martin's name at a CBS This Morning story meeting, producers told her it was a local story. “I said, ‘I’m telling you this is not a local story,’” King recalled. “It was unheard of to me that this was just a kid walking from the store with his Skittles and his Arizona iced tea, minding his own business on the phone talking to his girlfriend.” As a result of King's pressure, CBS sent its Atlanta-based correspondent, Mark Strassmann, to conduct the first network TV interview with Martin's father and his attorney Ben Crump, now known for representing families in wrongful police killings. Tonight, King will anchor the CBS News special Trayvon Martin: 10 Years Later, which will air on BET and Smithsonian Channel and stream on CBS News' streaming service.