Friends have asked me why I haven’t commented on the killing of Trayvon Martin. The reason is because I (usually) try not to comment on hot news stories when they first break, especially when it’s an emotional subject like a suspected racially-motivated killing. I figure it’s best to wait until all the facts are in before drawing conclusions.
I didn’t look at it over this weekend but this morning I see that stories are emerging that the shooter was bloody and battered-looking to police, and that an eyewitness says he saw Trayvon attack the shooter physically, and that police were pretty sure the screams were coming from Zimmerman.
Does this mean Zimmerman is innocent? It does not. Does it mean there was no racial component here? It does not. What it means is I don’t know what happened there and neither do you.
You want my GUESS? I think it’s probably a story of some racial paranoia mixed with some “fight or flight” instincts that went toward “fight” and tragedy ensued. That’s my guess. I don’t KNOW.
Neither do you.
(This item cross-posted to Dean’s World.)
Dean Esmay is the author of Methuselah’s Daughter. He has contributed to Dean’s World, Huffington Post, A Voice for Men, Pajamas Media. Neither left nor right wing, neither libertarian nor socialist.