(The Root) — Calls on the Internet for the removal of an offensive game based on the unfortunate case of Trayvon Martin have been heeded … kind of.
The mobile game Angry Trayvon, created by Trade Digital, featured a hoodie-clad male named Trayvon who goes around fighting people at night. "Trayvon is angry," the description read, "and no one can stop him from completing his world tour of revenge on the bad guys who terrorize cities every day." The app's Twitter page claimed that "Angry Trayvon is fictitious and was not intended to portray any people in real life." (Yes, using a name and likeness as distinctive as Trayvon's has become was totally a coincidence. Right.)
Needless to say, someone attempting to profit from the tragic death of Trayvon Martin, especially in the midst of a heated trial, was met with a chilly reception on the Internet. The call for the removal of the app from iPhone and Android app stores has now been heard not once, but twice. After being removed from stores last night, the game reappeared on GooglePlay under the name Angry Trayvon HD; it was again removed this afternoon. Both the Angry Trayvon Twitter page and the Facebook page have also been taken down.
Since that game's removal, however, yet another Trayvon-themed game has sprung up in its place: Zimmerman Hunter, published by developer Wazumbi, urges players to "stop Zimmerman from killing those evil hoodie wearing, Skittles brandishing, non-white people." People are now calling for this app's removal.
This isn't the first time that a game developer ruffled some feathers with a game starring tragic characters. In 2005 Danny Ledonne made a game titled Super Columbine Massacre RPG based on the deadly shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in 1999.
Here are some examples of the Trayvon game's chilly reception on the Internet.
Dear @GooglePlay, why is the @AngryTrayvon game app still available in your digital store? cc: @FastCompany @Android @msnbc @nbcnews
— Goldie Taylor (@goldietaylor) July 9, 2013
Tracy Clayton is a writer, humorist and blogger from Louisville, Ky.