BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor
On Saturday night, after several hours of deliberation, an all-white jury acquitted George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman shot the unarmed teenager on February 26, 2012, in the small town of Sanford, Florida.
Zimmerman was arrested three weeks after the shooting and charged with second-degree murder after international protests took place. Some citizens who followed the trial shared their comments about the verdict.
Ed Racker said, “Every time I allow myself to think that racism in America is on the decline, along comes something to bring me back to reality; this time it was the Zimmerman acquittal!”
Ms. Ann Jenkins said, “This is very ugly, I believe that the jury was hand-picked before they was chosen in court. This sends a bad message to our African American youth, racism is still alive, they can kill and get away with it, and nothing will be done about it. I hope that Martin’s family go to civil court right away and make Zimmerman pay, he has the money, because the KKK has been paying his bills all alone. When the black man killed the white man under the same law they gave him much time; but when Zimmerman did it, the KKK and all other whites with their evil hearts stuck by him.
“I want you to know that God is not sleep, he’s still alive and well. This too, shall come to past. This event has pushed us all the way back to the slavery days. I said that to say; they can still kill our people with no remorse and get away with it. It’s not about being smart, it’s about having the money to do it with.”
Danny Green said, “First. Thing my prayers go out to the Martin family.
We all know that Justice was not served for the Martin family We are not surprised by the Florida justice system. In Florida we have a record of screwing things up. It seems the prosecution was on the defensive side, you would think so.
“Zimmerman got away with killing a young child. It was not about white and black it was about killing a child, I’m very upset with the verdict.”
Donald Dowridge, Jr. (pictured, right), said, “How can this be when all the evidence point towards George Zimmerman being a man of guilt? As much as it hurt to admit, the defense lawyers made their case even though it was a case of lies. My heart go to Treyvon Martin’s mother and father as well as his family and the our Black community.
“This is where we must police ourselves better and really begin to educate our young Black teen boys and young men even more of their responsibilities so they no longer become a targets. George Zimmerman’s life will never be joyful, he will always pay each and every day of his life!”
Dr. Sam Wright said, “I am befuddled! As a father of a young Black male, my heart hurts for the family and all other families who have had to endure such tragedies. We yet have problems in America that we must address and many of them are in our Criminal Justice system.”
Billy Wheeler said, “The Zimmerman verdict yet again points out the truth that the current justice system relentlessly works against people of color. To maintain an undue advantage, they exploit the technicalities of the law quoting “not guilty does not mean innocent,” and “the burden of reasonable doubt wasn’t met.” However, these nuances never come into play when a person of color is on trial. It’s maddening how commonly used evidence techniques, such as polygraph and voice recognition suddenly become useless when they would serve to further the cause of a person of color.
“To attempt to identify Zimmerman as Hispanic goes against the truth of his everyday existence; he fully embraced the mindset and enjoyed the privileges of having white skin.
As recently as 2010, 72-year-old Trevor Dooley (a black man) left his Valrico home to complain about a 14-year-old non-resident skateboarder who, in violation of posted signs barring skateboard use, was riding on the basketball court across from his house.
“The youth later said 41-year old David James, a white resident who was there playing with his daughter, gave him “permission.” Witnesses testified that an argument between James and Dooley began, during which Dooley revealed a gun in his waistband. They also said Dooley turned and headed home, but the younger, stronger, and larger James spun him around and tried to grab the gun.
“James was shot and killed when the men fell to the ground during the struggle in which he was the aggressor. Even so, Dooley was sentenced to 8 years in jail for manslaughter. Such verdicts are a manifestation of the blatant unfairness of a system that is a malignant cancer on the country’s soul, and it must be cut out to prevent its persistent growth.”
Maurice Kemp said, “It’s difficult to respond reasonably to such an emotionally charged case and verdict. It is a fact that George Zimmerman immorally took the life of unarmed Trayvon Martin.
It is highly possible that George Zimmerman is racist. The problem is, George Zimmerman was not on trial for his immorality nor racism; he was on trial for unjustifiably taking the life of Trayvon Martin.
“His attorneys argued that his actions were justifiable under the “Stand Your Ground (SYG)” law and six jurors found him not guilty. Moving forward, we need to eliminate or restrict the SYG law that has allowed for quite a few “justifiable” homicides. We also need to send a clear message to our State legislators that we will not quietly stand for any more of this injustice; and it does not matter if the accused is White, Hispanic, Asian or Black.”
Steve Marshall said, “In my opinion, the verdict was horrible, and I am thoroughly disappointed. It does not matter who was screaming on the tape and all the other loop halls as it relates to the trial. The undeniable fact is an unarmed African American teenager was profiled, pursued, and killed. There should be some penalty for a unarmed teen’s life taken for no justifiable cause. WE MUST PRAY!”
Ross Anderson said, “I anticipated that verdict based on the law. What the law and the verdict doesn’t address is that Trayon Martin was racial profiled and that is a FACT. This not guilty verdict just sent the message to all young minority boys that you can be racial profiled by someone. They can follow you confront you and when the outcome is not to their liking you can be shot and it will be in self defense.
“What I’m most concern with is the 20+ senseless killing in our neighbors of our African boys killing each other over money and girls since the Trayvon Martin shooting happen a year and half ago. We just had 3 in the last month and 2 are dead and 1 is still in the hospital. We have to do more to educated our young men on their rights and the law.”
