This page was last updated on April 8, 2012.
Martin shooting was not self defense; Cory Roman; Beaver County Times; April 8, 2012.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“A lot of people are arguing about the Trayvon Martin case, and did Zimmerman shoot him in self defense or because Martin was African American?”
[RWC] You can read a lot more about this topic in my critique of “Tragedies, Crimes and Trayvon Martin.”
“I believe Zimmerman is a big liar and shot Trayvon because he was African American. That man had no right following that kid just because he had a hoodie on and was holding a [sic] iced tea and some Skittles. The one 911 call with the person screaming for help was not Zimmerman’s, than whose was it, the Magical Ghost?”
[RWC] Along with reports (see below) that made Mr. Zimmerman appear to be a liar and a racist, an Orlando Sentinel report claiming “the person screaming for help was not Zimmerman’s” is running into trouble.
If I hear/read about “iced tea and some Skittles” one more time my head may explode.
“The police department didn’t perform a toxicology report on Zimmerman to see if he was intoxicated or high; they did it on the victim. No matter if there is a ‘Stand Your Ground Law,’ that is no excuse to kill a kid. What, so now you can kill a kid and walk the streets free like in the Casey Anthony trial.
“If you want my opinion, I think we should go and hunt Zimmerman down, arrest him, put him on trial, and give him the chair. That kid deserves justice. What is wrong with our judiciary system?”
[RWC] Based on incomplete and at least partially erroneous info, and after writing “I think we should go and hunt Zimmerman down, arrest him, put him on trial, and give him the chair,” Mr. Roman actually wrote “What is wrong with our judiciary system?” You can’t make this stuff up.
What evidence does Mr. Roman have the rest of us don’t? As I wrote in the aforementioned critique, “Do you remember the rushes to judgment in the Tawana Brawley, Duke Lacrosse Team, and Cambridge Police/Henry Gates cases? I do. Regardless of how this turns out, there are no winners.”
I don’t know when Mr. Roman wrote his letter, but three so-called “news” organizations had to correct at least three erroneous reports about Mr. Zimmerman.
First, NBC selectively edited an excerpt from the 911 call so it sounded like Mr. Zimmerman said, “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.” According to the linked story, “The conversation that actually occurred between the dispatcher and Zimmerman is as follows: ‘This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.’ Then the dispatcher asked, ‘O.K., and this guy — is he white, black or Hispanic?’ To which Zimmerman replied, ‘He looks black.’” Reportedly, NBC since fired the producer who did the misleading editing.
Second, ABC backtracked on a story that claimed video of Mr. Zimmerman shortly after the incident didn’t show any of the cuts mentioned in the police report, an apparent contradiction of Mr. Zimmerman’s claim that he was in a fight with Mr. Martin and Mr. Martin slammed Mr. Zimmerman’s head into the ground. Later in the week, however, ABC conceded “enhancing” the quality of the video showed evidence of a cut on the back of Mr. Zimmerman’s head as the police report noted.
Can it be a coincidence all four of these stories initially erred on the side of claiming Mr. Zimmerman lied and/or is a racist?
Unlike Mr. Roman and far too many others, I know what I don’t know and will wait until the investigation concludes to form my opinion.
© 2004-2012 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.