Saturday, March 24, 2012

The Silver Lining of the Trayvon Martin Case

Trayvon Martin was a black teenager who was killed by an aggressive neighborhood watch member in a gated community in Florida. 

The killer has not been arrested. So far, the local police seem to have barely investigated the shooting.

There has been national outrage that, as it seems now, a trigger-happy vigilante is getting away with murder because his victim was a black boy in a hoodie.

So what is the silver lining?

That there is national outrage over the killing a black boy in a hoodie in Florida. And, as a result of that national outrage, something like justice may be done.

11 comments:

king said...

Mob justice is ugly, no matter the color...

Gruntled said...

Which mob would that be?

king said...

The mob that is rushing to judgement, you know like the KKK once did...

Gruntled said...

That most people come to a judgment quickly is, I think, part of the normal working of the mind. If and when there is a trial, those selected to make an informed and impartial judgment can still set aside whatever preliminary assessments they (or you and I) have so far made on the basis of available evidence.

I have been impressed with how slowly the justice officials have been moving in bringing any case at all - the very opposite of a rush to judgment. George Zimmerman is not only a free man, he seems to have barely been questioned about his actions yet.

king said...

You don't know that he was barely questioned. Please read past the headlines. There is at least one eye witness who said Mr. Zimmerman was attacked.

Gruntled said...

The police report the night of the crime was that Zimmerman was briefly questioned, then let go. The city manager was interviewed last week, after the city council's no-confidence vote in the police chief, saying that the city police had not questioned him further. The city manager was hopeful that state and perhaps federal justice officials could get the local police to conduct a more thorough investigation.

Mac said...

Behind every silver lining, there is a dark cloud. In this case, it is the politicization of the case. A local criminal matter has been elevated to a federal matter by an administration eager to court favor with its political base. If the possible murder of one citizen by another in a State whose courts and criminal justice arms are functioning is suddenly a federal crime, anything can be. This is just another example of over-reaching by the federal government, especially because the media attention has moved the State and local authorities to perform their respective duties.

Anonymous said...

There is an eye witness...

Anonymous said...

Your choice of words seem to indicate a bias - "...aggressive neighborhood watch member..." You weren't there, you don't know what happened and yet you seem to have already tried this case. Kind of reminiscent of the Duke lacrosse players.

Gruntled said...

I base my conclusion that Zimmerman was aggressive on the fact that he left his car to follow Martin despite having been told directly by the police not to.

Anonymous said...

911 is not the Police...