The verdict in the killing of Trayvon Martin: Some people doubling down, AZ Edition

After Saturday night's acquittal of George Zimmerman on charges stemming from his killing of Trayvon Martin, reaction was swift across the country, including in Arizona.

State Sen. Steve Gallardo tweeted this in the aftermath of the announcement of the verdict -

And this -

Or former State Sen. David Schapira -

Sadly, other Arizona "leaders" aren't quite as thoughtful.

State Sen. Kelli Ward -

To Sen. Ward:  First, it was a "killing", not an "incident".  Second, truly, not every incident (read "conflict" in this context) between people of different races is a civil rights violation.  Two people arguing over a single parking spot at the local mall, perhaps accompanied by raised voices, mutual flipping of birds, and hurt feelings is probably not a civil rights violation.

The stalking and execution of an unarmed black teen by a white man, the tanking of the investigation and prosecution by white-dominated law enforcement agencies and an acquittal by a mostly (all?) white jury?  Probably a civil rights violation or two here (file this under "If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...").

Or State Rep. Kelly Townsend, putting a partisan political spin on things -

To Rep. Townsend:  I don't know Mr. Zimmerman's ethnic background or political leanings, but even accepting your statement as fact, the response is the same - "So what?".

I don't know every Democrat or Hispanic in the state or country, but I can state unequivocally that none of the Democrats, Hispanics, or Hispanic Democrats that I know feel that partisan affiliation or ethnic background confers an immunity from responsibility for violent acts.

Unlike, say, someone we both know (but I'm guessing that you know him better than I do).

Note to readers: Townsend got into a bit of a Twitter discussion with Steve Muratore, publisher of the Arizona Eagletarian.  I don't think she helped her cause with her follow ups, not at all, but you be the judge -

Some of the pearls of wisdom were indirect, repostings of something others wrote and promulgated by AZ types.

For instance, Rep. David Livingston retweeted this one -

It seems that Rep. Livingston believes that it is unprofessional behavior for prosecutors to look into killings of unarmed teens.  As opposed to what the rest of society believes.  You know, that it is part of prosecutors' jobs.

It's not just the electeds, either.

For instance, Constantin Querard, noted political hatchet-man "consultant" here in AZ offered up this gem -

Actually, "not guilty" means "the prosecution didn't prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt".  Nothing less, nothing more.

Or Shane Wikfors, another noted political hatchet-man "consultant" here in AZ, serving up this retweet -

Don't know if he's trying to continue the stereotyping and smearing of Martin (falsely equating Martin's killing to being equivalent to "just another gang-related killing" and hence not something to worry about), criticizing liberals for not "fixing" every social problem, saying Martin's killing is OK because other black teens have died, or if he's maybe multitasking (don't want to insult Wikfors by implying that he can spew only one line of BS at a time).

Any way you cut it though, from Ward's ignorance through to Wikfors' stereotyping, it's despicable.