George Zimmerman has released a new video through the office of his attorney which sums up his current situation and what he’s taken away from his tumultuous experiences with both the legal system and the media. It comes at a rather interesting time, particularly after some other high profile cases which were championed (wrongly) by cable news spokesmodels – specifically the Michael Brown shooting and the UVA gang rape case – have had their pins pulled from underneath them by reality.
In terms of any potential mental and emotional scars from the experience, Zimmerman seems at peace.
“Only in a life or death scenario can you have mental clearness to know that you cannot feel guilty for surviving,” he said. “Had I had a fraction of a thought that I could have done something differently, acted differently, so that both of us would have survived, then I would have a heavier weight on my shoulders.”
One subject which drew a lot of attention from conservative outlets during the entire arc of the Trayvon Martin story was the racial component of the two principals involved. The press almost immediately began describing Zimmerman as a “white Hispanic” which may be the first time that phrase was ever uttered. It served the purposes of the media narrative, but what did it mean? Zimmerman finally shares some of his thoughts on that aspect of the cable news circus.
I think that there are a lot of characteristics, aspects, personality traits, personal history that was used against me erroneously. For example my last name carrying a Caucasian German connotation definitely helped them portray me as a racist white man when in reality I am you know my mother’s Peruvian my father is American and I was raised by my mother and my grandmother both fully Hispanic. So I’m by no means was I ever portrayed as a white racist prior to this but they used certain aspects of character, characteristics of my personality against me…
I tell you; personally my Hispanic community from home Northern Virginia was extremely supportive. I was tremendously disappointed and let down by the Hispanic Congressional Caucus. They aligned themselves with the Black Congressional Caucus and did everything that they could to in essence throw me under the bus. They identified with the Black Congressional Caucus and viewing me as a white racist and a, doing something negligent or racist and without even knowing anything about my character.
Even after the criminal trial was over, both the press and Eric Holder’s staff continued to hold out hopes that Zimmerman could some how be “punished” when the legal system failed to deliver on their hopes. It took – literally – years before Justice announced that they were essentially giving up on any sort of federal civil rights case against him in February of this year. In the intervening time, there was no peace for the man who had been found not guilty by a jury of his peers.
Many in the press tried to treat Zimmerman as some sort of attention seeking narcissist. This was a laughable narrative, since George wouldn’t have been in the national news had there not been reporters shadowing his every step and blowing up headlines every time he was involved in anything as minor as a traffic ticket or even a police stop where he was sent on his way without so much as a warning. He became the butt of liberal media jokes when he sold some paintings, with few noting that the press had ensured that he could never land a normal job as a private citizen with reporters trailing him each time he left his home.
But in the end, much as we’re now seeing with Darren Wilson, the only thing not being reported was that the rule of law had been followed and Zimmerman was found not to be responsible for the crimes the media so desperately needed to convict him on. What happened under the rule of law was of no consequence. The trial had been held on CNN and MSNBC and Zimmerman had been declared a sinner who must be punished by his betters.
And punish him they have.
If anything, all of this has left George Zimmerman a much more skeptical man when it comes to his world view. As to how he was treated by his own government, Geroge pulled no punches when it came to both the President and the Department of Justice.
“Unfortunately after even after Jay Carney, his press secretary, stated in the White House briefing that the White House will not interject in a local law enforcement matter and at most a state criminal matter, President Obama held his Rose Garden speech stating ‘if I had a son he would look like Trayvon,’” he said. “To me that was clearly a dereliction of duty pitting Americans against each other solely based on race.”
This is the ironic aspect of the entire situation. The media, while covering not only the Trayvon Martin case, but Michael Brown and others, has managed to further divide the country along racial lines and convince minorities that the rule of law is not to be trusted and authorities are to blame for all ills. But the real distrust of the government has spread to “the other side” as well, seeing how the idea of having your day in court and clearing your name no longer means very much. There were no winners in these stories. In fact, we all lost.
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