Posted on 07/10/2013 11:02:20 AM PDT by Kaslin
On Monday, the Broward County Sheriff's Office in Florida released a public service announcement attempting to convince young people not to riot in case George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, was acquitted of second-degree murder. That likelihood remains high, thanks to the fact that the prosecution itself was weak and pushed forward by a breathless media desperate for a racial hot point to drive ratings.
The sheriff's office announced that it was "working closely with the Sanford Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies" on a "response plan in anticipation of the verdict." Sheriff Scott Israel appeared in a video alongside a rapping duet of two teenagers, one a Hispanic female and another a black male, who tell the public, "Raise your voice, and not your hands! We need to stand together as one, no cuffs, no guns. ... I know your patience will be tested, but law enforcement has your back!"
Despite the passions elicited in both the black community and the white community over Zimmerman, one fact remains clear: Americans are far more concerned with the possibility of a minority riot over Zimmerman's acquittal than they are with the possibility of a white riot over Zimmerman's conviction. That's not unreasonable. Al Sharpton of MSNBC, among others, has threatened civil disobedience in Sanford before, and Americans still remember the Crown Heights riots of 1991, the Los Angeles riots of 1992, the St. Petersburg riots of 1996, the Cincinnati riots of 2001 and the Oakland riots of 2009, among others.
Why, exactly, are Americans so seemingly complacent about the notion of another riot over a case about a Hispanic man shooting a black teenager, presumably in self-defense? It's thanks to a media that continues to maintain the fiction that every case allegedly involving a non-black suspect and a black victim is a test case for American racism. The media pretended that the case against George Zimmerman was unshakeable; it simply wasn't. There wasn't just reasonable doubt about whether Zimmerman engaged in self-defense when he shot Martin, there was virtually zero countervailing credible evidence to the proposition that he shot Martin in self-defense. Furthermore, there was literally zero evidence for the proposition that the shooting was racially motivated, or that the police didn't initially arrest Zimmerman thanks to their institutional racism.
Yet the story has played out in the media as a controversial example of America's continuing love affair with racism. The media's narrative went like this: white man shoots black man after racially profiling him, and racist local officers let him off the hook. That's a lie, but it's become widely accepted in the black community, where 72 percent of blacks polled thought that Zimmerman was definitely or probably guilty (compared with just 32 percent of nonblack Americans), and 73 percent thought he would have been arrested initially if he had shot a white person (compared with 35 percent of nonblack Americans).
Sadly, an incredible number of blacks feel that the system is biased against them: While most white people don't believe that the criminal justice system is racist (49 percent believe it is), a whopping 84 percent of blacks in America believe it is.
And so each case with racial overtones becomes another reminder to blacks that the system is out to get them, particularly when largely white media commentators wrongly paint a case as race-based. This means that anytime the media labels a case race-based, Americans are forced to accept the ugly calculus that acquittal, while proper, may result in riots based on perceived institutional wrongs.
YEP pretty sickening.....the dispatcher ...not a cop but a min. wage employee....asked z if he was following the perp told him ‘you dont need to do that’ RIGHT you dont need to tail a suspicious individual on a dark rainy night in a community with elderly residents after more than one recent break in at that same residence....i see, just let him roam around maybe break in and scare some oldster to death or worse..if i were the oldster i think i’d want george to tail the guy and chase him out of there....
all things considered...
Zimmerman was asked for an address. He didn’t want to give his address because he didn’t know where Martin was (which makes me believe he was not following him at that point). He walked up a street to give another house address to respond to the dispatcher.
Why is that wrong? Isn’t Neighborhood Watch supposed to watch? Is it illegal to look at someone?
“You don’t need to do that” isn’t the same as “stop doing that”.
Well. . . that just means we will soon be watching the Sanford Turkey Shoot of 2013. . . (evil grin)
Smell day fire?
Thanks! I could NOT remember her name but certainly remember the beautiful face. But GZ said he stopped following TM. So why is that at least not a question?
Every thug and criminal in America thanks you for your support, including Hussein Obama and Eric Holder.
“Sheriff Scott Israel appeared in a video alongside a rapping duet of two teenagers, one a Hispanic female and another a black male, who tell the public, “Raise your voice, and not your hands! We need to stand together as one, no cuffs, no guns. ... “
That is going to be much less successful than a simple “Rioters Will Be Shot” public service announcement.
Sorry, the title can not be changed. Ask the Admin mod
I am not that fond of Bill Hemmer. But Martha is wonderful. I just wondering if she hasn’t seen the footage from Sean Hannity’s program where he says he stopped following him. Seems relevant!
I agree completely
So? I’ve had strangers walk down my street and into my yard to talk to me. Would I have been justified in attacking them?
There was a video by the defense of the reenactment of what happened up to when Martin jumped on Zimmerman and attacked him
The culprits at NBC lost their jobs; but, did they hurt their career?
You have bad information.
According to testimony and evidence (tapes of Zimmerman's testimony and interviews) submitted at the trial, Zimmerman STOPPED following Trayvon when the 911 contact told him not to.
He then started to make his way back to his vehicle following the circular, winding streets and left Trayvon to go wherever he was going.
As Zimmerman was on his way back to his vehicle, but before he reached it, he met up with Trayvon again and that is when Trayvon attacked him.
Are people starting to line up outside of stores like before Black Friday sales? How about while waiting for the next Star Wars film to open?
Sequoyah101 ~:” Where do you go when the law breaks the law and wipes with the Constitution? “
Marbury v. Madison, 5 US 137,(1803) “The Constitution of these United States is the supreme law of the land. Any law that is repugnant to the Constitution is null and void of law.”
“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.” Thomas Jefferson
“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”— Thomas Jefferson
“You don’t need to do that” isn’t the same as “stop doing that”.
Exactly right, and put very succinctly.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
