Well, Isn't This Fucked Up and Bullshit

WELP. As you probably already know, it was a fucked up weekend for justice. I'm reposting this  today (originally here), because the whole case still gives me a sad, and the lack of justice makes my brain hurty. Not even manslaughter?!?! SERIOUSLY NOT EVEN MANSLAUGHTER?!?!? 

Thanks, Florida. You guys are the worst. (Except any of my readers from Florida who I'm sure are wonderful non racist people and not at all black-kid-killer-sympathizers.)
___________________________________________________________________

Hi guys. As you know, I rarely post about news or serious things. But even though this news story is a bit old, I've been following it for weeks and I want to talk about it. It’s important.

So, let’s have a discussion with myself.

Well, in a nutshell, a 17 year old African American boy named Trayvon Martin was walking to a family member’s home when he was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, self-appointed “neighborhood watch leader.”

Zimmerman claims it was “self defense.”

No, Trayvon was carrying some skittles and a drink from a convenience store.

No. In fact, Zimmerman saw Trayvon while he was still in his car.  He called 911 and the dispatcher told him to stay in his car. He got out and approached Trayvon instead.

Not really, no. Trayvon called his girlfriend [Update: actually, female friend] and said a guy was following him.  Zimmerman had about 100 pounds on him, so Trayvon was probably intimidated. His girlfriend said that she told Trayvon to run, but he said he was going to walk fast. No one knows exactly what happened after that. 

But even if Trayvon got scared and attacked Zimmerman (unarmed), Zimmerman was the one who got out of the car and approached him. Thus, Zimmerman was the aggressor in this situation - Florida's "Stand Your Ground" laws protect the victim, not the aggressor. Zimmerman cannot follow someone home, get out of his car, approach him, shoot and kill him (whether or not it was during an altercation), and claim it was self defense. [Update: Apparently he can. So, it's totally cool to stalk kids at night and then murder them when they try to defend themselves.]

Yes. Just minding his own business.

Yes.

Yes.

I know.

I am too. Do you want to know what’s worse?

…

The police fucked up the investigation. Zimmerman hasn’t been charged with Trayvon’s killing yet.

Yeah. They didn’t administer any kind of drug/alcohol test to Zimmerman. [Update: the court DID allow the defense to tell the jury that Trayvon had traces of marijuana in his system. What is the point of that? Marijuana does not make people act aggressive, and it only proved he had smoked in the past 30 days or so. 

So why do we need to know that? Is it less bad to kill someone who has smoked weed? Do people who smoke deserve to die more than people who don't? Are people saying, "Oh man, this really would have been a tragedy, thank God he only killed some weed-smoking black kid, and not someone who actually mattered. Boy, I can't think of any black man who smoked weed as a youth and actually made something of himself, except for the current president of the united states. His life doesn't matter as much as it would have if he didn't smoke."  I have yet to hear one satisfactory explanation for this.] 

They didn’t interview Trayvon’s girlfriend right away. They didn’t catch a racial slur on the 911 tape. One report claims they “corrected” a  witness who heard someone yell “Help, help.”

Did I mention that Trayvon was black? I think they assumed he was guilty. Or it would go away quietly.

That’s how I feel. Zimmerman has a prior record (Trayvon doesn’t), and was known for calling the police about (black) kids in the area.

I agree.

It’s awful.

Well, real people can sign this petition. I mean, it’s clear that the case is being investigated now, but it’s still important for people to go “Hey, this isn’t okay.”

I know.

Me too. We can be funny again tomorrow.