Dolfan, very good points. When white joggers are thrill-killed by a couple of black teens, there's not a hint of it being racially-motivated. When four white women are slain by one or more black men, it's not ginned up as a hate crime.
If Zimmerman had been black, or Martin were Hispanic or white, we would not have heard about this incident.
This was an attempt by those who profit off racial strife and the media which profits off the voyeurism created by sensationalizing tragedies like this, to simply make more money and gain more clout in minority communities. Nothing more, nothing less. Even more shameful is the Presidential administration and DOJ's use of the event as a political tool and to continue to widen the racial divide in this country. Obama's record as a unifier is absolutely dismal.
The media successfully convicted Zimmerman in the court of public opinion. The media manipulated evidence. They introduced the terms: "white Hispanic" and "self-proclaimed Hispanic" in an attempt to keep the white vs. black angle going. Does everyone remember how NBC's Miami Bureau edited Zimmerman's 911 call, to make it sound like he was profiling and a racist?
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/06/us/florida-zimmerman-nbc-lawsuitHe was acquitted in the court which had the ultimate jurisdiction. It really pisses me off to see the comments on Facebook and elsewhere that justice was
not served. The women who served as jurors likely also had to try to block the filter of being a mother and what it would have been like to have lost their own son, yet they still found in favor of the defendant. I had suspected all along that an all woman jury was a sure conviction, I'm sure the prosecution believed that as well. It pains me for people to deride the work of this jury without being in the courtroom and being allowed to hear what the jurors could and could not consider in weighing the merits of this case.
The jury did the job they were charged with, yet millions still say Zimmerman was incorrectly acquitted. Being on the jury in a murder trial is a very stressful life event, I've been through it and hope to never have to do it again. I sure as hell don't want my best judgement called into question if I'm a juror.
Being "in the virtual jury" watching CNN when Nancy Grace or some other talking head is the prosecutor, it's really easy to come up with a bias without considering the accused does have rights which will be examined in a real court of law.
People want to change "stand your ground" laws or do away with them completely without realizing those very laws may make it possible for them to defend themselves in the event of an attack without having to go through a long, painful, and costly prosecution process.
Zimmerman had two choices that night: stay in his vehicle and monitor the suspicious individual or get out of the safety of his vehicle to pursue the subject on foot. Obviously he made a mistake in judgement by getting out of his vehicle. Keep in mind though, he had no
legal obligation to remain in his vehicle.
Martin had two choices that night: Respectfully ask why he was being followed and continue to his father's house or, as it appears happened, respond in a provocative and aggressive manner by attacking Zimmerman.
Both men made poor choices (IMO) and one of them wound up dead.
If Martin were approached by Zimmerman with his gun drawn, he had every right to defend himself. If that's the way it went down, Zimmerman will have to face ultimate judgement some day. Physical evidence suggests Zimmerman was in the process of getting a vicious beating when he shot Martin. I can't say I wouldn't have reacted the same way if I were armed and stunned from having my nose broken and my head being slammed into the pavement. I can honestly say my first reaction to being tailed would not be to jump my pursuer. I can't speak to why Martin would have reacted the way he did if it went down the way Zimmerman claims.
One immutable fact remains about this case: none of us know for certain what happened that night. Aside from bits and pieces of eyewitness accounts on a dark night, only two men truly know the sequence of events and one of them is dead. Just because the deceased is black doesn't mean it was racially motivated nor is that a good reason to believe a guilty man was allowed to walk free.