Racially motivated or not, it’s murder.
Not according to the police – according to the police there is no reason to doubt Zimmerman’s claim that he was acting in self-defense.
Despite the fact that according to the 911 tape transcript released by the police the following is revealed :
“These assholes always get away,” he says to the operator. Zimmerman is then heard giving directions to the dispatcher. “Shit, he’s running,” Zimmerman says.
“Are you following him?” the dispatcher asks.
“Yes,” Zimmerman responds.
“We don’t need you to do that,” the dispatcher says.[/b]
That doesn’t sound much like self-defense to me, Zimmerman appears to have been chasing a teenager who was running away from him, despite being told not to.
I reckon racism probably goes to the heart of this story, including the decision by the police not to arrest Zimmerman. Which I guess explains why the NAACP wants the federal authorities to be involved in the case.
I struggle to believe that the police would have been so willing to accept the word of a black teenager that he had acted in “self-defense” when he was found to have shot dead a middle-aged white guy who was running away from him. I suspect that he would have at least been arrested.