Ash writes: "The press is doing Zimmerman a favor by referring to him as a 'neighborhood watch volunteer.' In fact, he was more of a vigilante than a volunteer."
Trayvon Martin, shot by George Zimmerman on February 26. (photo: The Martin Family)
Who Killed Trayvon Martin?
15 April 12
Reader Supported News | Perspective
e have an admission from George Zimmerman that he fired the shot that killed Trayvon Martin, but it's his rationale that is the most revealing and alarming.
A 9mm pistol was not the only thing Zimmerman was armed with on the night of February 26, he was also armed with a legal mandate to use lethal force at his own discretion. The press is doing Zimmerman a favor by referring to him as a "neighborhood watch volunteer." In fact, he was more of a vigilante than a volunteer. Zimmerman hadn't volunteered for anything, he was a self-appointed, self-supervised man on a mission of his own choosing.
When you listen to Zimmerman's "reasons" for using deadly force: "I feared for my life," "He reached for my gun," you can't help hearing an undercurrent of premeditation. He's is carefully constructing a legal argument that leans heavily on the controversial Stand Your Ground statute. Clearly, he understood the law, and was just as prepared to use it as he was to use his gun.
"Stand Your Ground" isn't law, it's politics at best. The statute would nullify existing law pertaining to the use of deadly force as we know it. What Trayvon Martin has done is highlight the legal contradictions created when lawmakers substitute politics for law. It's not just Zimmerman that is on trial in the killing of Trayvon Martin, it's Stand Your Ground. As well it should be.
The Trayvon Martin murder case is going to hinge on who was the aggressor, and who was the victim. It's the only standard that can deliver justice in this case. Someone was minding their own business, and someone was out looking for trouble. Yes, there is a difference: life and death.
Stand Your Ground is not just sloppy lawmaking, it is part of a carefully coordinated campaign by arms industry profiteers to turn American communities into firearms customers and to make the "Devil's Right Hand" the American legal standard. George Zimmerman was only acting with the weapons he had been handed.
If George Zimmerman is acquitted a killer goes free, if Stand Your Ground is acquitted American communities could become killing fields.
Marc Ash is the founder and former Executive Director of Truthout, and is now founder and Editor of Reader Supported News.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
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