Top 5 Reasons to Arrest George Zimmerman

On February 26, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed on his way back to his father’s home by 28-year-old, neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida. Martin was unarmed, carrying nothing but a bag of Skittles and a bottle of iced tea, and dressed in a hooded sweatshirt. It has been over a month since Martin was murdered, and Zimmerman has not been charged or arrested, even though he has confessed to the shooting.  Here are the top 5 reasons to arrest George Zimmerman:

1. Trayvon Martin was not a threat. Florida's “Stand Your Ground” law enables gun owners to use their weapon in self-defense in any public space, if they feel their safety is threatened.  This Florida law is protecting Zimmerman. But, according to the 911 call that Zimmerman made, Trayvon was unarmed and out of Zimmerman’s way. So what type of threat did he impose? None. The only “threat” Zimmerman had to stand by was that Martin was a young, black male dressed in a hoodie. The police told Zimmerman not to follow Martin in the tape but he went against their orders — trusting his suspicions and racially profiling Martin— and followed the boy, who was shot and killed within two minutes. 

2. Zimmerman committed a hate crime. In Zimmerman’s initial 911 call, he called Trayvon Martin a “F**cking Co*n.” The recording proves that Zimmerman’s thought process was influenced by race, which implies that he committed a hate crime and did not act in self defense.

3. Yes, George Zimmerman is a racist. In hopes of saving his son from being characterized as a racist, Zimmerman’s father, Robert Zimmerman, wrote in a letter to the Orlando Sentinel, that George is “a Spanish-speaking minority … He would be the last to discriminate for any reason whatsoever.” His family has even pointed out that some of his relatives are black. In his interview with Fox News, Robert Zimmerman said that George is “colorblind when it comes to any race,” and even mentions that he has mentored two black children.  Being a minority doesn’t give people resistance from having racist beliefs. The truth of the matter is that anyone is susceptible to being racist regardless of their race. Read the full interview here.

4. Zimmerman was not "screaming" for help. When Robert was asked about the screams for help following the first gunshot in his interview with Fox News, he responded, “All of our family, everyone who knows George, knows absolutely that is George screaming. There's no doubt in anyone's mind.” Why would George scream for help after the first gunshot? He was the one who pulled the trigger on Martin. It makes more sense that Trayvon would cry for help after being shot at. There is one last gunshot following the cries for help, after which the cries stop. Here is the audio.  

5. Zimmerman had no visible injuries. The beating Robert describes that George received from the young boy is severe: “Trayvon Martin walked up to him and asked him, 'Do you have a f*cking problem?' George said, 'No, I don't have a problem,' and started to reach for his cell phone ...  at that point, he (Martin) was punching him in the nose, his nose was broken and he was knocked to the concrete … It’s my understanding that Trayvon Martin got on top of him and started beating him.” However the police surveillance video of George that night doesn’t show any visible injuries. Robert’s response to this was, “I don’t know what the video showed. I haven’t seen it … He wasn’t given any medical attention, but they may have cleaned him up there at the scene. I don’t know.” George’s injuries would have been evidence of the beating he encountered from Trayvon; why would the police clean George up on his way to questioning? Even the lead investigator that night did not buy Zimmerman’s story. He wanted to file manslaughter charges against George, but he was overruled by the state’s attorney.