CBS Miami has issued an apology for erroneous information posted in a story regarding the death of Trayvon Martin. Community members gathered Saturday in the Miami-Dade area in Trayvon’s honor and in memory of his death 11 years ago.
The story erroneously noted: “It’s been 11 years since Trayvon was killed by neighborhood watchman George Floyd while he was walking home in Sanford.”
The inaccurate reference to Floyd set off a wave of criticism on social media, with users demanding that CBS make a correction. Martin was killed by George Zimmerman not George Floyd. Floyd was a Black man murdered in 2020 by a police officer in Minneapolis, igniting historic protests around the country.
Yesterday CBS issued the following statement: “This online story was posted on Feb. 4 and updated on Feb. 5 to remove an inaccurate reference to George Floyd. We apologize for the error and have taken steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
The CBS Miami General Manager and the head of the digital unit, which posted the story, are Black and expressed regret for the mistake.