No you won’t be naming no buildings after me…

Frank Taaffe, former neighbor of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman, has decided to collect signatures to block any future effort to erect a permanent Trayvon Martin memorial in his neighborhood.

Although there has been no official word that a memorial would be built, there were mentions of it last week. Taaffe, it seems, is attempting a preemptive strike:

“This was a tragedy to the Martin family, as we understand, but it hasn’t played out yet,” said Frank Taafe, a Zimmerman supporter and former neighbor. “Let’s let this thing play out, because I know who the aggressor was and I know who the victim was.”

Monday, Taaffe began going door-to-door with a pre-emptive strike to prevent a permanent reminder from being placed outside his neighborhood gates.

 

As Taaffe gathers signatures from his neighbors, the city manager and mayor told Local 6 there has not been any official proposal made to create a permanent memorial anywhere. However, Mayor Jeff Triplett confirmed there was a discussion last week with Martin family supporters.

 

Though nothing has been decided, that’s not stopping people from signing a petition before any proposal is made.

 

“We’ve no problem with memorials. If they want to place one in downtown Sanford, fine. Just don’t put it in front of our place here,” said Taaffe. “I just hope and pray that everyone realizes that a tragedy did happen here and no one’s gloating over this.”

Read more at WTSP.

Perhaps Taaffe’s stance is understandable. After all, not many would want to be so permanently affiliated with a violent tragedy.

Then again, Taaffe’s statements suggest that that’s not his movie.

 

Should there be a #Trayvon memorial? If so, where?

Is a memorial crucial to remembering, understanding, and acting upon this tragedy until the likes of it never happen again?

Sound off below!