Protests and head-scratching over Zimmerman verdict

Several hundred angry Seattleites hit the streets on Sunday night to (peacefully) protest the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood-watch volunteer who shot and killed teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida last year. The not guilty verdict, from the jury of six women, sparked scores of similar protests in cities around the country. Seattle’s crowd rallied in Westlake Park before marching down to the federal courthouse waving signs like “Walking While Black is Not a Crime.” Some measure of satisfaction may be in the offing for critics of the verdict: The U.S. Justice Department is considering civil rights charges against Zimmerman. (U.S. Attorney Eric Holder called Zimmerman's act a "tragic, unnecessary shooting.")The case is confounding. There is its astonishing lack — in the age of ubiquitous cell phone videos — of eyewitnesses or eyewitness footage of the confrontation. And there is Florida’s stand-your-ground law. It allowed George Zimmerman to shoot and kill an unarmed teenager whom he perceived to be a legitimate threat. If things had gone down differently, if Trayvon Martin, in defending himself against the legitimate threat of an armed stranger following him, had killed George Zimmerman, would Florida’s stand-your-ground law have absolved the teen? Or would Martin have needed a sidearm, and not just a sidewalk, to qualify for stand-your-ground amnesty?