Over the past few weeks the trail of George Zimmerman has had many of us engaged, wondering what the final outcome will be. While some of us have paid very close attention to the case, many have just caught the daily highlights as it is reported on the news. We've heard about the holes in the defense's argument that Zimmerman was protecting himself, we've seen the video re-enactment that Zimmerman gave the police and the animated re-enactment that the defense has used to show the jury what supposedly happened that night. Unfortunately, all we are left with is the word of the man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin and the strategy of his defense team to paint Trayvon as the aggressor.
George Zimmerman says Trayvon Martin attacked him. He had the cuts and bruises to supposedly prove it. He says he was just doing his job. He says he only got out of his car to get an address for the non-emergency dispatcher that he was speaking to when he called to report a suspicious looking black male walking through the neighborhood. He says he was the one who was afraid for his life. He said during the scuffle, he felt his gun against his skin, which he processed as Trayvon reaching for it. He says in the midst of that struggle he was able to grab the gun, apparently away from or before Trayvon could get it, and shoot him. He said he shot in self defense. He said, he said, he said.
What I'd like to focus on are some other things that Zimmerman said. During that call to the non-emergency dispatcher, he was recorded as saying "these fucking punks, they always get away" to the dispatcher. The dispatcher asked Zimmerman if he was following Trayvon. He said that he was. The dispatcher told him not to. We all know that he ignored those instructions and followed him anyway. He said that Trayvon jumped from behind some bushes that apparently do not exist in the area where he says the confrontation took place. He said that when he drove up alongside the teen, Trayvon asked him if he had a problem. Zimmerman says he responded "No". My question is, as the leader of the neighborhood watch group, if he was following Martin, wouldn't his natural response have been "Yes", or at least "just making sure everything is okay"? Zimmerman said Martin seemed to be checking out the houses. As a neighborhood watchman, he probably should have made it known that he was part of that group and that he was on patrol. I would like to think that could have aided in any de-escalating of that situation. As a Black male who has had a number of unwarranted run-ins with various police officers from a number of states and other persons of various authority, I can see how tensions between Trayvon and Zimmerman could have been elevated from the start. A simple announcing of who George Zimmerman was could have been the difference in this situation, if we are to believe Mr. Zimmerman's account of how things transpired. If he did, in fact, make that announcement, I haven't heard or read about it in any of the reports of his version of what happened. The defense has done an extensive job at painting Trayvon as some sort of thug who was waiting for a moment to fight and took the opportunity with Zimmerman. That depiction bodes well for Zimmerman's story, saying that he was the one who was afraid of Trayvon.
The prosecution also has pieced together what they believed happened as well. Since Trayvon Martin is deceased and cannot tell his version of what happened, that's all they can do. All they have is the testimony of Rachel Jeantel, who was on the phone with Trayvon while things were unfolding between him and Zimmerman. All they have is the eyewitness account of one person who says they saw Zimmerman on top of Martin. All they have is the history that George Zimmerman had of profiling young Black males in that community. All they have is Robert Zimmerman, George's father, who is a retired judge and obviously had a hand in George not being immediately arrested and questioned after the shooting. All they have is the "Stand Your Ground Law" that is in place to give people the ability to protect themselves if they feel their life is in danger. All they have is Trayvon's hoodie that has no remnants of George Zimmerman's DNA on it, something that has been said should be on the hoodie if there was any type of struggle. All they have is some solid evidence that George Zimmerman isn't being 100% honest with his version of the story and an example of his dishonest recent past when he lied and told his wife to lie about their finances when he was having his bail hearings. All they have now is a jury of 6 women who have to decide, with just one side of the story, if George Zimmerman displayed ill will or hatred or acted with intent to kill or to injure Trayvon Martin when he decided to draw his gun and shoot an unarmed teen who, technically, lived in that neighborhood.
So now, all who have an interest in the outcome of this trail, we wait. We wait to see if the justice system works. We wait to see if Zimmerman will be found guilty of 2nd degree murder or even a lesser charge of manslaughter or if he will be acquitted. We wait to see if those 6 women on that jury see what many of us on the outside looking in see, a man who voiced his opinion of young Black males to a police dispatcher and ended up shooting one dead. We wait to see if the defense's strategy of painting Trayvon as a weed smoking, MMA watching thug who was looking for a fight will win over the jury. We wait to see if the jury will stand up and say it is not okay to randomly profile someone and kill them and claim self defense later. We wait to see if Trayvon Martin will be another statistic or if George Zimmerman will get a jail number. We wait to see if society still views young Black men stereotypically as threatening. We wait, we wait, we wait.
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