Desire Grover, a General Newspaper Reporter and prolific CNN iReporter wrote a rather poignant open letter to Mr. George Zimmerman, killer of Trayvon Martin. She writes.
Dear Mr. George Zimmerman,
How does it feel to be on trial? How does it feel to have people label you and judge you without “knowing” you? It couldn’t possibly feel good. Maybe Trayvon had similar feelings when you, a strange man in the dark of night, followed him? Do you think Trayvon had the same feelings of fear? Do you think Trayvon felt just as threatened that night as you do today? I think he did and his murder proves he had reason to feel that way.
You must have so much regret. You thought you had Trayvon pegged. He was a thief… wasn’t he? Just like the one you helped you neighbor stop days before. How could you be so wrong this time? You were CERTAIN he was a thief. You didn’t think Trayvon deserved a decent interaction like hello my name is. You were certain he was a thief. You were certain that he didn’t belong there and you were certain that you would not LET this PUNK get away because they always get away!
So you grabbed him didn’t you Zimmerman? You put your hands on him. You demanded information from him while giving NO information about yourself. You thought you were a cop and you were going to make sure the real cops caught him. So you held on tight wrestling with the boy.
You had the upper hand. You had a gun. What could Trayvon do against a man with a gun? But this 17-year-old boy stood his ground against you. He was beatin’ your behind and made you regret playing cop so you shot him. And then you calmly stood over his body like a cat over a mouse. Purring, proud of what you had accomplished. UNTIL you found out he wasn’t a thief. He was just a boy and he did belong in the neighborhood. How could you be so wrong Mr. Zimmerman but now you get to have a trial. An innocent ‘til proven guilty trial, a trial that you never allowed Trayvon to have that night.
The letter speaks for itself. The emotion with which she articulates it below gives it resonance.
Whenever one takes a stand, one can expect the bottom feeders to chime in. Desire received some interesting comments. A sample below but check out her message thread here.