Last week, I was doing some online research for a Zimmerman post, and I ran across an interesting set of comments on an article about attempts to repeal Stand Your Ground and other self defense laws. There were commenters who were saying that they learned an important lesson from the Zimmerman case:
First commenter: Listening to tv/radio interviews, these uninformed people keep saying they want stand your ground repealed!!
Don’t
the ignorant idiots know that SYG was NOT used in this case??? It has
absolutely nothing to do with the Zimmerman trial???
And why does the
media keep reporting on this when they SHOULD know SYG has nothing to
do with the case??? Why don’t they tell these idiots that when
interviewing them???
Second Commenter: Whether the law is repealed or not I don’t intend to wind up the victim
of a thug. I’ll shoot first and take my chances in court.
Third Commenter: just make sure it’s in the dark and don’t call 911, because obviously ,
calling 911 is a mistake, just pop the thug and leave the trash on the
curb.
and after that, there were a bunch of comments agreeing with the third comment. The Zimmerman case has done much to undermine the people’s perception of law and law enforcement on both sides of the issue. Instead of describing the law and educating people on the truth and the law, the powers that be instead jumped on the bandwagon and, together with the media, have inflamed tensions.
Now no one trusts the law as much as they did before. Law is useless without the compliance of the people.