Redstate
Mr. President, Can We Please Move On?
By Erick Erickson 
July 15th, 2013 

I have said and will say again — the death of Trayvon Martin was a tragedy. A jury of six in Florida has determined it was not criminal, but George Zimmerman will forever be the man who killed a 17 year old. 

No one can be happy about what happened other than, for Zimmerman and his family, that a jury believed him. 

Now the NAACP and others are calling for Attorney General Eric Holder to file charges against George Zimmerman. Never mind that federal investigators already decided there was no racial motivation. This is not double jeopardy. The state and federal governments remain separate entities with separate jurisdictions. A trial in one does not preclude another. 

But in this case it should. 

I understand why so many in the black community feel there was an injustice. The original injustice was that George Zimmerman was not arrested for the crime. He eventually was and a jury eventually found him not guilty of both murder and manslaughter. The State of Florida listened to the original outcry and responded with an arrest, investigation, and trial that rendered a verdict of not guilty from a jury of George Zimmerman’s peers. 

Our system is not perfect, but it is preferable to rule by the mob. Juries are not perfect, but they are better than the court of public opinion. Many will feel justice was not served, but it was. Justice does not mean getting the outcome one side desires. Even so, those who are glad of the verdict should try to understand why so many feel so cold by what has happened and some see injustice. 

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