George Zimmerman may be a free man for the second time since his initial arrest, but freedom has never been so bittersweet. The court released Zimmerman on bond after he and his wife lied about how much money they had stowed away from donations from a website created for his legal fees. Now she is being charged with perjury and his image is under public scrutiny, so what else is new?
Zimmerman was arrested for the fatal shooting of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin. Martin was walking home from a store with a bag of skittles and an Arizona tea drink when neighborhood watcher, George Zimmerman, called in a suspicious looking youth with a hoodie over his head and appeared armed. In what Zimmerman calls self defense, he shot and killed Martin.
After the shooting there were rallies and protests supporting the arrest of Zimmerman, who remained free at the time. Students and adults wore hoodies and walked around with skittles and Arizonas in a silent protest against racial discrimination.
“The media has been sort of on Zimmerman’s side because they keep emphasizing the fact that Trayvon was on weed when they examined him even though he was innocent when he was shot,” said Jeffrey Perdomo, 21.
Perdomo feels that because Zimmerman has so many supporters who probably believe he was just doing his job of “defending” the public, this is the reason he’s been able to post bond twice in the matter of a few months. But until his trial date, “We can all just point a finger and say he is racist but the fact remains that we have no idea what happened or why that day,” says Brian Nieves, 20.
But his time spent at home won’t be a very active one. With a curfew most eight year olds have (6 p.m.), not being allowed to open a bank account or purchase a passport, and definitely no setting foot in an airport, Zimmerman won’t be living la vida loca. Instead he’ll probably spend most of his time catching up on the latest House or Family Guy episodes, eating skittles and possibly drinking an ice, cold Arizona.
