Zimmerman faces trial by media

OPINION:

I see that the New York Times let us know the dastardly George Zimmerman was a “white Hispanic” - and the Times seems to have put an emphasis on “white.” However, it did not tell the general public that Mr. Zimmerman is a registered Democrat.

Now we learn that the NBC News department left off the question from the police dispatcher asking Mr. Zimmerman the race of the person he was following, Trayvon Martin. Why was that omitted? In both cases, the omissions seem to have been made only to support the developing narrative that mean, white George Zimmerman is a racist.

How could the New York Times make the distinction that he was white? And leaving out the question from the dispatcher as to the race of the person being followed made it appear that Mr. Zimmerman could have been targeting Trayvon for his race. By now everyone must know that ABC News also got to take a few shots at Mr. Zimmerman. When broadcasting a video of him, ABC conveniently covered the back of his head with a banner on the screen. After receiving many complaints, they removed the banner, and then you could see it appeared that Mr. Zimmerman had some kind of cut on the back of his head. Dare I ask again why this happened? Was the object to tell this story, or was it to hide the truth?

None of us is in a position to know whether Mr. Zimmerman was right to fire the fatal shot. Should we not leave it to the local police and prosecutors? Because of the attention given to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, as well as the New Black Panther Party, the liberal media do not think so. They already have tried and convicted Mr. Zimmerman.

It seems Mr. Jackson and Mr. Sharpton are always ready to grab their share of the spotlight no matter what the cause. Didn’t they do everything in their power a few years ago to convict the lacrosse players at Duke University who were found not guilty of rape? Did either of them ever apologize for what they said about those students? Of course not.

The New Black Panthers offered a bounty on the life of Mr. Zimmerman. One would think that if I offered a bounty on the head of my next-door neighbor, I soon would be getting a visit from the local police department. What the New Black Panther Party is calling for is a modern-day lynching.

If Mr. Zimmerman is convicted of a crime, he will be judged by the law, not the New York Times.

DONALD BLACKWELL

Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan