Ihe Trayvon Martin case, in which neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman is on trial for murder, could go badly.
“The public mind has been so poisoned that an acquittal of George Zimmerman could ignite a reaction similar to that, 20 years ago, when the Simi Valley jury acquitted the LAPD cops in the Rodney King beating case.
Police in Sanford, Fla., where the trial is being held, already were going door-to-door, apparently trying to circumvent any violent reaction to the jury verdict when it comes down.
But a number of bloggers and watchers say there are not-so-subtle rumblings of real violence developing.
On the Mr. Conservative blog, Twitter threats were reproduced in abundance.
“If Zimmerman don’t go to jail ill kill him for $20,” said one.
“Gimme me tha pistol ill kill Zimmerman myself,” said another.
“If George Zimmerman win I’m gonna kill a fat white boy dat look lik George Zimmerman I swear,” said a third.
“This is despicable and seriously frightening,” wrote blogger Kristin Tate. “There is no way this would be tolerated if the threats from whites were against a black man.”
Zimmerman is on trial for the shooting death of Martin, a teen he said attacked him and was sitting on top of him pummeling him. He said he pulled his weapon and fired at Martin, killing him, in self-defense.
The blog reported thousands were threatening to riot should Zimmerman not be determined guilty by a jury.
“In addition to hundreds of racist, disturbing tweets, there are several Facebook pages dedicated to promoting the murder of George Zimmerman,” Tate wrote. “One of those pages even urges riots if he is not found guilty for the murder of Trayvon Martin.
One of those postings states, “Let’s flex our muscle!. What, you scared?”
The online sentiment follows a video report that revealed Sanford officers were going door-to-door, already.
