I completely agree with Reverend Al and Toure’ on the Trayvon Martin case. My condolences to the Martin family on the death of their son. The shooter was wrong. The cops were wrong. The Stand Your Ground law is wrong. Nevertheless, I just heard a tiny detail on Reverend Al’s show that explains what set off the radar of the pistol packing paranoid (beyond fear/hatred of black men) 1. It was a scary dark and rainy night. 2. Trayvon got in the gate and looked around for a temporary shelter from the storm. 3. Trayvon ducked into the lobby of building One to wait for the rain to subside. 4. Trayvon had his hoodie pulled up and he’s having an animated conversation with his girlfriend on his ear buds.
5. Zimmerman drives by and SEES through the glass entryway, a black guy in a black hoodie standing in the hallway, drinking out of a can and talking to himself.
6. Trayvon decides the rain isn’t going to stop so he makes a break for it, eyes darting around for his next possible shelter as he makes his way back home in the rain. The rest is history. Zimmerman should be arrested immediately.
The whole thing reeks of racial profiling in a township with a history of bad police behavior. The foot-dragging by the Sanford PD is typical of a community that has little regard for civil rights. This is another argument for prohibiting volunteer police from being armed, especially with a nebulous vetting process. Zimmerman is just a symptom of a frightened neighborhood reacting to the fear around them...a by-product of ignorance.
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