Stand Your Ground

"Stand Your Ground" or a get out of jail free card?  The Trayvon Martin tragedy has raised many questions in the state of Flordia.  Was this a true case of stand your ground, the law enacted in 2005 in Florida that became a model for twenty-five other states?  Was this racially motivated?  Is there a history of trouble with either Martin or Zimmerman?

There has been leaks out of the Sanford Police Department in the past few days trying to tarnish the reputation of seventeen year old Trayvon Martin.  The news is saying that he had been suspended from school for a carrying a baggy that was found to have marijuana residue.  Stories that he had swung on a bus driver, and a claim of vandalism.  So why  are the police trying so vigorously to smear this young man's reputation to protect George Zimmerman?  It seems to us that it is to cover up their ineptitude in not arresting Mr. Zimmerman and detaining him until they could understand what transpired.

Zimmerman is claiming that Martin punched him in the face then slammed his head on the concrete.  Was this self defense by Martin?  The 911 call by Zimmerman paint him as the pursuer. He confronted Martin and instigated the confrontation. Martin was running from this man to avoid confrontation and bring his cousin the promised "taste the rainbow" of a bag of Skittles. Even if Martin had struck Zimmerman it seems that it was in self defense, which does not give Zimmerman a right to pull his gun on an unarmed teenager.

Florida State Representative Dennis Baxley was the primary sponsor of Stand Your Ground had this to say in an interview on NPR, "Well, simply because if you carefully read the statute, which most of the critics have not, and read the legislative analysis, there's nothing in this statute that authorizes you to pursue or confront other people. If anything, this law would have protected the victim in this case; it could have."  With this being the case why has Zimmerman not been arrested?

Does a hooded sweatshirt or "hoodie" as the kids like to call them, make someone look suspicious?  Or is it just an African American male in a hoodie that looks suspect?  This seems like a minor detail in the whole situation, but it has become the symbol that is being used to show support for Trayvon's parents and family. 

People have come forward in defense of George Zimmerman to say that he is not racist and that this was not racially motivated, but one has to wonder if it was after hearing the words out of Zimmerman's mouth on the 911 tapes.  Zimmerman sounds confused in this call, he states at once that he's wearing a dark sweatshirt, maybe gray, wearing sweatpants, maybe jeans.  Sweats and jeans are completely different, if you can't identify the difference you may have a problem.  He's trying to give directions for the dispatcher, and he is having trouble doing that.  The question now would be is Zimmerman drunk or of low intellect, and if so why the hell does he have a fire arm?

Everywhere you look there seems to be a glaring problem with how the Sanford Police have handle this whole situation.