George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, 2012. That single fact is undisputed. But did the Neighborhood Watch leader murder the unarmed teen? Did he act with such reckless abandon that his actions amounted to manslaughter? A jury unanimously said, “no.”
In U.S. jurisprudence, as in much of biblical history, there is a distinction between killing and murder. Murder is unlawful killing, an act that is premeditated, intentional and malicious. Killing is when someone unintentionally takes the life of another, or does so as an act of self-defense or in defense of others.
The jury in Zimmerman’s trial simply decided, based on the evidence and the law, that Zimmerman didn’t murder Martin. He killed him in self-defense.
The story is a tragic one, of course, and no one emerged victorious. Martin is dead and Zimmerman is a pariah. It’s likely that Zimmerman and Martin were both scared of each other that rainy night–Martin, because he was being followed by some “creepy ass cracker” with a gun (according to Rachel Jeantel), and Zimmerman, because he didn’t know whether this “punk,” “asshole” Martin was armed. Their mutual fear of each other’s intentions escalated into a physical confrontation that spiraled into a life-and-death struggle.
I would argue that this whole wretched event might have been avoided if their hadn’t been a gun.
I served as a Neighborhood Watch volunteer for years, and I never carried a gun. I never felt as though I needed one. My chosen method of self-defense was a cellphone and a call to 911. That was also Zimmerman’s choice, but when fear overtook him, he reached for his gun. What if he had been armed instead with Mace or pepper spray? What if he had used a Taser or if his gun had had rubber bullets? What if he had shot him in the shoulder or the thigh? It suffices to say, you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog post.
I don’t agree with defense attorney Mark O’Mara’s claim that Martin was also armed, but “with concrete” instead of a gun. However, I do think that both Zimmerman and Martin were scared that night. And a gun in the hands of a fearful individual made all the difference between life and death.
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