I know the George Zimmerman case
and the jury verdict have stirred up a lot of controversy. I know that people have
strong emotions on both sides – those who feel justice was served, and those
who feel justice was denied. I know that the “stand your ground” law in Florida
was the basis for Zimmerman’s defense and ultimately the reason for his
acquittal. I know these things, but I do not understand them. I do not
understand how a young unarmed boy is killed, and his killer ends up being the
victim. I do not understand that the “stand your ground” law is really the law,
no matter the circumstances. I do not understand how anyone can look at what
happened that night and honestly believe George Zimmerman is “not guilty.” I do
not understand how anyone can believe that justice was served.
One rainy night in Florida a
17-year-old black boy wearing a hoody goes to the store, buys a few items, walks
towards home, minding his own business, talking to a friend on the phone, and
ends up shot dead before he can get there. Why? Because a 28-year-old man, a
neighborhood watchman, a wanna-be policeman, thought this boy looked
“suspicious” (well he was black and he was wearing a hoody and he was out at
night, for God's sake!). This man, George Zimmerman, decides, before any direct
contact with this boy,Trayvon Martin, just by looking at him, that Trayvon is a “fucking
punk” up to no good. This man, George Zimmerman, carrying a loaded gun, chooses
to follow Trayvon Martin, even though the police tell him not to. As a
direct result of this pursuit, they get into a fight, and Trayvon (the pursued)
defends himself as he has a right to do (well, maybe not in Florida) and
Zimmerman, the instigator of this encounter, shoots Trayvon in the heart and
Trayvon dies mere steps from his home. Why? Because Zimmerman, the pursuer, the
instigator, who suffered only minor cuts and a bloody nose, all of a sudden
"feared for his life.” And because this was a rainy night in Florida, regardless
of the instigating role he played in creating and maintaining the fearful
situation, despite the fact that he could have avoided any confrontation by
just walking away, simply claiming he feared for his life was enough of a
justification for the legal killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman. Is this really the law in Florida?
If this is the law in Florida, if
Zimmerman indeed did have the right to defend himself with a gun because he
feared for his life, then certainly Trayvon had the same right to defend
himself with his fists when he felt his life threatened by some stranger
stalking him. For Trayvon, fists were all he had – he did not have a gun. To
say that using his fists, that defending himself, turned him into the aggressor
and therefore it is his fault he is dead and the person who killed him is not
at all legally responsible or culpable is, I believe, a twisted perversion of
what happened and a gross miscarriage of justice. Did Trayvon Martin not have
the right to “stand his ground?”
Because in the act of defending himself his attacker got scared and killed him,
this is all Trayvon Martin’s fault and George Zimmerman is “not guilty?” Is
this really the law in Florida?
Zimmerman started the chain of
events that led to the death of Trayvon Martin when he decided to get out of
his car and follow Trayvon. Zimmerman was the cause, the instigator, the
pursuer. Trayvon could not tell the police that he hit Zimmerman because he was
frightened for his life. Trayvon could not claim that he inflicted a bloody
nose and some scratches to Zimmerman’s head not as an overt act of aggression
but while in the act of defending himself, in the act of “standing his ground.”
Trayvon did not get the chance to tell the police anything at all about what
happened or why it happened - because Trayvon was dead. George Zimmerman was
the last man standing because he was the one who had the means –he had the gun
- to end the confrontation, a confrontation instigated by him. Now the victim,
Trayvon Martin, is not really the victim anymore; he is turned into the
victimizer and is held responsible for his own murder. Is this really the law
in Florida?
The way this tragedy unfolded,
the first person to have a legitimate reason to be scared and fear for
his life was Trayvon Martin. He was the one pursued by an unknown man, for what
were to him unknown reasons. But we know the reason Zimmerman chose to pursue
Trayvon - because George Zimmerman at first sight profiled him as a “fucking punk.” Because Trayvon was a young black man, wearing a hoody, walking the streets at
night and Zimmerman was not going to let another one of these “assholes” get
away. Without knowing Trayvon, without any prior knowledge of Trayvon, just by
looking at him, Zimmerman decided that Trayvon Martin was a “fucking punk” and
an “asshole.” These unprovoked, obviously hostile thoughts and feelings towards
a black boy are what started this tragic chain of events that ended with this
black boy shot and killed. Had Trayvon Martin been a white boy, George Zimmerman would not have pursued him, and Trayvon would not have died that rainy night in Florida.
What would the verdict have been had Trayvon Martin killed George
Zimmerman during their fight, after he had been told by police to stay in his
car, after uttering the same profanities, after stalking Zimmerman and getting
into a fight and ending up with only minor injuries to show how threatened he felt?
Would the police have believed him? Would the same argument that
exonerated Zimmerman, “I got scared, I feared for my life, I stood my ground,
so I killed him?” have worked for Trayvon? Would the "stand your ground" law have protected him? According to the evidence, Trayvon did stand his ground, but he got killed as a result and with this verdict, not only has George Zimmerman been declared "not guilty," Trayvon Martin's defense of his own life has been disregarded, disrespected and by some convoluted, frightening reasoning, has been found to be the cause of his own death. This is the law in Florida.
Trayvon’s only mistake that night
was being a black boy, wearing a hoody, walking home in George Zimmerman’s
neighborhood. For that mistake, he paid with his life. That is very, very sad.
What is even sadder is the jury’s verdict, not because it was not a legally
correct verdict but because in Florida, it was.
Yes, the jury delivered a verdict
– it most certainly did not deliver justice.
