Cans in blue may come for you, red can, if you sit by while they come for others.
Well that about does it for self-made Neighborhood Watch vigilante George Zimmerman -- killer of the candy-loving child Trayvon Martin -- in the court of public opinion. He has yet to be formally charged, but that is only a matter of time.
That should not be the end of it. There is a much more important case here, that of influence peddling. The only reason he was not arrested and charged with at least involuntary manslaughter the night of the killing was not police ineptitude.The Hispanic officer who interrogated him was ready to submit a written recommendation that he should be charged. He was released without so much as being formally arrested or accused because his father is former judge who seems to have called in favors. How else to explain the presence and meddling of higher ups at the station?
And it seems to be his father who not only fed him an implausible but airtight legal defense: You were walking away, he challenged you, and he told you "You're going to die tonight, I'm going to kill you," and then he began to break your nose and beat you about the back of the head, at which time -- fearing for your life -- your Glock was accidentally discharged as you struggled to retrieve it from Mr. Martin, who was surely going to shoot you with it you feared.Good thing there is no video of your non-bleeding nose, non-bleeding head wound, non-bled on clothes, and unshaken demeanor, or video of his blood curdling screams and pleas for help, which we could say are yours if such audio turns up. And good thing he was not on the phone with anyone who could contradict us or corroborate his innocence as he ran from you. And what of the police who, under color of law, colluded with the Zimmermans?
Who altered reports and tampered with evidence? Who tested the deceased child for drugs and alcohol, and finding nothing failed to test the killer? Who let him go with the legal defense based on the Stand Your Ground statute that might work in court but was never meant to settle anything at a bloody crime scene.Expert audio analysts have determined with 99% certainty that the voice pleading for help before murder/manslaughter/self-defense killing is not that of Zimmerman as alleged by those wishing to obfuscate. One analyst has staked his reputation that it is not Zimmerman. On the bright side, an independent investigator/prosecutor has been brought in.
Massive rallies of support -- demanding not that Zimmerman be lynched or even found guilty but simply arrested and tried when he is so utterly to blame in the court of public opinion in spite of a biased establishment media trying to open up as much doubt as racist, rightwing bloggers can kick up.
Where is Zimmerman today? That is unknown, but his attorney has said he will surrender if charged. And this could be very troublesome for police who behaved illegally in sheltering him from arrest and prosecution. What if he talks? So they gave him his loaded gun and sent him out equipped to kill again.
What does it all mean?
- More important than Trayvon's death is the mass incarceration of black Americans, leaving more in jail or on probation than there were slaves in America (Dr. Michelle Alexander).
More important than one vigilante hunter's bragging rights among fearful race-driven killers is the fact that almost daily police execute black American youth on the streets with impunity (and in some cases monetary reward). Another such incident came to light recently in Pasadena with the same tired excuse that "He reached for his waistband" or "He came at us empty handed but in a menacing fashion forcing us to defend civilians and property with our firearms" in an apparent "suicide by cop" bid because, of course, we have no choice but to shoot. Or just think what the other guys in the locker room back at the station will say about us. To add insult to injury rather than taking the blame, the two heavily armed white officers decided to go after the Hispanic teenager who called the police in the first place and charge him for the crime, blaming him for making them kill the black teenage suspect.- More important than one man -- described by some as a "redneck" and by others as a Hispanic with many black friends depending on the PR one exposes oneself to -- straining credulity to save himself from justice are those who colluded, prepped, trained, and tampered with the investigation or fed the media such nonsense as "Georgy has been crying ever since this happened" and "He is now suffering from PTSD" because of what Mr. Martin made him do.
- More important than one man or a cabal of racist Floridians in law enforcement is the systematic, planned, longstanding mistreatment of black Americans so that even the president is made to cower with as carefully chosen words as he can possibly muster, with the arrest of black Harvard Professor Gates in his own home even after showing ID proving it was his home or the execution by police breaking in to a black former Marine's home after his medical alert necklace was accidentally set off. But while police used racial epithets, threats, a Taser, a projectile shotgun, then deadly firearms to secure the right to administer first aid to this elderly black man with a heart condition. This took place five months ago, and there have been no arrests, but there have been biased media reports glorifying the brave police and painting a caricature of a man asleep in his home wielding a hatchet as police removed his front door from its hinges and violated him in the gravest way possible. The police state worsens, and the plan to bring on a new de facto set of Jim Crow laws.
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