There was also a countervailing opinion of skepticism about the murky details of the case. Before the charges against Zimmerman were filed, many expressed concern over how the case was playing out in the court of public opinion, saying that judgment should be withheld until the legal system had enough time to render a proper verdict. Reaction to the charges against Zimmerman has been mixed, with many iReporters and CNN commenters expressing a mixture of relief, puzzlement and disappointment. Anthony Milian, an iReporter from Greenville, South Carolina, said he believed the special prosecutor in Florida made a just decision in filing the charges but was also quick to note that this development does not mean that justice will be served.
"The Trayvon Martin situation is not the first time a black child has been gunned down for suspicious reasons," he said. "The violence toward black people needs to stop, regardless of whether someone wears a hoodie, wears gold caps in their mouth, or has a style that you deem dangerous or stupid." W.J. O'Reilly of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, said he was skeptical of Florida's judicial system. "It will be very difficult to convict him on second-degree murder charges," he said. "I don't have too much faith in Florida justice, given the Casey Anthony debacle."
Other iReporters and CNN commenters wondered whether manslaughter charges would have been more appropriate. Kathi Cordsen of Fullerton, California, noted that Zimmerman's admitting to shooting Martin could soften the charges, especially since he voluntarily turned himself in. She said she also was mistrustful of the way the case has been portrayed in the media. "The prosecutor said public pressure and media coverage did not contribute to the charges being filed," she said. "I find that hard to believe." On February 26, the 17-year-old Martin was shot dead by community watch officer Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida.
The black teenager, who was wearing a hoodie and who was unarmed, was walking to the home of his father's fiancee when he was shot. Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, told authorities the killing was an act of self-defense. A national uproar began when Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee said on March 12 that Zimmerman had not been charged because there were no grounds to disprove his account of the events.
Commenters flocked to CNN and iReport to register their outrage. Thema Bryant-Davis, an iReporter and Los Angeles-area clinical psychologist, echoed the sentiment that racial tension and stereotyping factored in the killing. "It points to what researchers have termed 'unconscious racism.' People are not even aware of their biases," she said. "Trayvon is dead, and we cannot be silent," said Bryant-Davis, whose brother, Jamal Bryant, was an organizer of some protest rallies in Florida. Washington educator and activist Omekongo Dibinga was more pointed in an iReport video titled "Trayvon Martin dead.
Am I next?" in which he shared his experiences with racial stereotyping and related them to the Martin shooting. "Most black people, like me, put themselves in Martin's shoes because it's what we've had to deal with," he said. "Most whites put themselves in Zimmerman's shoes because they've seen black men before and have been suspicious of them. Few try to step outside of their shoes." read more
