There's not a whole lot that needs to be said on why George Zimmerman should have been found guilty of the murder of Trayvon Martin.
The six-panel jury found Zimmerman not guilty because of Florida's “Stand Your Ground” law. Because of this, they decided that a crime was not committed when Zimmerman shot and killed an unarmed youth.
However…
George Zimmerman was instructed by the 9-1-1 operator to stay in his vehicle and allow the police, who were on the way, to handle the situation.
Zimmerman, however, got out of his vehicle while talking to the 9-1-1 operator and said the following: “I am sick of these niggers always getting away with this…”
As an aside, we still don't know what the “this” was. Trayvon Martin wasn't doing anything criminal when he was walking down the street.
Anyway…
When the 9-1-1 operator asked Zimmerman if he was still following Martin, and Zimmerman said yes, the operator clearly told Zimmerman, “Sir, you don’t have to do that. Don’t follow him, sir.”
Zimmerman, however, had his own agenda, and by his own words, it was clear that he was on the hunt, and his weapon of choice was a gun.
By acquitting George Zimmerman, the jury sent the message that he was essentially acting as an agent of the police, since he decided to get out of his vehicle to confront Trayvon Martin, shot and killed Trayvon Martin and then was not held accountable in the death of Trayvon Martin, even though Zimmerman was told explicitly to allow the police to handle the situation.
Again this begs the question, “What situation?”
Trayvon Martin was walking down the street. He wasn't crawling out of the window of a house, he wasn't snatching a radio out of a parked vehicle, nor was he attacking a defenseless elderly couple and robbing them of their social security payment.
Before he was shot and killed, Trayvon Martin was walking down the street at night with a hood over his head. That's it. That's all.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it best when he said “justice delayed is justice denied.”
When there was a delay in charging George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martion, the history of delayed justice for blacks killed by whites who take the law into their own hands had already sealed a “not guilty” verdict for George Zimmerman.
Bottom line…
Had George Zimmerman stayed in his car and let the police handle the situation, there would have been no need for Zimmerman to stand his ground, because there would have been no confrontation between him and the now-deceased Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman instigated the confrontation by not following the instructions of the 9-1-1 operator, and then the police were complicit in Trayvon Martin's murder by allowing Zimmerman to leave the scene uncharged. It was tantamount to the police saying, “Thanks for taking care of this one for us. Good work. Go home and get some rest.”
George Zimmerman committed two crimes the night he killed Trayvon Martin. He was acquitted of the most serious one, which was murder. However, Zimmerman still needs to be held accountable for robbing Trayvon Martin of his life, his liberty and the ability to pursue his happiness.
If you bought into the lie of a “post racial” America, then I hope the death of a young man named Trayvon shook you out of your delusion.
I decided not to accept comments on this post. We all have our perspectives, and this one is mine.
Ultimately, George Zimmerman was found not guilty of committing a criminal act when killing Trayvon Martin, and Trayvon Martin is still dead while George Zimmerman is allowed to do the one thing he denied to Trayvon Martin—live.
