The February shooting of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African American male from Sanford, Fla., has triggered a wave of protests against the shooter, George Zimmerman. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman, claims he acted in self-defense after being attacked by Martin, but Martin’s family and supporters attribute Zimmerman’s actions to racial prejudice.
The outcry against Zimmerman has been tremendous. Civil rights leaders have strongly criticized the police for not arresting Zimmerman. Two million people had signed an online petition for Zimmerman’s arrest as of March 27. Even the president has weighed in.
Although Martin’s death is undeniably tragic, the uproar against Zimmerman is premature and quite misguided. First, to hear Zimmerman’s opponents, one would think the man was a crazed vigilante who gunned Martin down simply because he was black and that the police have done nothing about it. This is far from the truth.
Zimmerman was not arrested due to Florida’s “stand your ground law,” which allows citizens to use deadly force in self-defense. Zimmerman claimed he shot Martin while being attacked, and police had no evidence to the contrary. According to the Associated Press, police “turned over their evidence to local prosecutors for them to decide whether Zimmerman should be charged. The Justice Department and FBI have opened a civil rights investigation.”
Recently, special prosecutor Angela Corey was assigned to determine if Zimmerman should be charged with a crime. Zimmerman has been dubbed a “vigilante” by many. However, “members of the New Black Panther Party [a radical African American hate-group] are offering a $10,000 reward for the ‘capture’ of George Zimmerman,” according to Arelis Hernandez of the Orlando Sentinel.
Zimmerman and his family have also been receiving death threats. For so many people to call for Zimmerman’s arrest without having a legal reason for doing so is irresponsible, misinformed and makes a mockery of due process of law.
According to Rene Lynch of the Orlando Sentinel Times, Rev. Jesse Jackson went so far as to claim that “the failure to make an arrest in the case takes away the nation’s ‘moral authority’ to address injustices in other countries.”
Waiting to arrest someone until there is legal reason to do so can hardly be compared with, say, the slaughter of civilians in Syria. It is entirely unreasonable for Jackson to claim this case eliminates U.S. authority to criticize international injustice. Until the facts are in, “we do not need Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton or the president of the United States spouting off before [a] trial has even begun,” writes noted African-American economist Thomas Sowell.
Indeed, the facts seem to be leaning increasingly in Zimmerman’s favor. According to Lynch, “a Sanford police officer who responded to the incident, Timothy Smith, noted in his police report that when he arrived on the scene, Zimmerman had a bloody nose and blood on the back of his head.”
This matches Zimmerman’s story that Martin punched him to the ground and began slamming his head on the concrete. Only then did Zimmerman kill him. Recently released security tapes from the Sanford Police Department show Zimmerman as he is brought into the station. The footage has been used by Martin’s supporters to argue that, since Zimmerman appears relatively unharmed, he was not attacked.
However, the footage is poor-quality and inconclusive. Furthermore, the police report indicates that Zimmerman “was given medical attention by the Fire Department” before being taken to the station, according to Lynch. Police information also indicates that witnesses have confirmed Zimmerman’s account of the incident, according to Rene Stutzman of the Orlando Sentinel.
Furthermore, Zimmerman does not appear to be the racist monster Martin’s supporters are painting him to be. Richard Fausett of the L.A. Times states that Zimmerman was a community-minded individual and well thought of by his neighbors. When his neighborhood experienced at least seven burglaries in as many months, Zimmerman helped the victims and got involved with the neighborhood watch, according to Fausset. Additionally, “Zimmerman and his wife were involved in a mentorship program with two African American teens, taking them to the mall and a science center,” according to Dalina Castellanos of the L.A. Times.
Despite this, it is certainly possible for Zimmerman to be guilty. Time will tell. However, even if he is, the proper way to handle tragedies of this nature is not to assume that this is just another example of black oppression, and scream for the man to be locked up without legal justification. Don’t get me wrong. It is possible that there were racist factors in Martin’s shooting. However, automatically assuming that Martin was shot because he was black is pretty unreasonable.
In short, if we ever want racial tensions to subside, we need to stop being so eager to scream “racist!” that we throw aside due process of law.
Nelsen is a senior majoring in political science. Comments can be sent to [email protected].
