The Issue: The “not guilty” verdict for George Zimmerman in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
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The verdict is in on the George Zimmerman trial and it’s “not guilty” (“Zimmerman’s Acquittal,” Editorial, July 15).
But many of the cable TV news stations, especially CNN and HLN, don’t necessarily agree with the court’s decision and continue to stir up dissent days after the trial has ended.
All of these people who don’t agree with the court’s decision are the same ones who, in 1995, applauded and cheered for O.J. Simpson when he was declared not guilty in his murder trial.
Joe Mercer
Memphis, Tenn.
Lessons from the verdict: Many blacks and liberals will support blacks, regardless of facts.
If an individual defends himself against a black assailant, he’s racist. If authorities refuse to prosecute because there’s no case, mobs will take to the streets demanding “justice.”
If jurors affirm what the authorities knew, that there is no case, they will be called racists, at which point mobs will take to the street demanding a do-over in federal court.
Brad Morris
Astoria
An armed man confronts an unarmed man. The unarmed man has gone to the store for a snack. The armed man may be looking for trouble. It cannot be known what, if anything, the armed man says or yells, but guns speak louder than words.
So the unarmed man stands his ground and goes for the armed man as if it’s his only chance to survive, which it is.
The unarmed man is dead. The armed man is found not guilty.
Come again? Looks like the Florida law needs some tweaking. The guy without the gun was at such a disadvantage. Jeannie Reed
Manhattan
In all of the coverage I’ve seen so far, and in all of the racial rhetoric, no one seems to be asking the most obvious question to ask in a case of self-defense: Who threw the first punch?
Dave Becher
East Northport
I’ve read and heard numerous times in the liberal media that Zimmerman “profiled” Trayvon Martin as someone who might be involved in criminal activity.
Isn’t that exactly what anyone involved in a neighborhood watch program is supposed to do? Then one would call 911, right?
He continued to follow Martin, which led to Martin confronting and assaulting the “crazy-ass cracker” following him.
Had Zimmerman stayed in his car, this wouldn’t have happened. But it’s not clear the 911 dispatcher who told him to stay in his car had police authority.
Had Martin gone home, this wouldn’t have happened. Instead, he assaulted Zimmerman.
Zimmerman was looking for a troublemaker. Martin, once he noticed Zimmerman, was looking for trouble.
Pete Vetro
Beachwood, NJ
I have been watching all of the defense and prosecution attorneys blow their horn as to what should have happened in the Zimmerman trial, but no one asks them the question: What if it was your child wandering through an unfamiliar neighborhood? Jack Roepnack
Poland, NY
Is there not irony in Attorney General Eric Holder — who claims that he and President Obama have a right to assassinate American citizens overseas and even domestically if they thought national security so required — potentially investigating Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense?
Edward Hochman
Manhattan
If Zimmerman had been dark-skinned, this whole absurd media brouhaha would never have occurred.
Yes, it’s sad that a youth — often referred to as “a child,” which is misleading — has been killed.
But a jury found Zimmerman not guilty of the charges filed against him and people should accept that, even though they might not like it.
I wish there would be more outrage and demonstrations when inner-city black kids are shot, not by “white Hispanics,” but by fellow blacks.Melanie Coronetz
Manhattan