At approximately 9:59pm on Saturday night, the 6 jury members in the trial of The State of Florida vs. George Zimmerman found Zimmerman not guilty in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman stood stoic and emotionless as the verdict was read, cracking a smile as the judge explained that his GPS tether may be removed and that he has no further business with the court.
As soon as the verdict reached the public, huge crowds of protesters took to the streets shouting “No Justice, No Peace.” Police manned the streets vowing to maintain calm and to prevent any source of public unrest. Florida State Attorney Angela Corey held a press conference, congratulating her prosecuting team for their hard work in trying the case. She also upheld the constant refrain that this case was never about race and that Trayvon Martin was not accosted because he was black. Few agreed with her position.
Fingers were immediately pointed at the prosecution for botching the case and failing to meet their burden of proof. Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter were flooded with emotional expressions from both sides. Some urged peace, while others vowed that street justice would eventually prevail. Black men made it clear they understood it is now open season on them and that they can be shot and killed on the street, so long as the shooter fabricates a story of self-defense.
One Facebook member made the point that football player Michael Vick was sentenced to jail for killing a dog, yet George Zimmerman was set free for murdering a child. Or in other words, the life of a dog has been proven to be worth more than the life of a black child.
Though saddend by it, I can't say that I was shocked.
I felt that from the very beginning (when the police arrived on the scene of the shooting) and during pretty much everything that followed in its aftermath_including the prosecutor's charted course_things were severly mismanaged.
As I shared last week…I didn't watch the trial (read recap summaries instead) because I feared the prosecutor would fail to present the best/strongest case against Zimmerman.
I am happy to see that most of the post-verdict protests (rallies and marches) have been non-violent. No rioting.
I have a little more to say about this but will do so later…..