George Zimmerman has been declared not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin. A sad day, a very sad day indeed. My heart a
ches. I am angry, I am depressed and I am afraid of this fury building up from deep inside of me. It is a reminder that justice is a respecter of certain persons, has colour preference and tilts favorably towards a certain class. The facts of the case are simple enough, but oh how so many wants to make it into this complicated case. They whine “You don’t understand, this is what the law says”
A barbaric law made to justify barbaric acts. Laws that should not have a place in the law book of any nation that lays claim to democracy and civilization.
It is a simple case, and here are the simple facts of the case :
On Feb 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old black teenage boy was on his way to his daddy’s house in a gated neighborhood. It was raining, he had on his hooded sweatshirt, his ear buds and a bag of skittles. He was unarmed.
George Zimmerman, a 28 year old white man, wannabe cop and a neighborhood vigilante, was seated in the comfort of his car when he saw the black teenage boy, Trayvon Martin walking on the street of his gated neighborhood. George Zimmerman decided the hooded top and the colour of the boy’s skin was enough reason to arouse suspicion.
Afterall, what right has a black boy to walk in this gated neighborhood with his hood up even if it was raining? How dare he skip home unharrased with his bag of skittles like he was the Fresh Prince of Bel Air or something? Well, Zimmerman put paid to that. He made sure that the skittles happy Trayvon Martin realized he was an unwelcomed person in Zimmerman’s gated neighborhood. Nothing personal, just that the colour of Trayvon Martin skin grates on Zimmerman nerves.
George Zimmerman called 911 and he was expressly advised not to follow Trayvon Martin, but did he listen? Oh no, Zimmerman takes order from no one, he has spotted his prey and like a predator he must circle around his prey and force him to submit to his superior ferocity (or is it superior race?).
George Zimmerman started following, actually stalking Trayvon Martin. These events had evidences in the recorded 911 call and the testimony of the last person Trayvon Martin spoke to, Rachel Jeantell.
What transpired after that was a cry for help, a scuffle and a dead unarmed 17 year old Trayvon Martin, undeniably shot dead by the armed 28 year old George Zimmerman.
And what was Zimmerman’s defense? Well, he shot the unarmed Trayvon Martin, whom he was stalking, in self-defense.
Hmm… you racial profile a person, finds the person suspicious based on skin colour, stalk the person and when the person ends up dead, you claim self-defense. Seems legit.
George Zimmerman should have been arrested on the spot; he should have been tried immediately, found guilty and locked behind bars. It should have been an open and shut case, shouldn’t it?
Yes, in a sane society, where justice is truly blind, it should have been.
In a civilized society where the laws are not barbaric, it should have been.
In a humane society, where justifications are not made for racial profiling, it should have been.
In a democratic society where it is truly the land of freedom, equality and justice, it should have been.
However in a society where:
You can shoot at will and claim self defense
It is legal to shoot someone who owes you money
Racial profiling is OK
A man who stalks an unarmed teenager can find a law to hide under
Pressure had to be mounted on the state before they even thought to prosecute the white killer of a black teen
The killer of a child can plead self-defense even though he was the one who stalked and harassed the unarmed child,
And where a murdered boy can be put on trial for his own murder, what hope do we have of having a sane open and shut case?
The jury decided George Zimmerman was neither guilty of murder nor manslaughter. He was acquitted of all charges.
After the jury’s verdict, Judge Deborah Nelson told Mr Zimmerman he was free to go.
Your bond will be released. Your GPS monitor will be cut off when you exit the courtroom over here. And you have no further business with the court.
Would the jury have arrived at such a verdict if the case was reversed?
Would Trayvon Martin be a free man today if George Zimmerman was the unarmed one who ended up dead? I very much doubt it.
Today I weep for Florida, I weep for America and I weep for the whole of humanity. It is a universal mess. Justice is hardly blind anywhere in the world. And it is a shame that I am reminded of this fact by a nation I thought was a beacon of hope for freedom, equality and justice. I thought wrong, and I am so sad, so disappointed and so furious.
force him to submit to his superior ferocity (or is it superior race?)
I’m thinking a little from Column A, a little from Column B. Definitely not an either-or situation.
I share your outrage, if not your fear; but that I don’t have to share your fear is also itself outrageous. I don’t think the US has been that country that we thought it was for a long time. At least 12 years, near enough.
Race baiters are racists themselves.
@CaitieCat If my black 18 year old son had any business in Zimmerman’s neighborhood, I would fear for my son’s life.
