The George Zimmerman Verdict | Eastern North Carolina Now

    I was listening to the radio last night (Monday, July 15th). It was 2 days after the George Zimmerman verdict was handed down and the talk radio host decided to devote the show to people who wanted to express their opinions on it. A man called in. He recanted something he had heard, I believe, on the Glen Beck Show. An African-American professional basketball player had called in and said he didn't understand the Zimmerman verdict. He said "a black boy is dead and what am I supposed to tell my kids about that?" The caller himself wanted to know what the black community should tell their children.

    The talk radio show host answered like this: "Tell the kids the truth. Tell them the truth as the jury saw it. Tell them the facts, as the jury heard them."

    And what are the facts and the truth?

    The truth is that both George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin had a right to be where they were that night, February 26, at the Retreat of Twin Lakes gated community in Sanford, Florida. Both had a right to do what they were doing, up until the final encounter which was the assault on George Zimmerman and the shooting of Trayvon Martin.

    Trayvon Martin, who was visiting his father (who was staying with his girlfriend at a townhouse in the gated community), had a right to be walking where he was. He had a right to be concerned when he noticed George Zimmerman following him. Trayvon Martin was staying with his father after being put on a 10-day suspension from school for possession of marijuana.

    George Zimmerman, as the captain of his development's Community Watch, had a right to follow Trayvon (both in his truck and then by foot), to observe him, and to call the non-emergency number to report him.

    On that evening (it was raining), Zimmerman got in his car and was going to Target to do some food shopping. He was driving through the community when he noticed Trayvon "acting suspiciously," as he would later tell the non-emergency police dispatcher. Zimmerman didn't recognize Trayvon as being from the community. Trayvon was in a dark hoodie and standing on the front lawn of a neighbor's house with his gaze towards the house. Zimmerman wondered why, in the rain, he would just stand there and appear to check out the house. At that point, he considered that Trayvon might be "up to no good." So he continued along in the community until he came to the Club House where he stopped to make the phone call to the non-emergency police. When the dispatcher asked him to report what Trayvon was doing now, Zimmerman looked down the street and observed him acting erratically and cutting through houses.

    According to testimony given at the police station, after Trayvon disappeared behind some houses, he emerged and circled Zimmerman's truck. Zimmerman was in the truck at the time. Then Trayvon disappeared behind the houses. At that point, Zimmerman was convinced that a policeman was needed at the scene to check things out. He got out of the truck, he said, to go look for an exact street address to give police so that a car could quietly come in and park behind his truck to observe Trayvon's conduct. The dispatcher then told him "We don't need you to follow him any more," but then asked if he still wanted a police to be sent to the scene, to which Zimmerman replied in the affirmative. He asked again that the police meet him quietly at his truck. Instead of going back to his truck at that point, he proceeded to walk to get the address he had promised the dispatcher, which he got and reported. He then turned around and was headed back to his truck when he was confronted by Trayvon who jumped out from behind some bushes.

    Trayvon asked Zimmerman if he had a problem, to which he answered "No, I have no problem." Trayvon then answered: "You got a problem now." Zimmerman said that he was going to reach in his back pocket for his cell phone but Trayvon immediately punched him so hard in the face that it broke his nose. Blood was everywhere. Then Trayvon knocked Zimmerman to the concrete sidewalk and started banging his head against it. He repeatedly said: "I'm going to kill you." Zimmerman said he tried as best he could to inch his way off the concrete and onto the lawn so that his head would hit grass and not concrete, but everytime he tried to sit up and inch his way, Trayvon would smash his head back down on the concrete. While he was hitting his head, Trayvon was also continuing to punch him in the face and about the head. Zimmerman was screaming for help. Trayvon then started putting his hands and his entire weight on Zimmerman's nose and mouth, to suffocate him. Trayvon said: "You are going to die tonight." George Zimmerman said the pain was intolerable, especially when Trayvon put his body weight down on his broken nose. The blood going in his mouth and in his nose, together with the fact that he was starting to feel like he was losing consciousness from having his head smashed repeatedly against the concrete, made him feel he would actually lose his life. He was sure he was going to lose consciousness and not wake up. He then reached for his gun. Trayvon saw the gun and went for it too.

    We all know what happened. George got the gun and Trayvon was shot through the lungs. The bullet lodged in his heart. The autopsy confirms this account of the assault. The autopsy also showed that Trayvon had marijuana in his system. The belief is that at some point along his walk from the 7-11 (where video showed him meeting with some friends) and into the gated community (25 minutes or so), he smoked some pot.

    Again, each had a right to be where they were that night and do what they were doing... up until the deadly assault.

    The problem was that neither knew one another. The truth is that if either had known who each other was, the incident would never have happened. If Zimmerman knew that Trayvon was staying in the community with his father's girlfriend, was simply taking a short cut on his way back to the townhouse, and had no evil intent, he would have continued on his way to Target. If Trayvon knew Zimmerman was the acting as the Community Watch captain, he would have understood why he was following him and observing him and he could either have: (i) simply continued on his way home, or (ii) yelled to him that he is visiting someone in the development.

