This is what a modern lynching looks like. In the age of “three felonies a day,” setting up a tipline to try to generate a federal case for prosecution of the crime of… whatever… just because you don’t like the verdict of a jury, is a gross violation of Zimmerman’s constitutional rights, particularly the 14th. The thousands of death threats are bad enough, now the federal government needs to stalk him too? And all this because a burglar assaulted a Neighborhood Watch volunteer and got shot for his trouble.
Throughout the coverage of this incident there’s been an amazing amount of confusion about what Zimmerman did and what Trayvon was known to have done, even aside from the initial tape NBC edited to make Zimmerman sound like a racist. Kathleen Parker’s accounting is typical:
African Americans are right to perceive that Martin was followed because he was black…just because a few black youths caused trouble doesn’t mean all black youths should be viewed suspiciously.
But this particular youth, irrespective of race, was reportedly a burglar. And Zimmerman didn’t suspect him for being black, he suspected him for acting like a burglar — walking slowly, in the rain, looking at the houses. It doesn’t even matter that other burglaries had been committed by black male teens, Trayvon had already been caught with stolen goods and burglary tools, so it’s hard to argue profiling was at fault.
One thing we can all agree upon without much strain is that this incident — this senseless, heartbreaking death — never should have happened. Zimmerman, who began acting as a watchman in 2004 and had made more than 40 calls to authorities over the years, never should have left his car once he notified police, who told him to stay put.
We also can surmise that Zimmerman would not have followed Martin if Zimmerman weren’t carrying a gun. If Martin were perceived as dangerous, wouldn’t an unarmed individual keep his distance until police arrived?
Thus, we conclude that Zimmerman’s actions led to the confrontation that ultimately resulted in a fight that ended with the fatal shooting.
People really need to read the transcript. No one told Zimmerman to stay put, the dispatcher said following Trayvon Martin wasn’t necessary. But Zimmernan took the hint: he said “okay” and then made it clear following Martin was impossible anyway: he informed the dispatcher he didn’t know where Martin was. Zimmerman says he got out of his truck to check the address, and was attacked on his way back, and there’s no evidence to contradict that or any other aspect of his account.
And remember, the police were already on their way to Zimmerman’s truck. He’d just given them directions to it. This is a critical piece of information that’s gone largely unmentioned — to believe Zimmerman was the aggressor (something Parker doesn’t claim, but many others do, including his persecutors prosecutors) you have to believe he attacked Martin even knowing the police were going to show up at any moment.
A lot of people have also taken up variants of Parker’s formulation “Zimmerman’s actions led to… ” but this just another version of the “her wearing that dress led to her being raped” fallacy. Zimmerman’s actions were entirely lawful, even praiseworthy — joining the Neighborhood Watch is something to be encouraged. I’m sure he wishes he had stayed in his truck, where Trayvon was less likely to assault him, but it’s hard to argue leaving your truck to check an address in your own neighborhood — the very one you’re patrolling in your capacity as a Neighborhood Watch volunteer — is some sort of foolish act to be condemned. Nor was being armed a reckless act — an unarmed George Zimmerman would certainly have suffered more grievous bodily injury and perhaps even death. “Senseless and heartbreaking” though this whole incident may be, most of all because so many people failed Trayvon Martin by letting him grow up into a thug, I’d still rather have ten dead burglars killed in self-defense than one dead Neighborhood Watch volunteer who was just trying to keep his neighbors safe.
And it’s a sure bet we’d be hearing nothing about the injustice of George Zimmerman’s death in the national media.
UPDATE: Must-read piece from John Carlson (via @Will_Antonin).
One of the most important, and remarkably under-publicized facts that came out at trial is that one of the detectives, while interrogating Zimmerman at the police station that night, told him that the entire incident had been caught on surveillance video. The detective was bluffing, but Zimmerman didn’t know that. His reaction: “Thank God”.
Comments
9 responses to “Zimmerman Now Being Stalked By… Department of Justice”
The Show Trial must go on!
Yeah I’ve seen the “blame the victim” card being played on twitter a lot. I respond by asking if a woman with a tight mini-skirt gets out of her car to look for her lost dog and gets raped does that mean it’s her fault? That she was asking for it?
And that’s a great point about Zimmerman knowing the police are on their way but yet he “stalks, confronts Trayvon, and brandishes his gun” knowing the police are on their way? *headshaking These Trayvon supports lack of basic logic and common sense is astounding. No wonder Obama got reelected.
It is a pity that people can’t stop judging what they don’t know and what is in the heart of persons that only God can see. It is a pity that persons are so race-prejudiced in favor of their own pigment that they take sides based on pigment. It is a pity that so many believe in vengeance. A jury has spoken. Much evidence has come out. This is more than presumed innocence & not proven beyond reasonable doubt. The evidence supports:
Self-defence. Trayvon Martin had an arm, namely concrete. TM had a chance to go home. TM attacked Zim evidently.
Accept the jury verdict & go on with life, unless one wants this to become the catalyst for real racial conflict.
Zimmerman left his truck *BEFORE* the dispatcher told him that the police didn’t need him to follow Martin. So what Parker says is nonsense. Nor is there any evidence that he continued to follow Martin after he replied “Ok” to the dispatcher in regard to following. Nor is there any evidence that Zimmerman was pursuing, i.e. attempting to catch up with Martin. Watch here:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50150946n
Zimmerman’s reaction to the interrogation lie that there was a video of the incident removed any reasonable doubts I had that he was innocent.
Here’s a list:
1. Zimmerman show trial instigated at federal level.
2. Bradley Manning torture.
3. Torture and killing of POWs.
4. Militarizing police.
5. Brutalizing of suspects by police killing their pets.
6. SWAT teams used for domestic calls.
7. NSA illegally nosing into everyone’s private lives.
8. Secret warrants and secret trials.
9. Drone killing of U.S. citizens without trial.
10. Rigged elections & rampant voter fraud.
11. TSA humiliation.
12. Theft of private property by police departments – road stops and forfeiture “laws”.
13. IRS becoming an armed enforcement leg of federal government targeting doctors and hospitals.
14. Arbitrary and capricious use of FDA and Department of Agriculture regulations.
15. And too many more to list…..
Should anyone wonder why Edward Snowden is afraid to return and stand trial while seeking refuge in Russia?!
Herman Kahn tried to warn us, during the Cold War. “Systems in conflict become more similar over time.” What have we done to ourselves, that dissidents are fleeing this country in favor of Russia? What are we becoming? It terrifies me to think of it.
Dave,
Even you got it wrong. He was already out of his truck and endeavoring to keep an eye on Zimmerman – at the request of the dispatcher – when he was told that no further efforts along that line were required.
Good points guys.