Posted on 06/24/2013 6:15:43 AM PDT by shortstop
The George Zimmerman trial begins today.
It is expected to last from four to six weeks.
That means the riots should be at the beginning of August.
George Zimmerman is the guy who killed Trayvon Martin. He shot him to death.
Zimmerman was an over-zealous Neighborhood Watch volunteer and Trayvon was a teen-aged black kid. Trayvon was walking back from the store, Zimmerman was watching a guy with low-slung pants.
One followed the other and then one confronted the other and when the head pounding and the trigger pulling were done, Trayvon was dead.
Zimmerman says Trayvon overpowered him and he pulled his gun because he didn’t want to die. Trayvon doesn’t say anything about the incident, he’s dead.
And George Zimmerman has been charged in the death.
And at the end of the trial – which begins today – George Zimmerman is going to be acquitted. He will be found not guilty.
Legally, he’s not at fault.
Morally, his hands are blood red.
Guilt or innocence will be established based on the moments of angry confrontation and what stemmed from them. It is not possible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that George Zimmerman is guilty of homicide. He says he feared for his life. It is impossible to prove otherwise. There is no contrary witness, there is no alternative narrative.
And his story is plausible.
And he will be acquitted.
And that is something that could have great consequence.
It is likely that, beginning today, there will be exhaustive coverage of this trial. With the lull of summer upon us, and the media’s propensity for fixation, this will be this year’s trial of the century.
It will be on the network newscasts, and the so-called cable-news channels will discuss it all day and all night. Much will be said, little of it will have any significance.
But all of it will be gasoline on a fire.
When Trayvon was killed, anger was kindled and it spread across the nation. And it was mostly clustered along racial lines.
Most knew that Zimmerman was wrong to have pursued and confronted Trayvon Martin, but many blacks saw something larger than just the details of this incident. They saw a commentary on race relations, most particularly the larger society’s perception of young blacks.
Even Trayvon’s hooded sweatshirt became a symbol of a class and race war. The president weighed in, speculating that had he had a son, he would have looked like Trayvon.
The foment-and-division reverends – Jackson and Sharpton – spoke and marched, and the country was left a powder keg.
Which gets us back to the beginning of August.
As the testimony is presented, as this becomes the OJ trial of this day, the lessons of past trials should be remembered.
As with the OJ trial, perceptions of this trial may be largely determined by race. Most whites may see one thing, and most blacks may see something else. In fact, our expectation must be that there will be deep racial polarization over this trial.
That will influence not just perceptions, but understandings of other people’s perceptions. White people will presume that black people’s reactions are based on a persecution complex, while black people will presume that white people’s reactions are based on racism.
And then the verdict will come.
And it will be an acquittal.
And there will be hell to pay.
The glee of the OJ trial will be replaced with the unbridled rage of the Rodney King trial.
And that’s where the riots come in.
That’s where America will need to be prepared.
If past practice holds, there will be substantial damage done. There may even be injuries or fatalities.
Hopefully, the networks will realize that.
Hopefully, they will be restrained.
Hopefully, the race baiters will take a pass.
Hopefully, it will be a quiet summer.
But the odds are against it.
Because we’ve seen this situation before.
George Zimmerman will be in court, but the country will be on trial.
At least a part of it.
And we won’t know how it turns out until after the verdict.
The great question today is not how the George Zimmerman trial begins, it is how it ends.
And what chaos August might bring.
This is where I disagree with Lonsberry. I personally don't think Zimmerman intentionally initiated the confrontation. I believe he defended himself when Travon challenged him.
I agree wholeheartedly with you and disagree completely with the non-wordsmith dummy who wrote this simple dissertation.
I continued to read because I wanted to hear the conclusion of the matter.
I'M praying Florida has a sufficient number of 2nd ammendmenters to protect life and property
"Most" don't know any such thing. I have no idea what the word "pursued" means here and there is no evidence that Zimmerman "confronted" Martin. Neighborhood watch volunteers certainly have the right to monitor strangers in the neighborhood who are acting suspicious and appear to be casing houses.
But when a reporter or columnist talks about Zimmerman and Travon, he exposes his bias.
Well, they’re less one since I moved away. But, there are a bunch of 2nd’ers still in FL. And a whole lot of them in the central FL area. So, let the looting begin.
They don't call us the Gunshine State for nothing.
There is no evidence that Zimmerman actually confronted the person of Martin. Since Zimmerman was physically attacked first, it is reasonable to conclude that Martin confronted Zimmerman.
I agree that “Most” don’t know any such thing. However, I would not be surprised to see this drag out until September so school will start. Hopefully, minimize the crap when Mr. Zimmerman is acquitted.
The article is absurd but, to the “Martin side”, completely plausible. That is the problem. It ignores the facts of the case that point to a Martin full of hubris confronting and attempting to beat the living sh** out of a short, pudgy guy, except the guy had a gun that he only used after he feared for his life.
It’s all there, right down to the eyewitness that saw the beating, the timing of events relative to their locations.
Zimmerman is utterly innocent, both legally and morally. That is, unless some new evidence presents itself to the contrary.
But meanwhile, to the low information racists, this article is very convincing and pretty well written. When Zimmerman walks, there will be blood, and this guy gets some of the credit.
“Most” don’t know any such thing.
I parted earlier at: Zimmerman was an over-zealous Neighborhood Watch volunteer
>the larger society’s perception of young blacks.
Perception becomes reality when enough members of a group behave in a common fashion. The fact that the media swamped the news with pictures of Martin in his innocent years shows bias against Zimmerman. Zimmerman should be acquitted and if the savages riot, let them reap their downfall.
Agree. I’ve seen nothing to indicate Zimmerman “confronted” the kid, he merely exercised reasonable curiosity about a strange person wandering around his neighborhood at night.
The Rodney King riots? Most of those arrested were illegal immigrants. It’s like the IRS scandals. It will bring to a head a bigger and different issue.
Where's the evidence Zimmerman was over-zealous?
He saw someone who appeared to be behaving suspiciously in a neighborhood that had had recent incidents of crime.
He called and reported that to the police, and attempted to see where the person was going and what he was doing.
Where's the evidence Zimmerman initiated the physical confrontation?
I see none at all. One followed the other and then one confronted the other and when the head pounding and the trigger pulling were done, Trayvon was dead.
Yes, but which one?
Let's be really Trayvon-friendly here, and assume that it was Zimmerman who confronted Martin.
I absolutely don't know that's the case, but let's go the extra mile and make that assumption.
Being confronted and asked what you're doing is no justification for viciously attacking someone.
Where's the evidence Martin viciously attacked Zimmerman? It's in the photo of Zimmerman's nose pounded to a pulp, stupid. It's in the fact that Martin didn't have a single discernible injury other than the gunshot that killed him.
This is an open-and-shut case. Morally, his hands are blood red.
Absolute bulls***.
Nothing has shown that Zimmerman confronted Martin. Zimmerman was heading back to his car after he lost sight of Martin and was going to get out of there.
>> Morally, his hands are blood red.
That’s the last time I will look at *anything* lonsberry writes.
He’s dead to me from this moment on.
Sorry for the paragraph failures there.
in the 92 riots, 58 people were killed. I wonder how many will die this time around.
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