The failures of Eric Holder keep piling up. Tuesday, he announced that his Justice Department would not bring federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in relation to the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman, who was acquitted last year of state murder charges, became a media sensation following the controversial shooting. While some have called his acquittal a miscarriage of justice, this marks the second time officials have concluded otherwise.
In a written statement, Holder said, “Though a comprehensive investigation found that the high standard for a federal hate crime prosecution cannot be met under the circumstances here, this young man’s premature death necessitates that we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface.”
It’s the kind of racially-charged political speech we’ve come to expect from the outgoing attorney general. It’s the kind he exhibited in relation to Michael Brown, another case that is unlikely to result in federal charges. Holder, like the president who nominated him, considers the historical weight of a situation to be more important than the facts. That makes him no better than any other moron with a “Hands up, Don’t shoot” t-shirt, but we can at least be thankful that he recognizes when to let it go.
Like the situation in Ferguson, the demonization and prosecution of George Zimmerman was driven by racists, race-baiters, and a media that decided the case before all the facts were in. In both situations, young men learned the hard way that attacking someone with a gun is a bad idea. If that sounds like a callous way to put it, oh well. I don’t celebrate the deaths of either man, but both Brown and Martin brought it on themselves. If I harbor hostility, it’s only because they managed to ignite an ugly fire in our society that has yet to die down.
To be certain, Zimmerman made his own mistakes. Patrolling his neighborhood like a wild west sheriff, he most likely took race into consideration when he decided to pursue Martin. Were there chances for Zimmerman to leave it to the police? Absolutely. His poor judgment and temper have been chronicled not only in this case but in subsequent run-ins with the law. He’s no hero.
But nor is he a criminal, at least as far as Trayvon Martin is concerned. Had it not been for an unruly community and an outrageously biased news sector, he would not have been arrested in the first place. It’s not against the law to kill someone when you feel your life is in danger. Want to avoid getting legally shot yourself? Don’t physically attack another human being because they made you mad. Don’t physically attack a police officer…for any reason. If these seem like juvenile lessons to learn from these cases, it’s only because they are the ones the media has gone to great lengths to ignore. And if liberals really wanted things to change, they are the very lessons they would preach the loudest.
