Over the weekend George Zimmerman was acquitted for murder in the Trayvon Martin case. A lot of people are happy and a lot are mad. I figured I'd leave my opinions for anyone who actually cares.
First I hate the topic of racism. The media made such a big deal about racism because it was a racist white guy that hated Trayvon because he was black. First off Zimmerman is half white and half Mexican. Does the half white automatically make him a white guy? If that's the case Obama isn't truly the first black President of the US. Now is Zimmerman racist? I'm not sure. He might be a little racist, but those remarks of Trayvon calling Zimmerman a "creepy a** cracker" doesn't make Trayvon look unbiased towards race.
Secondly I wanted to cover the media portrayal of Trayvon. There was so much hype of him being an innocent little kid. Apparently his facebook pictures showed signs of him being part of the thug culture. It's easy for people to feel sorry for a small kid, but not as easy to feel sympathetic towards some thug looking for a fight. It kind of goes hand in hand with Zimmerman being portrayed as some KKK grand dragon or something. It's easy to feel sympathetic towards a neighborhood watch member that gets attacked and fights back in self defense, but not as easy to be sympathetic for some racist a*****e to be looking for a fight and just shooting a kid for no reason. The way both parties were characterized by the media set Trayvon as the victim and George as the monster.
There was the 911 call. The dispatcher told George to leave Trayvon alone and wait for the police, but George followed him anyway. 911 dispatch isn't a legal authority so just because they say something doesn't mean you absolutely have to and in some instances it's bad advice. In this instance if George hadn't followed Trayvon things would not have escalated to the point of lethal force. It's not illegal to follow someone, but it was still a stupid move on his part, but I'm not convinced he did it with the intention of violence.
Finally there was the confrontation between George and Trayvon. At some point it went from following to fighting to lethal force. There were no witnesses to see how the fight went down. George could have thrown the first punch or Trayvon could have gotten tired of being tailed and jumped George instigating the fight himself. Either way a fight broke out between the two and George was on his back with his head being slammed into the pavement which is when he drew his gun and fired. The crucial details of how the fight started determine whether it was truly murder or self defense. During the confrontation the two could have talked it over like gentlemen and that would have diffused the situation rather than going to lethal force. The only one who knows what happened for sure is Zimmerman. If George had gone from following to shooting without a fight in the middle it would appear to be a clear cut case of murder, but the fight leaves a grey area.
I don't know if Zimmerman was guilty or not. As I mentioned I don't know how the fight really went. There's a lot of conflicting information so I've tried my best to remain neutral. I know George made some stupid mistakes that could have changed the outcome and I'm sure Trayvon made mistakes as well. As for the verdict I was glad it was not guilty. Our justice system is supposed to be based on the idea that you are innocent until proven guilty. The prosecution could not prove it was murder.
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