They Refuse to Arrest a Racist Vigilante

Apr 2, 2012

Five weeks after Trayvon Martin was murdered, his killer George Zimmerman has still not been arrested. People are being told to wait for the findings of a special prosecutor appointed by Florida Governor Rick Scott, a federal investigation, and a county grand jury. But Zimmerman’s defenders are using the time to concoct an argument that Zimmerman acted in self-defense, saying that it was Martin who attacked him and that the Florida “Stand Your Ground” law, which is an open invitation to vigilantes, gives Zimmerman wide latitude.

But the 911 tapes show that it was not Trayvon Martin who initiated the confrontation. On the contrary it was Zimmerman armed with a gun who was tracking Martin.

The tapes show that the police told Zimmerman to stay in his car but he did not. Instead, he got out of his car, with a gun, and chased after Martin.

So even if Martin did attack Zimmerman–which is highly doubtful–it would still have been Martin who was “Standing his Ground,” not Zimmerman.

If the “Stand Your Ground” law is not patently racist, then it applies to Trayvon Martin in this case and not Zimmerman. Even the lead detective, Chris Serino, who wanted to charge Zimmerman, but was overruled by the state’s attorney, recognized this.

That the law does not apply to Trayvon Martin is a reflection of a deeply racist system. Yes, Zimmerman may have been given a break because his father was a magistrate in the Virginia court system and his mother a court clerk. But the fact that Zimmerman has gone this long without being arrested, that the whole “justice” system is not up in arms, and that every elected official is not up in arms over the case means the whole governmental system is racist and needs to go.