Someone must speak for Trayvon

Someone must speak for Trayvon

George Zimmerman is lying. How do I know? Because I happen to weigh 140 pounds. When I was 18 years old I was assaulted by a 190-pound man. Because of his offensive and humiliating behavior I refused to back down. It didn’t take very long. When he finished with me my own mother would have trouble recognizing me. I have always been extremely athletic.

There is no way that a 140-pound boy can knock a 240-pound man down to the ground, a man who came at him prepared for hostility as judged by his comments to 911. There is a reason why there are weight divisions in professional boxing. They know that if you pair a 140-pound man with one weighing 40 or more pounds there is a good chance the smaller man may end up dead. Not only that, Zimmerman claims that Trayvon conveniently (thus providing him with his alibi) threatened him just before attacking him shouting “I’m going to take your gun away and kill you.”

Sorry, but anybody who weighs 140 pounds would know that the only possibility of scraping through such an interaction would be the element of surprise. You don’t give away your game plan to somebody who is twice your size and armed.

There are two problems here: one is racial profiling/paranoia and the other is this nearly insane law that provides a living shooting gallery for our gun nuts. Zimmerman murdered Trayvon. It was no accident, nor self-defense. It was vindictive and pre-meditated.

Don’t believe the lies about Trayvon. Know where they are coming from. He can’t speak for himself. His voice has been silenced. But the whole world heard his cries for help. It may be too late to save him but it is not too late to save the truth.

Roger Lafontaine, Youngstown