On this day in 2012, February 26, a young man named Trayvon Martin was killed in Sanford, Florida in an encounter with Neighborhood Watch coordinator George Zimmerman. His death–and the following acquittal of his killer–was a watershed moment that sparked national outrage and the Black Lives Matter movement. And today, Paramount Network released an official teaser trailer for Rest In Power: The Story of Trayvon Martin.
The six-part documentary will give viewers a look into more of Martin’s story before his fatal encounter with Zimmerman. It looks like audiences can expect for this series to be similar to Time: The Kalief Browder Story, another Jay-Z produced 6-part documentary series that detailed Browder’s unjust arrest and imprisonment (he was held for 3 years in Rikers prison without being formally charged and without a trial).
Time gave audiences a look into the common injustices of the criminal justice system, and lent legitimacy to the movement calling for reforms in New York’s justice system. Rest In Power, Jay-Z seems to hope, will employ a similar transformative power (h/t Uproxx).
The producers tried to get Zimmerman in the documentary, but he was unwilling to participate. He was quoted saying, in regard to the project, “I know how to handle people who f*ck with me, I have since February 2012.”
