Barkley On Zimmerman: Jury Got Verdict Right [Video]
Charles Barkley agrees with the George Zimmerman verdict.
The outspoken former NBA player talked to CNBC about his thoughts on the controversial trial. Barkley said that he felt bad for Trayvon Martin’s family but said that he agreed with the verdict because the jury didn’t have enough evidence to charge him.
Barkley said: “Well, I agreed with the verdict. I feel sorry that young kid got killed. But they didn’t have enough evidence to charge him. Something clearly went wrong that night. Clearly something went wrong. I feel bad for anybody who loses a kid, but if you looked at the case and you don’t make it — there was some racial profiling, no question about it. But something happened that changed the dynamic of that night, and I know — that’s probably not a popular opinion among most people but just looking at the evidence I agreed with the verdict.”
Barkley said that he believed George Zimmerman racial profiled Trayvon Martin and was wrong to pursue him. After that however, “something went wrong” and Zimmerman pulled his gun.
Barkley said:”Like I said, I feel sorry that young kid got killed, but just judging by the evidence, I don’t think that guy should’ve went to jail for the rest of his life. Mr. Zimmerman was wrong to pursue, he was racial profiling, but I think Trayvon Martin — God rest his soul — I think he did flip the switch and started beating the hell out of Mr. Zimmerman. But it was just a bad situation.”
Do you agree with Charles Barkley? Did the jury get the verdict right?
Barkley said that regardless of the verdict, the Trayvon Martin trial was tragic because it gave people a platform to vent racial ignorance.
Barkley said: “The main thing I feel bad for is it gives every white person and black person who’s racist a platform to vent their ignorance. That’s the thing that bothered me the most. I watched this trail closely and I watched these people on television talking about it. A lot of these people have a hidden agenda. They want to have their racist views, whether they are white or black … Their biases definitely come out. It was a bad situation. We all lost.”
[Image Via Wikipedia]
