The thread began with the statement "Zimmerman Found Not Guilty". I think it is safe to say that him being found not guilty refers to his "trial". However on this thread posters have moved to a number of topics that in my view go to the underlying emotions the trial brought out and not the trial itself. I want to say again that if we are going to address those issues, it should be one at a time without making this a personal contest of who is right and who is wrong but rather what are the issues in "everyone's" view that made this trial so "powerful" and what are the emotions behind all of the public outpouring? Look, if we are not going to allow others their views, even if we don't agree with those views then we are turning our eyes and ears away from causes, real or imagined. I use the word imagined, because the reality each of us feel regarding this case are based on what we imagine happened and what we imagine the causes were.
Was this a state sanctioned lynching? No, it wasn't and I have heard that sentiment more than once. While it's a feeling one can definitely associate with the killing a a black youth, the reality in this case is that Zimmerman's actions were called out, he was charged "by the state" and prosecuted "by the state". Was this a travesty of justice under the law "no". Cause here is the fact of the matter. It was the law "as written" that the attorneys, judge and the jurors had to abide by.
There was a grand jury seated whose purpose was to review the killing of Trayvon and decide if there was enough evidence to charge Zimmerman and with what crime. When it was apparent that the case was one that had caught the eye and passions of the public, Angela Corey stepped in and put herself at the front of this case. The grand jury was dismissed and a special prosecutor took this into their own hands, to trial with a murder 2 charge which under the law must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Corey and her prosecutors who are in fact "the state" in this situation were responsible for prosecuting Zimmerman and getting justice for Trayvon. Since the state prosecuted for Trayvon there is not way I can see that the state sanctioned Trayvon's death. It didn't, but the man who caused his death was found "not guilty" because of the way our laws in Florida are written and that's the God's honest truth.
My view on what happened with the case itself (I am only talking trial here), is perhaps a bit different than what others have focused on so far. First questions, why did Corey jump into this case? Remember Corey, who is known for overcharging in cases, particularly those with minorities in the hot seat, now want's to step up as she said over and over again, while standing before cameras next to the Martin's was only "to get justice for Trayvon". Sure painted herself as a scion for justice at that moment. But what is her record really? Remember Christian Hernandez? He was the 10 year old child, (child not teenager) that Corey in her quest for justice charged as an adult. The 10 year old who violently pushed his brother into a bookcase and the little brother died because the injured child's own mother did not get medical help for him until hours later. As it turns out several high powered attorneys challenged Corey's actions and the child was tried as a juvenile and is now safe and receiving treatment.
Corey has taken some serious hits overtime when it comes to Black prosecution and minority prosecution. I think she saw the Trayvon case as a way to thrust herself into the spotlight as the avenging angel for the Martin family and in so doing to rehabilitate herself in the eyes of public opinion. I thought this to begin with but felt it even more strongly when she instructed her office to withhold evidence from the defense in this case. Sanctions against her are now pending for this reason. When the Zimmerman verdict was announced as "not guilty", Corey rushed before television camera's, not to the Martin's in support and then played the role of the "good loser" thanking local authorities for their treatment of her and her team while wearing this odd and phoney smile. She said while she didn't like the outcome, she respects the law and the jury's verdict. She also stated the case was "Never about race". Really? Is this what she thought? I seriously doubt it.
Zimmerman was not convicted because Corey charged him with a crime she and her team could not prove. The prosecution put on a lousy case to support a murder two charge. They didn't prep witnesses, civil or otherwise all they did was call Zimmerman a liar or cop wanna be and during closing arguments actually claimed he made a statement about killing Trayvon that was proved to be a lie as the incident was recorded. The prosecution blew it and the way our laws are written set up the state for a "not guilty". Is that racist? No it's not, the jury acted according to the law they were instructed to use and anyone who watched the trial knows that there were many, many circumstances raised in the case that screamed "reasonable doubt". Which means if the jury had any doubt that was reasonable, they could not convict on the murder 2 charge. The addition of the manslaughter charge as a "fall back" charge that was not defended in the court failed. Had the case been argued under that charge we may have seen a different outcome.
The questions the case raised touch upon deeply felt hurts in the Black community that are justified and backed by more than a few historical events. We cannot undo those events, but we should avoid infusing this case with facts from the past. In order to discuss the injustice in the deaths of everyone who has died because of racism, we need to listen, stay calm, not make it about ourselves but rather about everyone. Zimmerman was one guy who for many became everyone that had ever made a racist statement in the past, but he does not speak for an entire race and an entire race is not prejudiced. My goodness, this insistence on calling him "white" as a basis to prove his thoughts and actions were racist is in and of itself the backside of racism, it is a racist view. The underlying question is why human beings, not just here but globally judge one another by the color of their skin as opposed to the content of their character? If we are going to discuss such an important issue can we please do it without the need to attack those with different opinions or life experiences? We need to first listen with compassion to all that is said, not lash out, because when we do that we only fall into the habits of the past which have allowed the deep problems of racism to fester and grow.
