On the George Zimmerman Verdict

The police dispatcher that George Zimmerman spoke to on the night of February 26th, 2012, told him that the authorities did not need him to follow Trayvon Martin in his car. Not only did he continue anyway, he got out of his car with a gun, accosted Martin, and was ultimately responsible for shooting and killing him. Martin was a minor, guilty of no crime and walking home.

Martin appears to have physically defended himself, and much has been made of this by Zimmerman’s supporters. But so what if Martin did defend himself from Zimmerman, a man who who was not and is not a policeman and who was in fact doing the exact opposite of what the police dispatcher suggested he should do? If that’s an issue, the Tavis Smiley is absolutely right: the notion of “Stand Your Ground” was never meant to and clearly doesn’t apply to black Floridians.

Now Zimmerman has been acquitted and is free. This is an injustice of great magnitude, and should haunt us for a very long time.