"Not Guilty" vs. "Innocent"

The Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman trial ended tonight with a verdict of "not guilty." This meant Zimmerman was not considered guilty of 2nd Degree murder, Homicide or - in a last ditch effort by the prosecution - Child Abuse, for the beating Zimmerman took at the hands of the young Mr. Martin.

In my research in following the trial, I could not see a situation - based on the facts that were allowed to be presented, along with the testimony of both Trayvon's friend, or his neighbor, that led me to believe he was guilty without a reasonable doubt.

Too many twitter followers are up in arms because they feel Zimmerman should have been found guilty of something. Anything, really. After all, one man is set free while another loses his life. Hell, where's the fairness in that? I surely understand the frustration of the black community who feel that justice will never be served in this country as long as blacks continue to be profiled in crimes they haven't committed.

But this case was not about a white guy pointing out a black guy for murder. For one thing, George Zimmerman is Hispanic, and not some white "cop-wannabe," as the prosecution tried to paint him. As much as the Al Sharpton's and the Jesse Jackson's of the world wish this trial to be about race relations in America, the bitter truth is that race relations in America have been far better than any time in the past. Exception will be made for the 5 years we've lived with Obama, perhaps the most divisive President we've had since Woodrow Wilson.

Regardless how you slice it us, the jury understood the realities of the case and those realities were focused like a laser on the guilt or non-guilt of Mr. Zimmerman.

It's understood that for many years, far too many years, blacks have been targeted/profiled for numerous crimes they may have, or nay not have committed. Profiling is not necessarily wrong to profile someone who history has shown could be acting against societies best interest. One of the worst decisions this country makes is not following the Israeli method of profiling at airports.

In this case, there had been a number of burglaries in the neighbor. That does not make Martin guilty. He had every right as anyone else to be on public grounds, as did Zimmerman. Zimmerman, however, was hired by the town to be on the neighborhood watch patrol, simply because of these recent break ins. He sees someone who appears drunk (he was proven to have marijuana in his bloodstream) and, as he is instructed by is job, he attempts to follow him. Apparently, he didn't get back to his car fast enough and suddenly Marin, a 6'3" man-child approaches Zimmerman and they start to fight. Now, according to the lone eyewitness, Martin was straddling Zimmerman from the top and banging his head into the concrete street.

Let's stop for a moment and let the scene unfold here. At this moment, and remember, everything was happening rather fast, Zimmerman was losing badly. He was cut up badly on the back on the head and he had two black eyes. Martin was using MMA (martial arts) techniques to injure. Zimmerman had a choice, risk a major brain injury (in not death) from the pummeling he had been taking, or take out his (and this is vital) legally licensed gun. Zimmerman also feared that Martin could get the gun from him and use it against him. However he looked at the situation, it looked bad.

So what would you do? What if you were George Zimmerman? How easy it is for us to wax poetic about our own virtues and deny that we could never pull the trigger/ on the other hand, how many people have been murdered in the streets because they didn't have something to protect themselves. There is a reason why so many Black and Hispanic kids are lining the morgues in Chicago, a city with the toughest gun laws. Because as we all know, criminals follow the gun laws. By overturning the state's concealed weapon ban, the only new people who will be armed with be law abiding citizens who simply just want ti protect themselves and their families.

The jury was instructed to either find him "guilty of 2nd degree murder", guilty of 2nd deegree homicide, or "not Guilty of all charges. There are those uneducated fools who do not understand how the justice system works. You can't find him guilty or not guilty of any thing he was not charge for, So those who feel he should have gotten something just because, you are depressed and probably angry. AL Sharpton is angry - and he knows a few things about starting riots. If Sharpton's rhetoric causes any kind of disturbance, the MSNBC will have to share the blame. I'm curious also how the white house and Attorney General will as.

Sadly, the last 5 years of racial animosity has is reaching a head. Now is not the time for grandiose speeches about how the Cambridge Police Department aced stupidly. Now is the time for the President to finally act Presidential - for All American, Nut just the ones who look like his son.