Michelle Williams responds to controversial audio recording concerning Trayvon Martin case

RIVERVIEW, Fla. - Community activist Michelle Williams has been going non-stop, talking or just texting on the phone. The hectic day follows the release of audio where Michelle is heard speaking about the Trayvon Martin case.

Williams can be heard saying, "Let me tell you something, the things that is about to happen to these honkeys, these crackers, these pigs, these pink people, these (beep) people, it has been long over due."

Michelle Williams is the Chief of Staff with the local chapter of the New Black Panther Party. As a community activist, she has also worked very closely with both the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office as well as the Tampa Police Department.

I have interviewed Michelle in the past on community issues, and truth be told was shocked to hear such harsh words coming from her so I asked to sit down with her to give her the opportunity to respond.

Michelle would not deny that it was her on the recording.  

She did say what I had heard, and what is now all over the radio and internet, is just a short part of a much longer dialogue where her anger was building over the issue.

She explained further, with tears in her eyes.  "I'm angry right now. I'm angry that we don't have a Justice Department that says 'we need to change laws.'  I'm angry that we have a Florida Governor that has not made any real statements about this judicial system.  I'm tired, John.  I'm tired." She would go on, "That's not me. That's not my demeanor. And for something so heart-wrenching that I am watching unfold. I have a 17-year-old son. That could have been my son."

Michelle's emotions are clearly not just her own.

The Trayvon Martin case has rallied many from Sanford right across the nation.

But for those, like Michelle, opposed to how the situation is being handled, in their push for justice, is there a limit and does this cross it?

From the audio recording again, in Michelle's own words, "My prize, right now this evening, is going to be the bounty, the arrest, dead or alive, of George Zimmerman." I would point out to Michelle, "Those are really harsh words people hear - dead or alive." And after a long pause she would respond, "I'm going to have to be a little more soft-hearted on that one. That's just being honest."