With George Zimmerman’s lawyers bailing on him Tuesday, the killer of Florida teen-ager Trayvon Martin seems to be a story that won’t go away any time soon. It also has triggered an interesting commentary from Jon Soltz, founder of VoteVets.org:
The “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida, which may let George Zimmerman off the hook for the killing of Martin, gives more leeway to shooters than our own military gives to soldiers in war…It’s impossible to ignore the legal protection George Zimmerman enjoys in suburban Florida vs. the Rules of Engagement that outline when one of our troops can shoot while in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan.
At the center of the Florida case is one of these newly-passed laws that seem to give the attacker the benefit of the doubt if he or she feels threatened. “…it sounds to me that if Trayvon had been an Iraqi soldier, and George Zimmerman had been a U.S. Soldier, there would have been an immediate investigation, and most likely a manslaughter charge, and victim’s family financially compensated for wrongful death,” Soltz writes.
Read his logic here, and check out the U.S. military’s ROEs here, and make up your own mind.