    But Trayvon didn't continue home, as he should have. He circled back, and even noticing that Zimmerman had turned around and was heading back to his truck (hence was retreating and posed no threat), still felt the need to assault him, violently. Apparently, Trayvon knew Zimmerman had been in contact with police and perhaps then, he should have known or been tipped off that he was some type of community watch person. At the very least, he should have sensed there was a misunderstanding. He should have also understood that the police might have already been alerted to come to the community and he should have simply waited for them, at which point he could have reported Zimmerman for "harassment."

    Can we really know exactly what happened to precipitate the shooting? Do we really know the series of events? We only know what Zimmerman reported to the police when he was taken into custody. But we do know that the autopsy and the recording to police that night at the scene (except for some gaps) all corroborate Zimmerman's account. Do we believe the beating was sufficient to make him fear for his life and thus substantiate a "self-defense" defense? (and hence a justifiable killing). The threshold of proof is not an "objective" one (which means that others must conclude he feared for his life) but rather a "subjective" one (which means that it is sufficient that George himself feared for his life). Zimmerman did not set out to kill Trayvon. He did not have that intent (mens rea), He did not maliciously target him. Under the "totality of the circumstances," including the recent history of all the break-ins, Zimmerman did not act improperly. He did not "invite the assault" that put him in the situation to defend his life and take Trayvon's. The law simply was on George Zimmerman's side. And the jury recognized that. They were indeed instructed as to the applicable law and how to apply it to the facts.

    And that's the reason the talk radio host said what he said to the caller: "Tell them the truth, as the jury saw it."

    This case wasn't about race. The jury reached that conclusion. An independent FBI investigation also reached that conclusion. And race should have never been interjected to heighten passions and inflame racial wounds that made it nearly impossible for this case to be tried based on the series of events that led to Trayvon's death, which was the deadly assault that was initiated by Trayvon himself when no direct threat to his life was posed. Trayvon Martin put George Zimmerman in the situation where he had to consider self-defense, even though violence was nowhere on Zimmerman's mind when he set out to simply report Trayvon's conduct to police. This case was about a kid using violence to make a point.

    Zimmerman is only guilty of taking his role as Community Watch captain seriously and following someone who he believed was acting suspiciously until he was able to get a police officer to the location. He did not do anything except follow and observe. He did not confront or initiate an altercation. Trayvon is the one who initiated the violent altercation. Did marijuana play any part in his decision to confront Zimmerman, threaten his life, and then beat him mercilessly?

    So again, this was not a case where a white man stalked and profiled a black person and treated him any differently because of his color, although the DOJ and the media certainly went out of their way to make it appear that way. Labeling George Zimmerman as "white" because he is half hispanic and half white (even though he has always maintained that he "identifies" as being Hispanic) would require us to also label President Obama as "white" because he is half white and half black.

    The real reason this scenario played out is the increase in violence we suffer in our quiet residential communities. Violence, burglaries, and gang violence threatens the safety and sanctity of our homes. It puts the safety of women and children, our most vulnerable members of society, at risk. It is the reason Community Watch groups had to form in the first place. It was police departments who encourage and help communities set these groups up because they know that mere minutes and seconds can mean a life and that diligence and surveillance can prevent crimes. Police departments know that they don't have the resources to patrol neighborhoods as judiciously as citizens would like. And that brings us to why would Zimmerman take his role as Community Watch captain seriously. There had been a rash of break-ins in the community by gang members who just happened to be dressed the very same way as Trayvon was dressed that night - in dark hoodies. Most recently, a woman and her children were home alone when gang members broke into the house. Zimmerman promised his wife that he see to it that she would never be threatened like that.

    The real racial element of this case, if there is one, is the racial element posed by the gang violence that threatened residents of the gated community in Sanford, Florida. Law enforcement agencies across the county report that gangs are comprised of a greater percentage of Hispanic/Latino and African-American/black members compared with other race/ethnicities. The most recent figures provided by law enforcement show that 46% of gang members are Hispanic/Latino, 35% are African-American/black, 11% are white, and 7% represent other ethnic groups. And gang membership/ gang violence is on the rise.

    I just want to throw this out. Eve Carson was a brilliant white honors student at Chapel Hill who was kidnapped from the house she was living in (in the middle of the night) by 2 black juveniles and shot in the head, execution style, after she fulfilled her purpose... giving them her ATM card and withdrawing cash from her account. There was no reason for those 2 juveniles to be in that community and they went out that evening with evil intent. They had a history of such conduct. The white community mourned such a senseless killing, such a targeted killing... the loss of such a promising young life. The outpouring of shared grief was overwhelming. And even as the white community watched as prosecutors tried to spare one of the killers for being a juvenile (which felt like a huge insult), they respected the justice system.

    Like the Eve Carson killing, Trayvon Martin lost his life. It was senseless and a tragedy. It didn't have to happen. We know George Zimmerman wishes it didn't happen. We know he is remorseful and has to live the rest of his life knowing that he took the life of a young teen. But we have to respect that the laws in the case are applied properly and applied fairly, as they were intended when they were enacted.

    References:

    Zimmerman- Trayvon Interactive Map - http://www.hlntv.com/interactive/2013/06/17/zimmerman-trayvon-map-interactive

    "National Youth Gang Survey Analysis: Demographics," National Gang Center - http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Survey-Analysis/Demographics

    Publisher's note: Diane Rufino has her own blog, For Love of God and Country. Come and visit her. She'd love your company.

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