President Obama used the Bully Pulpit of the U.S. presidency to raise public awareness about the killing of an unarmed black teenager in Florida last month, and to comfort the loved ones left behind by the 17-year old.
As reported at reference 1, Obama waxed personal about the tragic incident involving Trayvon Martin:
President Barack Obama weighed into the controversial killing of a black teenager in Florida in very personal terms on Friday, comparing the boy to a son he doesn't have and calling for American "soul searching" over how the incident occurred.It is worth noting that Florida has a “Stand Your Ground” law which allows the use of lethal force for self-defense. It is that law which shooter George Zimmerman is using to justify the shooting.
Seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin, dressed in a "hoodie" sweatshirt, was shot dead a month ago in Sanford, Florida by a 28-year-old white Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer who said he was acting in self-defense.
"If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," Obama said in his first comments about the shooting, acknowledging the racial element in the case.
"Obviously, this is a tragedy," Obama told reporters. "I can only imagine what these parents are going through. And when I think about this boy, I think about my own kids."
The case has rippled across the nation and prompted rallies protesting the failure of the police to arrest the shooter, George Zimmerman, and, more broadly, a pattern of racial discrimination black leaders cite in Sanford and elsewhere in the country.”
Nearly a month after the shooting, Zimmerman has not been charged with any crime, again based on the Stand Your Ground defense.
While it is unclear if the killing of Trayvon Martin was, in fact, legally justified, the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in 2011 was a result of illegal actions by the federal government as part of the reprehensible operation knows as “Fast and Furious.”
In that murder, Brian Terry was shot and killed near Rio Rico, Arizona, while attempting to apprehend a group of armed subjects. The suspects had been preying on illegal immigrants with the intent to rob them.
Agent Terry and several other agents were attempting to arrest the group when shots were exchanged between the suspects and agents. Agent Terry was struck in the pelvis by a round fired by a suspect armed with an AK-47.
To date, President Obama has issued no apology or words of sympathy to the family of Brian Terry.
Brian Terry, let the record show, was a Caucasian working to defend the United States when he was slain.
Why no presidential outcry over the death of a border patrol agent whose death can be linked to unlawful action by the Obama administration, Mr. President?
Reference 1:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/23/us-florida-shooting-obama-idUSBRE82M0QF20120323
