i haven't said much. this because i've found much of the discussion here entirely disconcerting.
it is inconceivable to me that so many folks, the very same ones who were disgusted at the mere thought that anything negative should even be breathed about travis alexander in the arias, have taken to bashing a 17 year old victim of a murder. and that is the fact. argue all you like as to it being something else. trayvon martin did not take his own life that night. george zimmerman murdered him. the baloney excuses, the long, never-ending, maze-like attempts to explain or justify it are not based on legal statutes. i've read dozens of times that those who feel GZ is guilty are merely responding with emotion. i will refrain from calling statements like that what i feel they are, but rather, will point out that those who feel GZ is not guilty are responding to emotion just as much as anyone else. there is simply a difference between what makes one person emotional and what makes another emotional. emotions run high when core beliefs are challenged.
my core beliefs as relevant here: a 17 year old is still a child. in the United States of America, no person should be gunned down for walking down the street. a neighborhood watch person of good intention, particularly a captain, would have immediately informed the operator that he was armed. he would then have called another person in the neighborhood for back up. a 17 year old who was going to go after someone would brag about to the girl on the other end of the phone, and then he would hang up before any punches were thrown. there are more, but this is enough.
i am a well-educated, well-read, intelligent individual. i assume most here are the same. it is glaringly obvious to me that george zimmerman murdered trayvon martin. period. it is a tragedy and it is a crime.
that said, i believe he will be found not guilty. i believe that will be an unjust verdict.
MOST importantly, i believe it is deplorable and frankly unacceptable to see people talking about how riots are going to break out if zimmerman is found innocent. do people truly not see that this is just as much an example of racial profiling as was the one zimmerman engaged in? i've yet to see a single person claim that riots would be break out if zimmerman were found guilty. would it be less disastrous if the angry, gun-toting zimmerman fans rioted? that's sure some interesting logic.
at the end of the day, the parents of a 17 year old have lost their son. they have never claimed he was perfect. i beseech everyone to think of your own 17 year old, or a 17 year old you know. think about that kid. think about that kid not in terms of how you hate the way they dress, or can't stand the slang they use, of how nasty their fb page makes them look....but think about the heart of that 17 year old. for me, this is easy. i've had two at that age so far. i promise you that a 17 year old, at 5'11'' and just over 150 lbs is a lanky, skinny kid and he knows it. a 17 yo who was a good enough brother to be bringing his sibling back a snack from 7-11 (without even opening it to take some for himself, mind you), a 17 year old whose only tattoos were the names of his grandmothers and the name of his mother, that 17 year old was innocent that night when he left the house, and innocent when his life ended on the wet ground.
i predict that trayvon's parents, regardless of the verdict, will make it a mission to deal with the atrocity of a law in florida that all but begs for the murder of innocent human beings. it needs to change. IN MY OPINION
jmo