I told myself that I was going to keep my opinion to myself in regards to the Zimmerman trial in Florida. I was doing pretty well with this decision until I watched the news shows this morning. In all of them that I saw, Zimmerman was being demonized, and the trial was boiling down to Race. Race should have nothing to do with this trial. The evidence should be weighed, and a decision made based on the facts, not the race of the people involved. This was not a “truckload of white boys, lynching a black man because he was seen with a white woman.” This is not the 1950’s South. While racial problems still exist in the US, this was not in my opinion a racially motivated crime. When George Zimmerman said "They always get away" he was probably referring to the people who had been committing a rash or robberies in the neighborhood over the preceding two months. Someone walking down an unlit access road behind the row of houses at night would also look suspicious to me given the circumstances. Zimmerman did initiate the contact with Martin. As a member of the neighborhood watch, he saw something suspicious, he called 911, then against their advice (they were concerned for his safety), he followed the person. He stopped Martin to find out why he was back there. This is fact up to this point. From here nobody knows what happened for the next 8 minutes. Zimmerman had a legally registered firearm, and a permit to carry it. A witness saw one of them on top of the other punching the one on the bottom, and slamming their head down to the ground. The witness was not positive who was on top or bottom. Zimmerman had wounds to his head consistent with being hit in the face, and having his head slammed into the pavement. Screams for help were heard over Zimmerman’s cell phone, when the police arrived Martin had been shot dead by Zimmerman. This whole situation is tragic. What I find to be even more tragic is the way this case has been handled by the media, the courts, and by the race baiter’s in society. Given the facts in the case, and ignoring the race of any of the participants, Zimmerman should have been guilty of nothing more than self-defense. It can be looked at, based on the evidence, that he was in fear for his life and was already taking severe bodily injury. If that is the case, it is a justified shooting. There was no evidence presented in court that showed otherwise. Beginning with the first reports of the killing, the media claimed that it was a race based attack, and even “doctored” evidence to make it seem that way. They attempted to portray Martin as a sweet back schoolboy who was just walking home from the store, when a fanatical white man attacked him without cause. The picture they showed of Martin was of him in his school uniform, and was taken five years earlier. They did not mention that at the time of the attack that Martin was 185 pounds and almost six foot tall. It was stated in court by a prosecution witness that Martin often used racial slurs. President Obama even got involved in this case by making a statement about “poor trayvon.” The president’s influence on this case did not end there. The DOJ sent a team down to Florida to ensure that “there was justice for Trayvon Martin.” This DOJ team pressured the courts to move forward with the case without a grand jury indictment (it is the job of a grand jury to examine the evidence offered in the case to see if it is strong enough to move forward with a trial). During the trial, Zimmerman’s defense counsel decided that his case was strong enough that there was no need for him to take the stand. The judge attempted to force Zimmerman to testify, even though the Constitution does not require it, and his lawyer and he did not want to. Zimmerman was still found “not guilty” of all charges. Now, the NAACP, and groups sponsored by al Sharpton, and Jesse Jackson want the DOJ to level Federal hate crime charges against Zimmerman. This would not be double jeopardy, because they are different charges, but it sure seems to me like sour grapes. If they could not get him for the killing in one way, they will just try another. Even if this does not happen, Zimmerman is still likely to face a civil suit over the killing. Several extremist African American groups have been calling for rioting in the aftermath of an innocent verdict, and one of them even called for “blacks to go find ‘whitey’ in their own neighborhoods, and make them pay with their blood” after the decision.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 18:10:02 +0000
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