It's an obvious tragedy that Treyvon Martin was killed. But what seems to me to even be a bigger tragedy in some ways is the death of justice on the whole.
Yes, George Zimmerman - the one who killed Martin - should have been brought in for questioning after the death, but the fact that he wasn't should not bring us to where we are today... which is trying and declaring him guilty in the streets and in the news. We don't know the whole story. We don't know all the events that led to Martin's death. Hearing the 911 calls and only bits and pieces about this tragedy should not lead any of us to a conclusion of any sort.
Thousands are marching in the streets for "Justice for Treyvon". That's nice. What about justice - period? How about calls for calm while the FBI figures out what happened?
On the other hand, something else that's crossed my mind is - where are these thousands of marchers calling for "justice" when it's black on black violence? Does the black community only march when they feel that there's been an injustice done to them? What about the thousands of black youngsters who are born out of wedlock, have no stable home environment, have no real future and find themselves in jail or dead? I don't see Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton saying much about these kids. Jackson and Sharpton only crawl out of the woodwork when supposedly a hate crime has been committed. I have yet to see any energy expended by either of these men in attempting to keep the black community from imploding. I see only self-interest and self-promotion.
I want justice done. I want justice done for Treyvon Martin. I want justice done for George Zimmerman. And especially I want justice done for the thousands of black children who have no future.
3 comments:
"George Zimmerman - the one who killed Martin - should have been brought in for questioning after the death"
Respectfully, I disagree. In the United States, nobody can be "brought in for questioning" unless they are under arrest. So the next step, should Zimmerman be arrested?
Under Florida law, 776.032(2):
(2) A law enforcement agency may use standard procedures for investigating the use of force as described in subsection (1), but the agency may not arrest the person for using force unless it determines that there is probable cause that the force that was used was unlawful.
Further, under Florida law, Zimmerman was entitled to lawfully use deadly force pursuant to 776.012:
... a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if:
(1) He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself ...
My understanding is that investigating law enforcement agency is aware of eye witnesses that corroborate Zimmerman's testimony that Martin was on top of Zimmerman and striking Zimmerman or pounding Zimmerman's head into the ground at the time Zimmerman shot Martin. Witnesses and Zimmerman relate that Zimmerman yelled for help and none was forthcoming. The evidence is beginning to suggest that Martin was not a physically slight "boy", but rather an athletic young man fully capable of dominating Zimmerman physically and inflicting severe damage.
So where is the probable cause that Zimmerman did not have a reasonable belief that deadly force was necessary, that would justify his arrest under 776.032(2)?
Furthermore, arresting him to question him will accomplish nothing, he is not obliged to answer any questions and will likely be advised by counsel not to.
Where is Obama? Why is he not trying to tell the vigilantes to calm down and let the investigation take it's due course? Supposely he's big on civility... Let him stick his nose in and say something to cool off the escalating tension.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/man-shot-florida-teen-fears-safety-supporters-053604303.html
Read this , Shira!
Post a Comment