General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I've never believed that Trayvon ran up on Z to throw the "first punch." [View all]brett_jv
(1,245 posts)And for a long time, I was thinking the same thing as you. You can go back through my recent posts and see me saying I wanted Zimmerman to go to jail for what he did, that I think he's a murderer and even that he left his house with the intent to kill.
Yesterday, however ... I learned of the situation with the disallowed-by-the-judge text messages and Trayvon's personal recent history ... apparently Trayvon had been in numerous fights, according to these texts. He'd also been recently kicked out his mothers home for his behavior, he'd been suspended from school on more than one occasion for pot possession (in fact he was suspended at the time of his death), and he'd also been caught by school officials with women's jewelry in his backpack that he'd been unable to explain where it came from, along with a screwdriver (which officials wondered whether it was possibly a burglary tool at the time).
Now, to be clear, I'm still 100% on Trayvon's 'side' in this whole thing. I FULLY believe, as the Judge did, that this stuff was basically immaterial to the case at hand. It doesn't 'prove' anything. I also think Trayvon had a right to defend himself, I even think under the circumstances, given ZimZim's failure to identify himself or his 'goals', Trayvon had a 'right' to throw that first punch. And I don't buy about 95% of Zimmerman's 'story'.
However, given the totality of Trayvon's personal 'situation' at the time of the murder, I actually find it very easy to imagine that Trayvon could've thrown the first punch. I just don't think that gave Zimmerman a right to shoot him in the chest. I think Zimmerman, in the shape he was in at the time, could've easily whipped Trayvon's skinny ass if he'd wanted to. But he didn't want a fight, he wanted to kill Trayvon.
I don't, however, think it was a racial thing though ... the FBI did a thorough investigation and found no evidence of racially-based intent, so ... who am I to doubt their assessment? I certainly know a lot less about the facts than they do.
Race, however, WAS involved in the ensuing actions of the police, IMHO. And I bet came into the juries mind as well. People's racial stereotypes are what makes Zimmermans's story even conceivably seem true.