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Posted on 07/16/2013 12:05:02 PM PDT by dirtboy
His death wasnt about race, guns, or your pet issue. It was about misjudgment and overreactionexactly what were doing now to the verdict.
Trayvon Martin is dead, George Zimmerman has been acquitted, and millions of people are outraged. Some politicians are demanding a second prosecution of Zimmerman, this time for hate crimes. Others are blaming the tragedy on Stand Your Ground laws, which they insist must be repealed. Many who saw the case as proof of racism in the criminal justice system see the verdict as further confirmation. Everywhere you look, people feel vindicated in their bitter assumptions. They want action. But thats how Martin ended up dead. Its how Zimmerman ended up with a bulletproof vest he might have to wear for the rest of his life. Its how activists and the media embarrassed themselves with bogus reports. The problem at the core of this case wasnt race or guns. The problem was assumption, misperception, and overreaction. And that cycle hasnt ended with the verdict. It has escalated.
I almost joined the frenzy. Yesterday I was going to write that Zimmerman pursued Martin against police instructions and illustrated the perils of racial profiling. But I hadnt followed the case in detail. So I sat down and watched the closing arguments: nearly seven hours of video in which the prosecution and defense went point by point through the evidence as it had been hashed out at the trial. Based on what I learned from the videos, I did some further reading.
It turned out I had been wrong about many things. The initial portrait of Zimmerman as a racist wasnt just exaggerated. It was completely unsubstantiated...
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
Zimmerman is guilty, morally if not legally, of precipitating the confrontation that led to Martins death. He did many things wrong. Mistake No. 1 was inferring that Martin was a burglar. In his 911 call, Zimmerman cited Martins behavior. Its raining, and hes just walking around looking at houses, Zimmerman said. He warned the dispatcher, Hes got his hand in his waistband. He described Martins race and clothing only after the dispatcher asked about them. Whatever its basis, the inference was false.
Given Martin's history of being suspended for possession of women's jewelry and a burglary tool, it's hardly a leap that he might have been casing homes in the neighborhood as he walked back from the 7-11.
Mistake No. 3 was Zimmermans utter failure to imagine how his behavior looked to Martin. Youre a black kid walking home from a convenience store with Skittles and a fruit drink. Some dude in a car is watching and trailing you. God knows what he wants. You run away. He gets out of the car and follows you. What are you supposed to do? In Zimmermans initial interrogation, the police expressed surprise that he hadnt identified himself to Martin as a neighborhood watch volunteer. They suggested that Martin might have been alarmed when Zimmerman reached for an object that Zimmerman, but not Martin, knew was a phone.
This is proven false by the fact that Martin had ample opportunity to go home - and chose otherwise.
Martin, meanwhile, was profiling Zimmerman. On his phone, he told a friend he was being followed by a creepy-ass cracker. The friendwho later testified that this phrase meant pervertadvised Martin, You better run. She reported, as Zimmerman did, that Martin challenged Zimmerman, demanding to know why he was being hassled. If Zimmermans phobic misreading of Martin was the first wrong turn that led to their fatal struggle, Martins phobic misreading of Zimmerman may have been the second.
It wasn't phobic, it was a thug reaction to the belief that he was being dissed. And in the end, that was what escalated this incident to violence.
last article he writes for salon.
it doesn’t keep up with the narrative.
I dont wear hoodies.
I notice none of these crowds are saying "I am Erroll Milliard."
They don't even know who he was.
He was a few months older than Trayvon Martin and he was of the same ethnic background as Trayvon Martin and he died suddenly like Trayvon Martin.
But he was unlike Martin in every other way.
He was a true American hero: a decorated combat veteran, a devout Christian, a scholarly and decent young man with enormous self-discipline and laudable plans for the future.
And he was killed by people who Martin's supporters celebrate.
Remember Errol Milliard and hope that you can be half the man he was in his short life.
But he's wrong when he says the left is not Trayvon. Many of them are indeed Trayvon. They are Trayvon for one or more of the following reasons:
They are Trayvon.
But he's wrong when he says the left is not Trayvon. Many of them are indeed Trayvon. They are Trayvon for one or more of the following reasons:
They are Trayvon.
Why aren’t the ignorant blacks heralding the young black men who rescued a 5 year old from a potential kidnapper? Those are the 2 who should be rightfully called heroes and emulated. Not a thug wannabe like TM.
Didn’t they also find a slim jim in the bushes where GZ said Martin came from? It is pretty standard MO for criminals to dump their tools ASAP if they think they’ve been spotted.
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