When a riot broke out in London about a year ago, I made sure not to wear my hooded jacket during the aftermath arrests, and I posted on my FB wall that I was glad my son was away on holiday in Nigeria because i would have been afraid for him to go out for fear he would be racially profiled and considered a suspect based on his skin colour. Some of my white British FB friends thought that was an unjustified fear and over reaction on my part. A pity they could not recognize their own skin colour privilege. It would be a better world if no one has to have that fear, but we could start making it better when we acknowledge that the fear is real not imagined. Thanks.
@tiberiusbeauregard If your comment is to be taken in relation to the post, what you basically just said is that
‘It is intolerant not to tolerate intolerance and anyone who speak out against intolerance is intolerant’.
A very stupid thing to say.
Yeah. My own son is 27 now, but spent some time homeless in his late teens. It’s chilling to know that if he were Black, he’d have to worry about this kind of thing (I won’t even bother to say that Canada’s capable of plenty of racism), but even then, my chill is an imagined one. I can’t begin to say I know what it feels like, because I can’t. My kid doesn’t face this as a realistic problem in his life. None of my kids do (including them all because it’s not like it’s a basket of roses being a Black woman in this society either, as if I needed to tell you), so I can’t know what the fear of this happening to them is like.
The verdict seems to me to say, “if you’re white and going to be paranoid and racist, you’re a lot better off killing the victim of your racism, so you can get away with it.”
I think the worst part has to be the hopelessness, that it will ever change. It feels like such a huge task, to try and shift the hearts and minds of millions of people away from the idea that Black=dangerous. But bailing out would be a privilege, too, so I’ll keep on here beside you, trying to empty the ocean with my teaspoon. If we can bring enough teaspoons, we can do it.
Hm. Missed a couple of words:
“I won’t even bother trying to say that Canada’s incapable of plenty of racism”
As if we needed more proof that justice cannot be had in a US court of law….
This makes me ill.
Sad is hardly the word! And you’re right, this law has no place on the books, especially in a society where mistrust and even fear between racial groups seem to be the norm.
#3 One of the striking things about the London riots as seen from abroad was the common perception that they were ‘black’ despite the very considerable number of white participants. So your fears were caused by a false perception of the situation held by people to whom white rioters are apparently invisible. I was as shocked by that phenomenon as I am by the Zimmerman verdict, which might even be worth it if it brings people out against this law.
@Jackie, Ms. Paper if ya nasty- I am particularly surprised and taken aback by the vitriol of racist comments by Americans on yahoo, twitter and other social networks. Truly, if this is how many white Americans feel about their fellow black Americans, it is disgusting . Not just laws but also attitudinal change is needed to effect the illusory American dream where everyone is equal. Needless to say that decent persons do not need the law or court to tell them not to be racist, but the victims of racist attack needs to know the law and courts are on the side of equality and justice. The US court woefully failed to provide this important reassurance today.
Yeesh. Just stay away from the racist boards. You do not want to hear their views on this.
Son of a………..well, I’m stumped.
@2:
Fuck you.
You forgot to mention that his defense was paid for by NRA backed groups. The best money could buy, while the prosecutors had to put up with the incompetence of the Sanford police department. The prosecutors are also underpaid and overworked. Zimmerman’s freedom was bought and paid for by the NRA.
Lynching is alive and well here in the US. But we knew that.
Unfortunately, Michigan (where I live) passed a law similar to Florida’s in the middle 2-naughts. (“You don’t have to retreat in your home” has been Anglophone common law for ages, of course.) As the (African-)Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson said, the South begins at the (US-Canadian) border.
People just want to assign blame because the victim was black, despite the fact that there was no clear evidence to convict him. If Travyon was white no one would even care.
Zimmerman isn’t even white, he’s part Hispanic and one eighth black. The only reason people are making a big deal about this is to try to incite racial violence and a race rioy by manufacturing a false “atrocity”.
Riiiiight. Because an unarmed 17-year-old shot dead by a self-important asshole with a criminal history of violence is such a fake atrocity.
Worse crimes happen every day. Why does this one get so much attention? The Jewish controlled media and courts arranged this and the innocent verdict to attemp to incite a race riot, as part of their plan to further cement their control over the citizens of the USA.
LOL. Dude, you’re not supposed to use the psilocybin mushrooms on your pizza, it makes you get all conspiracy-minded, and show off your vile anti-Semitism.
You are so blind. The Bilderberg Group met recently, how come no news station is covering that? 122 of the most powerful people in the world meeting behind closed doors for mysterious (nefarious) reasons. Yet the media says nothing about it. What does that tell you?
I’m not antisemitic, I don’t have a problem with anyone because of their race, even Jews, in fact I believe most Jews are ignorant of what the global elites are doing, but the majority of those elites are Jewish, that’s an undisputed fact.
