“NOT guilty.”
Many of those who have been following the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case could not believe the verdict.
They could not accept nor understand that a 17-year-old was killed when he was just walking back home in Florida, and that the man who shot him was acquitted.
The closing argument of the prosecutors resonated with many people, who sympathize with the family of Trayvon Martin.
Prosecutors contended that the teenager is dead because the 28-year-old Zimmerman (who was a former neighborhood watch coordinator) made the wrong assumption: that Martin was up to no good.
The prosecution team called Zimmerman a liar, portrayed him as a “wanna-be cop” and vigilante who was frustrated by break-ins in his neighborhood, committed primarily by young black men.
Prosecutors said Zimmerman profiled Martin as a criminal, followed the boy in his own neighborhood, and scared him.
They suggested that a scuffle might have ensued because Martin wanted to defend himself or escape. Unfortunately, Zimmerman had a gun and the teenager didn’t.
Prosecutors accused Zimmerman of taking the law into his own hands, killing Martin with anger in his heart.
Defense attorneys, on the other hand, counter-argued that Martin started the fight and knocked Zimmerman down.
They said he was slamming the older man’s head against the concrete sidewalk when Zimmerman fired his gun. Zimmerman had to, to save his own life.
The verdict
As CNN reported, the jury had three choices: to find Zimmerman guilty of second-degree murder; to find him guilty of a lesser charge of manslaughter; or to find him not guilty.
The grounds for second-degree murder would be: that Martin’s unlawful killing was “done from ill will, hatred, spite or an evil intent” and would be “of such a nature that the act itself indicates an indifference to human life.”
To be charged with manslaughter, Zimmerman should have had “intentionally committed an act or acts that caused the death of Trayvon Martin.”
That charge could have carried a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, though the jury was not told of that possible sentence.
After sixteen and a half hours of deliberation on a case that has spanned more than one and a half years, the all-female jury (composed of five whites and one minority) decided that Zimmerman was not guilty.
In an interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN, one of the jurors explained how they painfully and conscientiously arrived at the decision.
After hearing all testimonies, listening to expert witnesses, examining all evidences, and understanding the law and the court instructions, the jurors based their acquittal on the immediate moments — the critical few minutes or even few seconds leading up to the firing of the gun that killed Martin.
To the jury it did not matter even if Zimmerman went against the instructions for him to stay in his car, and wait for the police who were already on their way.
It did not matter to them that Zimmerman followed Martin like a “wanna-be cop” and went over and above what he should do as a neighborhood watch coordinator.
The juror told Anderson Cooper that the members of the jury concluded that Zimmerman acted in self-defense because at that point, he was really afraid that he could be killed by Martin.
“Because of the heat of the moment and the Stand Your Ground. He had a right to defend himself. If he felt threatened that his life was going to be taken away from him or he was going to have bodily harm, he had a right.”
What is Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law?
As Washington Post explained: It’s a law that allows people to “ stand their ground” — pretty much anywhere — instead of retreating if they reasonably believe doing so is necessary to “prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”
In short, after the law was passed, people could defend themselves even outside of their homes (with deadly force if necessary) if they believe someone was trying to kill them or seriously harm them.
Asked by Anderson Cooper if this was a race issue, the juror said no. She explained that regardless if Martin was White, Hispanic, or Asian, they still would have decided the same verdict.
The outrage
Those who held demonstrations and protests across the nation contend that what Zimmerman did was not for self-defense, but a race-related hate crime.
Balitang America New York Correspondent Don Tagala reported about the protest rally held in New York following the acquittal of Zimmerman.
Tagala said protesters (including many Filipinos) were wearing hoodies and carrying a pack of Skittles. They said they are all Trayvon Martins.
Among the Filipinos who joined the protest was Jennine Ventura of the group Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment.
“The justice system failed us, failed Florida and it failed the nation. It is saying that it’s okay for what happened that an unarmed man could be killed just walking in the street and wearing a hood and being a person of color,” she told Balitang America.
Protesters said the problem with the verdict is that an innocent boy died, while the person who shot and killed him is now a free man. Zimmerman gets his gun back, too.
“It sets a very scary precedent right now in Florida with the ‘Stand Your Ground’ law,” said Jackie Mariano of BAYAN USA.
“I feel for my future children, for a lot of future children of people of color or minorities,” shared another protester, Alpha Barril.
Filipino protesters told Tagala that the verdict has a clear connection with the Filipino community.
“We are also a community of color that gets targeted by law enforcement. It also reminds of me of the culture of impunity in the Philippines,” added Mariano.
Meantime, civil rights advocates have been talking about possible civil cases that can be filed against Zimmerman.
In addition to this, petitions have also been started to pressure the Obama administration to file a federal civil rights case against Zimmerman.
Many argue Zimmerman was guilty of a hate crime which lead to the killing of Martin.
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
