When George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the killing of Trayvon Martin last year, I argued that it was probably the right decision, given all the things that we did not know and could not ever know for sure about what happened that night. "Beyond a reasonable doubt" had proved a standard too tough to meet.
However, Zimmerman's behavior since the trial doesn't exactly inspire confidence. To the contrary, it raises serious concern about the future of the one-time neighborhood watch captain:
According to officers, on Tuesday, a man called 911 saying George Zimmerman threatened to kill him during a road rage incident.
The following day, the same man called 911 again and said Zimmerman was waiting for him at work, and he felt worried for his safety.
Lake Mary Police said they confronted Zimmerman, and he admitted to exchanging words with the man the previous day.
Police spokeswoman Bianca Gillett says the man recognized the truck driver as Zimmerman. The man says Zimmerman asked, "Do you know who I am?" and threatened to kill him.
Two days later, the man says he saw Zimmerman in his truck outside his work. He called police but declined to press charges. His name hasn't been released.
Momma had a term for certain people: "He's just trouble waiting to happen." It has been barely a year since Zimmerman's acquittal, and since then he has been accused of threatening violence against his estranged wife and her father, has been arrested on charges of domestic violence against his fiancee, including pointing a shotgun at her, and now is involved in an alleged case of road rage and death threats followed by stalking. (So far, the complainant has told police that he does not want to press charges against Zimmerman, following the pattern of the previous incidents.) All that comes on top of pre-Trayvon instances of violent behavior, including charges of domestic violence that ended up with the issuance of a restraining order against Zimmerman.
Now, maybe he's the victim of a world conspiring against him, but with each incident in a pretty short stretch of time, that gets harder and harder to believe. In fact, you get the strong feeling that overall, his is not a story that will end well. And it again calls into question the sanity of laws that give legal encouragement and protection to those who are quick to turn to violence as a solution.
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