In the aftermath of the tragic killing of Trayvon Martin, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are attempting to use the dead 17-year-old to do what they have spent so much of their adult lives doing: dividing America over racial lines. So are some Members of Congress. President Obama’s words have certainly been more subtle and less polarizing than some others. Still Obama, having waded once before into a local law enforcement issue he chose to interpret through a racial lens (the 2009 arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates by a Cambridge police officer), decided he’d speak out on the Martin tragedy – even before the facts are all in and even before an arrest has been made. That is courting trouble. Newt Gingrich fired back with typical restraint, calling the president’s comments “disgraceful.”
MSNBC (among other news outlets) has been obsessing on the story. Film director Spike Lee re-tweeted the wrong address of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain who shot Martin, with the result being that an elderly couple in their 70s were forced to flee their home after receiving death threats (Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart, liberal but often responsible, takes apart Spike Lee here). And the New Black Panther party has put out a bounty on Zimmerman and called for his capture “dead or alive.”
We don’t know exactly what happened on the night of February 26. But we do know one thing for sure: Trayvon Martin did not deserve to be shot through the chest by a 9 mm handgun that killed him. Whether or not Zimmerman acted maliciously, recklessly, or mistakenly hasn’t been determined. How one views him depends on facts that are still unclear. But one life has been ended and the lives of many other people have been ruined.
We need to allow justice to be done – and justice might well mean the arrest and trial of Zimmerman. At the same time, a decent society would give the parents, family members and friends of those caught up in this nightmare the room to grieve. In days gone by, it would have been viewed as somewhat unseemly to take what ought to be private moments and feelings and have them played out on a public stage; to turn a human tragedy into a PR war. No more. One side wants to conduct a trial by television. The other feels compelled to respond. As a result, Trayvon Martin’s death has been turned into a media-driven circus.
The impulse of those who comprise the political class to reduce every single event in life – including tears and sorrows beyond measure – to partisan political ends isn’t the worst thing in the world. But it’s bad enough. And it needs to stop.
These Marxist and Islamic leaders want a Civil War so bad, I wonder why they don't just start it? What are they waiting for – they keep promising they are "bringing it".
If I killed someone I would expect a peremptory charge of manslaughter. That charge might later be reduced or dismissed or augmented. That charge, if it held to indictment, would cover recklessness, accident, what have you. n nIn this particular case, an armed person killed an unarmed person. The lead homicide detective wanted to file the (normal) manslaughter charge. Instead, the County DA came down the same night and prevented that from happening. That is the only reason this case has shown up on the national radar. Something is very wrong in Florida: I don't know if its the Stand Your Ground law, racial prejudice, or prosecutorial incompetence. n nThe only person responsible for turning this case into a media circus is the Seminole County prosecutor, for refusing to allow involuntary manslaughter charges to be brought. n n n n
It is District Attorneys, not police officers, who file charges.
Amen!
Until the usual 'race hustlers' either pass away or, being sidelined forever, nothing will change. There are always three sides to the story – his and, his and, in the middle is the truth. nUnfortunatedly, progressives never 'let a crisis go to waste' and, will cause more harm than good. The president had no business getting in the middle of it; we already have an AG who considers us 'cowards' relating to race relations, who also doesn't judicate black on white crime.
It's really interesting how so many people are so quick to jump to conclusions. If 6'2" Treyvon Martin had hit 5'9" George Zimmerman in the nose with his Arizona Tea and knocked him to the ground and was beating his head against the ground, Zimmerman was more than justified in using the weapon he was carrying to defend himself. Part of the police report was obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times and the officer reported that Zimmerman was saying that "I kept calling for help but nobody came."
You're the first person I have seen that wondered the same thing I have … was the Arizona Tea a weapon? That would explain injuries on the top of Zimmerman's head, without messing up Travon's knuckles. n nI can't tell you how many bar room fights in the movies started when one person or another (regardless of what color they are) started a big bru ha ha by hitting someone in the head with a beer bottle). n nI'm not saying this is what happened … but I am wondering, like you do … what if!
We do not have all the facts; therefore, Mr. Wehner must include the possibility that Zimmerman had a reasonable fear of bodily injury, and perhaps death, and acted in self defense. Zimmerman's story appears to be consistent; however, Martin's family has not been honest from the very beginning. The initial picture of Martin given to the media was not that of a six foot three inch, 175 pound athletic male with two tattoos, but rather an innocent looking, 140 pound 14 year old. The Martin family refused to explain their son's suspension from school; later, we learn that Martin was suspended three times in the past year for marijuana possession, graffiti painting on the high school, and other reasons which still remain undisclosed. I am not passing judgment as not all of the facts are known; but, it appears to me that the Martin family is bending the story to fit their racial injustice claim. And they have aligned themselves with the disgusting duo of Jackson and Sharpton. People should remember the Duke lacrosse case, and the Brawley matter in New York City.
Spot-on!!
The left needs a cause or will fabricate one to arouse the base. The left has already condemned Z without waiting for a trial. That is the way the communists did it in USSR in the 20st century. The left fast forward into the past!
I agree with Peter Wehner, let the state attorney do her job and investigate the matter. In my opinion, there are too many inconsistancies, many facts that the public is unaware of, and on top of that, there are too many news media personalities playing prosecutor or defense attorney.
Zimmerman was on his back, with a tall football player bashing his head in the concrete, and about to die. He fired back, killing his attacker. The public response is he fired because of the Stand Your Ground law. No! He did not want to die like a girl died a month ago when another girl bashed her head in the ground! Why are the media silent about the convicted murderer, a girl who bashed another girl's head on the ground killing her?
"We don’t know exactly what happened on the night of February 26… Whether or not Zimmerman acted maliciously, recklessly, or mistakenly hasn’t been determined." How about properly, in self defense? When did that get ruled out?
Killing someone in self-defense is not murder. It is justifiable homicide.