The original local police on the case (the detectives and the chief) didn't believe there was anything to arrest Zimmerman for, according to various accounts that came to light during the trial. It wasn't until sociopolitical pressure was brought to bear - and new personnel were brought in on the case - that he was arrested and prosecuted. Most legal analysts have expressed the opinion that murder charges were almost certainly never going to be made to stick, a notion reinforced by the last-minute decision to tell the jury that manslaughter could also be considered. By trial's end, I wager, it was too late for that. The state blew its wad on second-degree murder, and even they figure the odds were strong it was a loser. I truly believe they always knew but felt that had to "do" something.
The United States of America is deeply fractured. It doesn't help that it, with the willing and eager help of the Democratic and Republican parties and the press, is addicted to outrage orgasms. There are a large number of people, white and non-white, that want Zimmerman made an example of, for him to be punished not only for his crime but also for the crimes of others they believe, rightly or wrongly, "got away with it." And there are a large number of people, mostly white, who are actually happy that Trayvon Martin is dead and violently because of what they feel he represented: a young black male criminal-in-training. I've not only read posts and essays by members of both groups. I've listened to them in conversation. I've not had one with any of them because, frankly, there is no such thing allowed. Either "Zimmerman is a hateful, racist monster who got away with murdering an child" or "Martin, that little thug-wannabe who was probably going to be living off the taxpayer dime in prison in a few years anyway, deserved that bullet." And a lot of people speak of it all as if they wish that either they could throw the switch on Zimmerman or could have shot Martin themselves. It's not going to get any better any time soon, I fear.
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The United States of America is deeply fractured. It doesn't help that it, with the willing and eager help of the Democratic and Republican parties and the press, is addicted to outrage orgasms. There are a large number of people, white and non-white, that want Zimmerman made an example of, for him to be punished not only for his crime but also for the crimes of others they believe, rightly or wrongly, "got away with it." And there are a large number of people, mostly white, who are actually happy that Trayvon Martin is dead and violently because of what they feel he represented: a young black male criminal-in-training. I've not only read posts and essays by members of both groups. I've listened to them in conversation. I've not had one with any of them because, frankly, there is no such thing allowed. Either "Zimmerman is a hateful, racist monster who got away with murdering an child" or "Martin, that little thug-wannabe who was probably going to be living off the taxpayer dime in prison in a few years anyway, deserved that bullet." And a lot of people speak of it all as if they wish that either they could throw the switch on Zimmerman or could have shot Martin themselves. It's not going to get any better any time soon, I fear.