Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Who cares if Zimmerman is a Racist?

It seems very odd to me that the news/opinion making has focused on whether or not George Zimmerman, who shot Trayvon Martin in Florida last month, is a racist.  Seems to me it makes very little difference.  The important point is that he shot and killed a young man who scared him...a young man who was doing nothing more alarming than walking home from a trip to get snacks, while talking to his girlfriend on the telephone and had nothing more alarming on his person than a bottle of iced tea.   What's clear from 911 calls is that Zimmerman was hostile to Martin, followed him in spite of being told not to, that there was some kind of a scuffle, and Zimmerman felt so threatened he shot the boy and killed him.

Maybe instead of arguing whether or not Zimmerman is a racist, we should be speculating on whether he is a bully, (he outweighed the kid by 110 lbs)  or a coward (threatened by iced tea?) or a vigilante (the police told him to stop following this kid..)  

Even more importantly, we should be arguing about what kind of law is so poorly written that it doesn't allow the police to distinguish between someone who was jumped and used lethal force to protect themselves, and somebody who picked a fight with a person, then claims he felt threatened, and shot the guy.  

Not to mention wondering what would have happened if, by chance, Zimmerman had picked a fight with the kid but in the scuffle, Zimmerman had ended up dead.   We don't actually have much doubt in our minds about that, do we?   Martin would be in the klink.  







4 comments:

Administrator said...

You nailed it, Sister! This law goes farther than it should. Maybe a man should be able to stand and defend himself while he is in his own castle. But he should not be able to walk out side his castle with his gun. If he's too frightened to go outside without his fire arm, then he should stay in his freaking castle.

Bill Baar said...

I don't know how Florida law works, but in Illinois the racism would make it a "hate crime" which adds additional penalties. It's an important consideration the police should be taking into account in an arrest.

Bill Baar said...

re: If he's too frightened to go outside without his fire arm, then he should stay in his freaking castle.

We had 50 shootings in Chicago last weekend. Eight dead including a toddler shot on the steps of her family's "castle". My son routinely hears gunfire in his apartment. Last night an 80 yo man shot a burgler breaking into his apartment. In Chicago, the elderly especially a fearful of leaving their homes.

Chalicechick said...

This reason we care is because if Florida ultimately decides not to prosecute, he can be brought up on federal charges if the shooting is deemed to be a hate crime.