Monday, March 26, 2012

Here comes the lynch mob

While details continue to emerge in the killing of Trayvon Martin incident, one thing is clear: the fans of the lynch mob mentality are being fanned. Although the details are murky, there is at least one witness who in his original testimony suggested that there was a guy in red laying on his back on the grass with another person on top of him. Zimmerman was wearing red. Apparently, the police also discovered grass stains on the back of his shirt. Yet we are being led down a path that suggests Zimmerman stalked Martin and killed him in cold blood. The media seems to be jumping to conclusions and feeding the martyr mentality. The New Black Panthers and others have suggested violence to make sure "justice" is served. It reminds me, frankly, of the black man who was wrongly charged in the great film To Kill a Mockingbird. In this case, none of us really knows what happened. Yet a huge number of people have jumped to conclusions based upon sketchy evidence. If Zimmerman is guilty of murder, he should be charged, but he shouldn't be convicted in the court of public opinion--a court which is fed by sensationalist media who often get things wrong. Let's let the investigation continue, and not feed the monster of lynch mob mentality.

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2 comments:

rroehale said...

Every one should have his day in court, and I am not saying that doesn't include Zimmerman, but it is very clear that Zimmerman followed the kid, and at some point must have confronted him, or this wouldn't have happened. Zimmerman seemed to have an aggressive mindset. On the 911 tape, he refers to "these a___holes" who "always get away." And he wasn't going to let that happen, even though he had no idea if Martin was, in fact, one of the "a__holes" to which Zimmerman was referring. As it turns out, Martin wasn't. And if you are a kid, followed around by a stranger who ultimately confronts you, wouldn't you be a little weirded out and perhaps in a mood to defend yourself? If Martin was old enough and licensed to carry a gun, in my opinion, he would be far more justified in shooting Zimmerman that the other way around. I don't care about the races of the participants. There was an angry older guy following around a high school kid who he had already decided was an "a__hole" without knowing anything about him. Zimmerman made his own bed.

jhale said...

I find these stories sad. If people in general would not need fear those around them, then people could help each other more and we would accomplish more together. When we separate ourselves from our neighbors we are taking the opportunity to serve and be served away from those who could help us the most. I hope more people will see that these stories are tragic, and that if faced with a similar situation that it will be brotherhood and not fear that will guide us.