I can understand why this verdict was decided upon. I definitely didn't think murder was a viable charge. If anything I could understand manslaughter, but since apparently Martin turned back to confront Zimmerman and attacked him, Zimmerman had every right to defend himself and no reason to assume Martin was going to stop until he was dead. Since that's how it went down, Z is a free man and did what he had to do. Neither man committed a crime until one attacked the other, and since Martin apparently did the attacking, all bets are off on suggesting this was anything but self-defense. Assuming that's what the evidence brought out, I see no problem with a not guilty verdict.
If anything, I feel awfully manipulated by the media presenting a false image of Martin with what looked like a picture of a little boy screaming for his life and being hunted down and murdered in cold blood. Who he was as a person, however, had nothing to do with the facts of the case. If he was a thug, that doesn't mean he deserved to die or that Zimmerman did the right thing; if he returned and attacked Zimmerman, then that's it, no sympathy for him because he put himself in a position where he could be killed instead of going home and enjoying the game. He had a choice too, he could've gotten off the phone with his friend and called 911 if he felt threatened and ran home and bolted the door.
Do I think Zimmerman did the right thing in following him in the first place? No, but he committed no crime in doing so, no more than the security guard/Best Buy employee who follows me through every aisle of the f---ing store because I'm black and I have a bag with me is committing a crime. It's uncomfortable and unacceptable, but not illegal. Zimmerman could've been more subtle since he was potentially tailing a violent criminal, for all he knew, and common sense would suggest not giving the appearance that you're following/watching him. He could've been killed, and if he had been, we all know we wouldn't have heard of this incident at all unless we lived in Florida.
Clearly this was a case of a situation that went south and a kid died. It wasn't a good situation for anyone involved, but a court of law and a jury of his peers found him not guilty after examining the evidence. Unless something new and shocking shows up later--and even if it did, there'd be no way to charge him again--it's only fair to accept the decision as it is. I think the details leave room for reasonable doubt about what happened and with that said, innocent till proven guilty has to rule.
I don't think there's any cause to be happy or sad about it because someone died and someone else's life has been ruined. This has been a valuable learning experience, in my opinion, in terms of highlighting the very serious problem in a lot of folks' thinking about race in this country. People were up in arms and still are without taking the time to evaluate all of the facts in detail. Also, calling Zimmerman a "white Hispanic" as the media has done...I don't think I've ever heard anyone call anyone a 'white Hispanic' until this story came up. I know it's a term, but it's kind of a stupid term. I'm a white Native American black, by the way. I'll stick with "human", and "black", only so far as I need to be conscious of the fact that I bear the consequences of the irrational behavior of some blacks who have given the majority a bad name. Otherwise, it's just a lovely golden brown skin color, which just means I'm well-cooked as opposed to looking fresh out of the poultry section or whatever. My sell-by date isn't any better than yours, though, by that logic, we're all still just meatbags.
So, from one meatbag to another, Zod bless you, and Zod bless America (, especially after Zod turns America into New Krypton. All hail Zod).
--sd-7