@Tarkar- Aside from being a deluded conspiracy theorist, do you also have an imaginary Skydaddy? You sound like you hear voices.
Please read my comment policy. It seems you are trying to use my post thread to spread delusions, your conspiracy theory, and your thinly veiled anti-Semitism. Go create your own media if you want to report the “The Bilderberg Group122 of the most powerful people in the world meeting behind closed doors for mysterious (nefarious) reasons.”, don’t use my blog to spread your conspiracies.
BTW, even Zimmerman identifies as white, you can check what he ticked in the police report form, it says ‘White’. It only became convenient for him to declare his Hispanic connection when it politically suits him. The world sees him as white, and he acted based on the power he enjoys as a white identified person, and he is walking free today because of that white privilege he enjoys. If you don’t grasp that, no qualms, just don’t vomit your ignorance on my blog.
Also if you do not think it is important to report and take more than a passing interest in the case of the death of an unarmed boy in the hand of an armed man who found the boy suspicious solely because of his skin colour and subsequently shot him dead, you probably suffers from more than delusions and ignorance.
Like I said if Travyon was white no one would care, the only reason this is national news is because the nwo are trying to distract people from the real evil going on in the world.
And it doesn’t make me antisemitic to point out that some Jews are doing evil things any more than it makes one islamophobic to criticize groups like al Qaeda.
Also you are way more antisemitic than me because you openly mock monotheism and God, which would be very offensive to a Jew.
@ Tarkar, If Trayvon was white, I would care, because no one deserves to be shot dead by someone based on the colour of their skin. However if Trayvon was white, he wouldn’t have been shot by Zimmerman because he wouldn’t have appeared “suspicious ‘ to Zimmerman. Truly, I am not interested in educating you on this issue, go do your research.
Also keep your anti-Semitism and whatever criticisms of the Jews you have away from my post. The meeting of the Jews is not the topic of this post and you cannot hijack my thread for your conspiracy theories. Read my comment policy.
How do you know that? Were you there the day it happened? Or can you read Zimmerman’s mind?
People are killed every day, many of those are murders. How come there is not a huge news story about all of them? What makes this case so special?
People are killed every day, many of those are clear-cut murders, how come only this one becomes a bug national story? Wake up, this whole thing was orchestrated.
@Tarkar, You belong in the Trash box and that is where your comments go from now on. I am allergic to ignorance and you reek of it. Goodbye.
I think Zimmerman identifies as white or hispanic, whichever he thinks will serve him better at any particular time. I suspect if the teenager he’d shot had been white they’d have charged FIRST degree murder, not second. I also suspect if someone who looked like George Zimmerman followed and approached a white teenager in the dark, and said teenager had shot him, the teenager would have gotten a medal for it.
When I heard the verdict here in Australia I felt physically sick.
I feel so dishearted by this and wonder how much more work we as human beings have to do in order to co-exist on this planet together.
My deepest condolences go to the families
Where is Obama , Al Sharpton , Eric Holder on this families civil rights violation? http://rochester.ynn.com/content/top_stories/490926/jury-finds-roderick-scott-not-guilty/
Same scenario roles reversed no assault involved is this justice?
I wish I could say that I am surprised. But I’m not. Being white, while not often, some white folks let slip their real thoughts and it’s not pretty. The Internet just gives these morons a place to speak openly, protected by anonymity. Incidents like this give us a real opportunity to see how people really feel. The inexplicable support of George Zimmerman’s hunting down and murdering a young man is a real indicator of what we think of blacks in this country.
It is literally sickening.
Rick @29
First, it is the ACLU who is asking the Federal Government to look into any civil rights violations by George Zimmerman. I don’t think you can fault President Obama and Eric Holder for looking into such a publicized case.
As for Al Sharpton, he’s a private citizen and he can say whatever he likes.
Second, what is the entire story? Was Roderick Scott arrested and charged immediately after the incident? This is really the heart of the George Zimmerman & Trayvon Martin story, that there was no real investigation. That someone was able to kill someone who was doing nothing more than walking down the sidewalk.
The Roderick Scott case is yet another example of what happens when we both allow and encourage people to arm themselves to protect themselves and property. People out acting like police, with little or no training, confronting and killing people over unfounded suspicion and trivial property crimes.
Thank the Gun Nuts and the NRA. President Obama, Eric Holder, and Al Sharpton had nothing to do with it.
Now, pay attention Rick, this is where it gets tricky.
Police wasted no time charging Scott with murder. A grand jury knocked the charge down to manslaughter. Scott testified in his own defense. A jury acquitted him.
http://therochesterian.com/2012/03/21/recalling-roderick-scott/
I really believe that if the Sanford Police handled Zimmerman much differently and if Martin were actually doing something wrong, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.