06-02-2013, 03:03 PM
I generally agree with O'Mara's sentiments in this this portion of a statement he made to CNN earlier this week.
“Well, let me ask you this. If they acquit George because the jury says Trayvon was the aggressor, if they make that decision, is that going to be a loss for civil rights? Is it? If the jury decides he’s acquitted because Trayvon was the aggressor, is that a civil rights event? I would suggest not. If they convict George because they think he was the aggressor, is that a benefit to civil rights? Some might say maybe, because at least a young black male victim of a homicide was justified, or his loss was not in vain. So they might say, ‘If you get the conviction then at least he wasn’t a lost life.’ Maybe. But the real decision is going to be who was the aggressor and whether or not George acted reasonably. Those two decisions have nothing to do with rights. They just don’t.
“Now, had the case never gone to trial, maybe. Had they said, ‘We’re not going to prosecute this guy because he killed a black kid,’ then, okay, maybe that’s a civil rights issue. But the jury decides what they’re going to decide, I just don’t see the civil rights connotation to it.”
If Zimmerman hadn't been charged at all, I could see people considering it a civil rights/race issue. He should have been charged and he was.
Since he's been rightfully charged and will have a fair trial within our judicial system, no verdict should be cause for outcries or riots and, like @username, I really don't think they''ll be any. Certainly hope not.
The trial will be televised, streamed, and analyzed to death on news/talk shows, so the public will get to see the whole process in action. That visibility is a very good thing in this case, imo.
On a related note, it's amazing the amount of work that the courthouse staff has undertaken to accommodate this trial; designating and setting up media areas, hiring extra security, creating protestor parameters and locations, adding extra technical capacity... Big job, months in the planning.
Details in this Sentinel article: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loca...ory?page=2
“Well, let me ask you this. If they acquit George because the jury says Trayvon was the aggressor, if they make that decision, is that going to be a loss for civil rights? Is it? If the jury decides he’s acquitted because Trayvon was the aggressor, is that a civil rights event? I would suggest not. If they convict George because they think he was the aggressor, is that a benefit to civil rights? Some might say maybe, because at least a young black male victim of a homicide was justified, or his loss was not in vain. So they might say, ‘If you get the conviction then at least he wasn’t a lost life.’ Maybe. But the real decision is going to be who was the aggressor and whether or not George acted reasonably. Those two decisions have nothing to do with rights. They just don’t.
“Now, had the case never gone to trial, maybe. Had they said, ‘We’re not going to prosecute this guy because he killed a black kid,’ then, okay, maybe that’s a civil rights issue. But the jury decides what they’re going to decide, I just don’t see the civil rights connotation to it.”
If Zimmerman hadn't been charged at all, I could see people considering it a civil rights/race issue. He should have been charged and he was.
Since he's been rightfully charged and will have a fair trial within our judicial system, no verdict should be cause for outcries or riots and, like @username, I really don't think they''ll be any. Certainly hope not.
The trial will be televised, streamed, and analyzed to death on news/talk shows, so the public will get to see the whole process in action. That visibility is a very good thing in this case, imo.
On a related note, it's amazing the amount of work that the courthouse staff has undertaken to accommodate this trial; designating and setting up media areas, hiring extra security, creating protestor parameters and locations, adding extra technical capacity... Big job, months in the planning.
Details in this Sentinel article: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/loca...ory?page=2