by Patrick H. Moore
According to recent news, the FBI and the DOJ have both told the Sanford Police Department not to return George Zimmerman’s Tec-9 pistol to Mr. Zimmerman. This is the weapon that apparently gave Zimmerman the courage to stalk and kill 17-year-old Trayvon Martin when the former Neighborhood Watch Commander became suspicious of Martin when Zimmerman “targeted” the youth while he was on his way to a neighborhood Target store.
Zimmerman’s firearm is among the 250 pieces of evidence from the trial including Trayvon Martin’s clothes, his cell phone, and the now famous bag of Skittles and the Arizona iced tea that the youth was carrying at the time of the confrontation that led to his death. It is anticipated that all of these items will remain in the possession of the Sanford police as the DOJ investigation continues.
“The evidence is just in a hold status, pending their DOJ investigation,” Sanford police spokesman Capt. Jim McAuliffe told the Sentinel.
Since Zimmerman’s acquittal on Saturday, July 13th, the Department of Justice and Attorney General Eric Holder have announced that they are considering bringing federal charges against Zimmerman, under the premise that Zimmerman deliberately infringed on Martin’s civil rights by following him. As has been pointed out by numerous commentators, this is not an easy case to prove. In order for the proposed federal charges to stick, the prosecutors would have to prove that Zimmerman acted maliciously based on Martin’s race. Trayvon Martin’s family is also reportedly considering a civil wrongful death suit against Zimmerman.
Zimmerman was scheduled to get his gun back by the end of July. Although its return is now on hold, that does not mean that he won’t be able to obtain a replacement firearm if he wants one. Based on his acquittal on both the second-degree-murder charge and the manslaughter charge, Zimmerman’s civil rights — in theory — are fully restored. He can legally go to any gun shop and purchase a firearm. In fact, Orlando’s WKMG reports that a DeLand, Fla., gun shop has offered Zimmerman a free handgun of his choice:
“Upon receiving your confirmation that he is well within his legal rights to concealed carry, our company would like to offer Mr. Zimmerman a free firearm. We currently have the same model in stock, or he could (choose) another weapon suitable for concealed carry,” gun shop Pompano Pat’s wrote to Zimmerman’s lawyer in a letter.
The decision on the the part of the authorities to delay the return of Zimmerman’s gun is likely to offend millions of Zimmerman supporters who believe that he should get his gun back and should be allowed to go about his life as if everything was back to normal. If will be interesting to see if Zimmerman’s lawyers, Don West and Mark O’Mara, comment on the DOJ’s decision.
Whatever happens, the reality is that George Zimmerman’s life will never return to normal. On the night on February 26th, 2012, when he pursued and shot Trayvon Martin, he not only ended the black youth’s life; he also changed his own life irrevocably. It would be interesting to know what Zimmerman now thinks about his actions that fateful night. If he could replay the past, would he do things differently? We don’t know because Zimmerman has made no public statements since his acquittal and appears unlikely to do so anytime in the near future.
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Sanford, FL Has a History of Brutal Racial Oppression