Viewpoint: George Zimmerman incident remains a case not so black and white
Battle lines in the George Zimmerman case have been drawn based on political and social affiliations, and despite the fact that Zimmerman has been charged and subsequently freed on bail, the true story may never come out.
USA TODAY reported yesterday that "Zimmerman can be released on a $150,000 bond during a hearing in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, after Zimmerman took the stand and apologized to Trayvon's parents. "I am sorry for the loss of your son," he said in his first public comments about the shooting. "I did not know how old he was. I thought he was a little bit younger than I am. And I did not know if he was armed or not."
Based on current information available, it seems that Trayvon Martin was not by any means a 'bad kid,' but by equal degrees not exactly a role-model citizen.
To contrast, it seems that Zimmerman, while not overtly racist, was a bit unstable and was a man who, for better or worse, was prone to letting his temper get the best of him.
And this is where the situation gets complicated.
Most would like to see the killing of Trayvon Martin in one of two ways: liberal-minded people would like to paint Zimmerman as a racist, a man who due simply to his racial prejudices, targeted the defenceless Martin with no other motive in mind.
On the other hand, conservatives have attacked Martin's reputation, referring to the seventeen year old's marijuana use and vandalism.
To be fair, it's not as though seventeen year old high school students are exactly strangers to marijuana or a bottle of spray paint.
Zimmerman – who has a decidedly Jewish sounding last name – is from a half-Hispanic background.
This in itself does not absolve Zimmerman from charges of hate; in fact violence between black and Hispanic communities is not exactly unusual.
However, based on Zimmerman's past history, it seems that it is more probable that Zimmerman was motivated not by race, but by a certain power complex that is prevalent in many authority members.
But the race of Zimmerman himself begs a greater question: because Zimmerman is half-Hispanic, does that makes the act decidedly less racist?
If Zimmerman had been Jewish, Protestant, Catholic or any other type of white person, would he be more culpable for the act of shooting Trayvon Martin as a racial crime?
The entire situation between Zimmerman and Martin reminds me of an experience I had this past summer: I was walking down the street in my neighbourhood -- granted, at an unusual hour -- but entirely sober, when a self-proclaimed 'righteous' neighbourhood watchman attempted to run me over with his pick-up truck.
As I correctly assumed, the man, staggering out of his truck, was quite drunk.
The man yelled obscenely at me and demanded to see my proof of residence, which equally unsurprisingly, he had no authority or reason to ask for.
Not wanting to deal with this situation and a reactionary by nature, I angrily refused and began to yell back at him. This was not the type of night I was looking for, but given the situation, it was the type of night I got.
But the man was adamant, and after a brutal verbal exchange between the two of us, the man staggered over to me and shoved me backwards. Not one to recoil from violence, I retaliated, and shoved the man backward.
At this point, the man, while unarmed, pretended to draw a 'hand' gun from his jacket pocket much like Clint Eastwood did in Gran Torino.
The conflict escalated, but was soon broken up by the man's neighbour, who was evidently not surprised by the man's behavior. The neighbor than drove me home, and explained to me some of the reasons behind the man's mental instabilities, which in context made a lot more sense than in conflict.
It's possible that the conflict between Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman before the actual shooting took place may have been similar.
According to witness accounts that certainty seems to be the case.
In the heat of conflict, situations often get complicated, and the shooting of Trayvon Martin seems to be no exception.
Neither Martin or Zimmerman were or are inherently bad people, and the public has no place in deciding whether Zimmerman was 'in the right' for shooting Martin to death.
Despite the the Florida "stand-your-ground" law, Zimmerman is now facing trial.
It is sure to be a media spectacle.
The Orlando Sentinel, a local paper covering the story, has gone as far as setting up a Twitter account to allow people to follow the updates pertaining to the trial or just Trayvon Martin in general.
Media exploitation may be inevitable, but at least we can take comfort in the fact that the justice system is beginning to run its course. Justice may not always be fair, but as far as I'm aware, it's the best system we've got.
Daniel Horowitz is a Spring 2012 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about him here.
This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.