Community Corner

Zimmerman Verdict: Do You Agree?





On Saturday night, a Florida jury came back with a not guilty verdict for George Zimmerman, the Florida man who had been charged with second-degree murder for shooting unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012.

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Since then, it seems that the case and verdict have been all anyone has been talking about on social media. There were local protests in various Bay Area locations, including a small group in Oakland that became violent.

On our local Patch Facebook pages, most readers criticized the verdict.

"Zimmerman may have been found not guilty, but he was definitely not innocent," said one reader on Watsonville Patch Facebook, in an opinion largely representative of the response.

But other readers said the media response was part of the problem.

"I compare them to the kids that show up at a playground fight and chant 'fight, fight, fight,'" said Ron Tull on Milpitas Patch Facebook. "Florida and the media got what they came for. Justice was done today, but there were no winners. The courts are not done with Zimmerman and a couple of parents still don't have a son."

To share your view, scroll up on this page, click in the box to the right that says, "Make an announcement, speak your mind, or sell something," and start typing.

Some individuals are declaring themselves allies to victims of racism and violence on the Tumblr page We Are Not Trayvon Martin.

Two days later, what are your feelings on the verdict? On the local response? Do you think policies, such as Florida's Stand Your Ground law, need to change? How can we prevent such a tragedy in the future? Or should we even try to?

To share your opinion on the Gilroy Patch boards, click in the box on the top right-hand column of this page that says, "Make an announcement, speak your mind, or sell something," and start typing.


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