Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Profile this.

So Rep. Bobby Rush, D-IL removed his suitcoat and pulled a hood over his head and put on sunglasses in tribute to Trayvon Martin.  He stated that racial profiling had to stop and then was escorted out of the chamber.   In Phoenix AZ, Sheriff Joe Arpaio has recently been accused of racial profiling by instructing his officers to stop, detain and verify legality of hispanics that are driving on the streets of Maricopa County Arizona. 
How many times has a police officer stopped someone for a traffic violation and had to listen to a ranting driver because he is screaming racial profiling?   Does racial profiling exist?  Of course it does.  But how many times has profiling done good?  Anyone who has traveled through the Cleveland airport has seen a display of weapons taken from passengers, some because of profiling.  If profiling will save 100 lives on a plane, then I am all for it.  Questions from Sanford FL remain unanswered.  Did George Zimmerman know Trayvon Martin?  Did Zimmerman see just another black person wearing a hoodie and assume he was up to no good?  Witnesses say that Martin attacked Zimmerman by punching him and knocking him to the ground then slamming his head on to the concrete.  Does this mean that Martin deserved to die?  Of course not.  But does it mean that Zimmerman had to take a beating from this kid?  Of course not.  Clearly, this incident is a tragedy and if it were my son, I would be just as angry.   Is it necessary for Zimmerman to be arrested and charged?  Nope, not at all.  But this shooting does need to be investigated completely and thoroughly.  Unfortunately, Zimmerman will be arrested but will not get a fair trial.  With the publicity so far, everyone in this country already believes one way or the other.  Assume that Martin was guilty of attacking Zimmerman and Zimmerman feared for his life.  The shooting would be justifiable.  Even though legally it would be permitted, there is no jury that will find him not guilty and rule that it was self defense, or give him  leeway on a stand your ground defense.  Politics in this country being what they are, I am afraid that Zimmerman will be arrested and will be convicted and will go to jail.  At this point, the facts don't matter.  The truth doesn't matter.  Right now, revenge is the only thing that people are seeing.

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