George Zimmerman, Trayvon
Martin's shooter, was
interviewed by conservative right-wing FOX pundit Sean Hannity yesterday,
along with Zimmerman's lawyer. It's
highly unusual for a suspect in a high-profile murder case to be interviewed on
live TV.
In the past, Zimmerman has made a
public apology to Trayvon's parents.
Well, not really an apology, since he didn't express regret for his
action. He said, "I wanted to say I
am sorry for the loss of your son." That's the sort of thing an acquaintance would
say to the grieving parents upon meeting them in the hallway. There's no "I'm sorry I killed him"
in there anywhere.
But tonight he was much more defiant and tried to distance
himself from any decision-making leading to the shooting. He said "it was God's plan" that
the shooting happened, that he regretted nothing, and, at the end, stated,
"I do wish there was something, anything I could have done that would have
put me in the position where I didn’t have to take his life. And I do want to
tell everyone…that I’m sorry that this happened.”
Here's a revealing clip:
Here's a revealing clip:
Interesting.
Apparently he doesn't feel he had a choice about arming himself that
night. He feels it was "God's
plan" that he defy the advice of 911 and get out of his car, stalking
the teen through the apartment complex.
Apparently he does not regret shooting to death an unarmed 17-year old. These are choices that most people would not
have made. I'd say that the other choices
are "something, anything" that he could have done to keep from being
in the "position where he didn't have to take a life."
Zimmerman said in the interview, "I feel that it was
all God's plan. And for me to second
guess it, or judge it, um... " [here he shakes his head]
After the interview, Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, issued a statement:
"We must worship a
different God, because there’s no way my God would have wanted George Zimmerman
to kill my son.”
Hannity asked Zimmerman, "Is there anything you would
have done differently, in retrospect, now that time has passed a little
bit?"
"No sir," Zimmerman said, shaking his head.
Really?? If I had to
kill someone in what I felt was self-defense, I would be incredibly remorseful,
particularly if it were an unarmed teenager, and I would be second-guessing
every step that led to it. Even if my
attacker were a giant of a man with a felony murder record, blasting an assault rifle at me, I'd still be
questioning the steps that led me to be in the situation.
But not George Zimmerman, a man who used
his wife to hide money from the court, who mayhave been preparing to leave the country while on bail, who is accused
of molesting his cousin as a child, and who has had a
number of previous violent behavior incidents, including with police and
his ex-fiáncée. He said, "I'm sorry that this
happened." But is he, really?
UPDATE (7/20/12): A statement from Trayvon's mother, Sybrina Fulton:
"I think it's absolutely ridiculous. God did not have a plan for Trayvon to die and for George Zimmerman to shoot Trayvon for no reason," she told CNN's Soledad O'Brien on Thursday.
