We knew the trail of police wannabe George Zimmerman in the death of skittles wielding Trayvon Martin would be lively and controversia. Mansfield Frazier argues that the way the news media is now set up the case if likely to turn out to be a major blow to U.S. race relations. That’s the controversy. And the lively?
The opening was lively, indeed — which created a dilemma for MSNBC, which was broadcasting it live. Here’s how it opened:
The murder trial of George Zimmerman got off to an explosive start today as the jury heard that the words and thoughts of the defendant before he shot and killed teenager Trayvon Martin were: ‘F***ing punks, these a**holes always get away’.
John Guy’s powerful opening statement to the packed courthouse in Sanford, Florida, this morning continued with a detailed account of what he alleges happened on February 26, 2012.
‘The truth of what happened to Trayvon Martin will come from Zimmerman’s own mouth,’ he says.
He then reveals the teen had no blood on his hands or under his fingernails, which contradicts Zimmerman’s story that Trayvon put his hand over his mouth and nose.
Father Tracy Martin started to cry as Guy detailed how officers tried fruitlessly to save his son’s life.Zimmerman stared straight ahead without any signs of emotion as Guy detailed how Zimmerman allegedly killed Martin.
Guy told the jurors that Zimmerman profiled Martin ‘as someone about to commit a crime in his neighborhood’.
‘And he acted on it. That’s why we’re here.’
Zimmerman followed Martin through his neighborhood, confronted him and then fatally shot him during a fight, Guy said.
‘George Zimmerman didn’t shoot Trayvon Martin because he had to,’ Guy said. ‘He shot him for the worst of all reasons – because he wanted to.’
He added: ‘Trayvon’s screaming stops as soon as the gunshot rings out.’
And here’s how it looked on MSNBC — with Chuck Todd moving to a 7 second delay at the end. (ADULT LANGUAGE):
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.