By: Jeff Katz – April, 2012
The fine people of Sanford, Florida have recently had to welcome the circus to town. The visit of one of the greatest shows on earth follows the killing of a seventeen year old man named Trayvon Martin. Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman a little over a month ago. The fact that Zimmerman killed Martin is really the only major factor which has been conclusively determined. It was not a team of crime scene analysts who made this decision. We know this because Zimmerman told the police. After his confession, things get a little muddier. Even with multiple investigations ongoing, two of America’s greatest carnival barkers have pitched their tents in Sanford.
On the night in question, Martin was walking through a gated community and was apparently spotted by neighborhood watch volunteer Zimmerman who thought something seemed suspicious. Retreat View Circle had apparently been the scene of multiple burglaries and Zimmerman seemed to think Martin might be involved. We simply don’t know many more details at this point, except that Zimmerman called the Sanford Police Department, advised them of the situation and were told by the dispatcher to go back to his vehicle. Zimmerman told police that as he was following the dispatcher’s advice, Martin punched him, jumped him and began to smash his head on the ground. In reading the police reports, there is, at the very least, a suggestion that Zimmerman and Martin may have been struggling for possession of the 9mm pistol which was being carried legally by Zimmerman.
The initial police report makes quite clear that Zimmerman had blood on his head and notes that his shirt was wet and covered with grass. The responding police officers performed CPR on Martin and then the Sanford Fire Rescue personnel performed lifesaving efforts to no avail. Sanford Fire Rescue also provided medical attention, according to the report, to Zimmerman; apparently treating him for contusions and lacerations to his head. There are six adult witnesses who are listed in the police report as well.
So far, this situation seems to be fairly bland, don’t you think? A tragedy to be sure but not exciting or spellbinding or colorful. That is exactly how most police investigations proceed. A quest for the facts. A determination to find the truth. It is the very rare exception when there is some sort of SVU eureka television moment. As I write this column investigations are being conducted in to the Trayvon Martin killing by the Sanford Police Department, the Seminole County State’s Attorney Office as well as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. They should be allowed to do their work without the distractions created by self serving political hacks. Sadly, as mentioned, the circus has come to town.
Jesse Jackson who fathered a child with a woman not his wife at the same time he was counseling Bill Clinton on honoring your marriage vows has parachuted into town. The same man who brought you the “Hymietown” debacle and pumped up the entirely fraudulent Duke Lacrosse rape case is now a point man on this.
Al Sharpton who gave the world the Tawana Brawley hoax and incited the deadly attacks at Freddy’s Fashion Mart is exploiting this tragedy for his own personal gain, as well. Any number of political bottom feeders have also decided that the facts are not important. Better they say to rush to judgment and declare Zimmerman guilty of an unprovoked murder and string him up immediately if not sooner.
The leader of the racist New Black Panther Party offers up thousands of dollars as a bounty on the head of Zimmerman. A group demanding “justice for Trayvon” robs and vandalizes a Walgreen’s. Martin’s mother trademarks his first name so that she may sell shirts. And the president himself weighs in on the case and demonstrates that he too is acting “stupidly.”
The facts are the facts in this case. Zimmerman killed Martin. Anything past that is pure speculation. It is entirely possible that Zimmerman was a racist who killed Martin in cold blood. It is also equally as possible that he did kill Martin in self-defense.
Sadly, with the race baiting ringmasters now controlling the narrative we may never know the truth.