A TIME FOR PAUSE

A lot of things have been said in the days since the verdict on the death of Trayvon Martin. I don't think anyone has won this case. Least of all the parents of Trayvon. We all must reconcile ourselves that the jury found that George Zimmerman, was innocent of murder or manslaughter, according to Florida state laws. Like it or not, all of us need to abide by that decision. 

All of this being said, I would like to take a few moments to share my views on this subject. I am not going to question the verdict. I am not going to question the validity of the verdict. Anyone of us in that position of finding someone guilty or innocent would have to do what this jury did, and that was to look at the evidence and decide their decision on what they have before them. None of us should question their sincerity in trying to find the truth.

So many things in this case were blurred. The only two people who know what happened are Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. However as I see it there were some terrible mistakes made by Mr. Zimmerman that I am sure he regrets today. The first mistake was following someone to see if that person was going to do something wrong. It's hard not to say that Trayvon Martin wasn't stereotyped, why else would George Zimmerman have followed a teenager with no apparent weapon. 

The second mistake I find to be the real zinger; after calling police to share his suspicions of Trayvon Martin's intentions, he should have let police follow up. George Zimmerman should not have kept following the young man. Zimmerman was found not guilty because he was defending himself from getting his skull bashed on the cement. I get that. Truly I do understand that. However I feel that if Zimmerman would not have followed him, Martin, who obviously was aware that he was being followed, apparently felt the need to protect himself. Thereby using the only weapon that he had, his own physical strength.

I can understand why so many people are so torn and divided in this case. The sad truth is, this is just a horrible tragedy, in which a black teenager was profiled by an over zealous Hispanic neighborhood watch person. End of story.