# Will there be race riots if Zimmerman is found not guilty? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 29, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201 "2013-06-29T14:00:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/141 "2013-07-03T05:13:25Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Why is Rodney King the comparison instead of events that were more recent and more similar to this case? because of the level attention it received. He wasn’t even killed but the video struck a nerve. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/142 "2013-07-03T06:09:21Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > because of the level attention it received. Those other cases received huge amounts of attention, too. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/143 "2013-07-03T11:25:35Z")
I’ve been reading about the new Sanford police chief and am impressed. He’s working hard to reach out and improve relations between the police and citizens. He’s only had a few months on the job. We’ll have to see how things go after the Zimmerman trial. [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/17/us/in-city-of-zimmerman-trial-police-chief-navigates-race-relations.html?pagewanted=all&\_r=0](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/17/us/in-city-of-zimmerman-trial-police-chief-navigates-race-relations.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0) > [@](#): > > Since the shooting, city officials and religious leaders have labored to soothe tensions. The police chief who oversaw the Zimmerman case, Bill Lee, was fired. An interfaith coalition of ministers was formed. The city asked the Justice Department to review the Police Department’s practices — the request was turned down, at least for now — and a panel of community leaders was assembled to assess relations between the public and the police. > > But the biggest hurdle remains: decades of animus between black residents and the Police Department. > > “The black community, they don’t trust the Sanford police,” said Turner Clayton Jr., the president of the Seminole County N.A.A.C.P. “They trust the Sheriff’s Office and any other agency more.” > > Responsibility for mending relations has largely fallen on the shoulders of Chief Smith, 52, a balding, soft-spoken man of medium build from Chicago’s West Side. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/144 "2013-07-03T11:31:00Z")
Sounds like the police have done as much as possible to prepare. Just having police present that are firm but not overly aggressive can help control crowds. I’m more optimistic now that Sandford may be ok regardless of the verdict. > [@](#): > > Smith hasn’t been on the job for two full months yet, but he said he has been preparing every day for the biggest event in his long law enforcement career. > > Channel 9 learned his commands staff went through special training last week with the Department of Justice to make sure they’re policing protests and rallies that come with the trial fairly and safely. > > “We want people to understand they have the right to assembly, but it needs to be done in a peaceful manner,” Smith said. > > Smith said most activity will be at the courthouse, where crews were preparing Thursday for the media that will come in to town. > > Even though the area is technically county jurisdiction, Smith said his officers will be there, too. > > Channel 9 learned the department will activate an incident command center should anything get out of control while the case goes through the court. [http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/sanford-police-chief-suspends-vacations-furloughs-/nX2QW/](http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/sanford-police-chief-suspends-vacations-furloughs-/nX2QW/) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/145 "2013-07-03T11:43:45Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Those other cases received huge amounts of attention, too. I disagree. Sean Bell gets 59 million hits, and Amadou Diallo 720 thousand hits. Rodney king gets 11 million hits despite occurring before the internet was a public utility. ---
**Author:** ![Tracijo67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@Tracijo67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracijo67)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/146 "2013-07-03T12:01:34Z")
> [@tralfamidor](#): > > You’re off base a tad here. The Zimmerman riots, should they occur, will be based not on the fact that Z shot the kid, but on the fact that he won’t have received the punishment the black community thinks he should (being burned alive). Therefore, those future riots, like the Rodney King riots, will spring from a perception that white authorities (the judicial system) will not have protected/respected the rights of blacks (in this case, upholding Martin’s rights by “properly” punishing his killer). > > Of course, this is a persistent feeling in the black community, almost a trope if you will, but riots have broken out after what the black community has felt were particulrly egregious examples of injustice. There’s also the persistent trope that injustice when a black person either is the victim of or has been accused of a crime is automatic. > > If the black community has matured to the point where they can accept a not guilty verdict as the true and honest product of a fair process and of the decisions of a jury of their peers, I will be truly surprised and will duly note that evolution on their part. In a way, it’s a pity that he’s going to be railroaded into a guilty verdict (possibly on a lesser charge), because I would have liked to see that I’m wrong about black riots resulting from an acquittal–such acquittal being the only possible result of a fair trial. I know, right?!?!? We morally superior White Folk have to stick together in a time like this. It’s been far too long since we’ve donned the white sheets and lynched our way to justice, amirite? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/147 "2013-07-03T12:16:09Z")
> [@tralfamidor](#): > > If the black community has matured to the point where they can accept a not guilty verdict as the true and honest product of a fair process and of the decisions of a jury of their peers, I will be truly surprised and will duly note that evolution on their part. Mighty white 'o ya. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/148 "2013-07-03T13:29:20Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Again, I haven’t developed any detailed racial disharmony fantasies. I don’t think anyone’s going to throw a garbage can through the window of Sal’s Pizza and I don’t think you’d see anything on any significant scale. Was there any property damage in the demonstrations after Martin was killed or in any of the other recent examples I mentioned? If there was any it didn’t get much attention. > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I would (locally, anyway). Why? Because “small demonstrations” is not all that precise a term. To me, the _sine qua non_ of an undesirable outcome would be property damage or personal injury. If Zimmerman is acquitted and 50,000 peaceful, sorrowful people take to the streets, that is their right under the First Amendment. If 50 violent people start smashing property or injuring people, that’s a riot. So “small” or “large” was not so much the adjective I sought in terms of predictions. “Damage” or “no damage” is the descriptor with value. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/149 "2013-07-03T13:32:46Z")
Not really. If a couple of kids do throw a garbage can through the window of Sal’s Pizza does that mean we’ve had a race riot? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/150 "2013-07-03T14:13:30Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Because “small demonstrations” is not all that precise a term. I was discussing nonviolent demonstrations. Guessing whether even a single person will damage some property is kind of absurd, but I’m saying the predictions of violence on any kind of significant scale (i.e. a riot) are foolish. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/151 "2013-07-03T14:53:16Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I disagree. I’m not sure what to say about this except “you’re wrong.” There were plenty of protests of the shooting and the acquittal, the story was on the cover of Time Magazine back when that meant something, > [@](#): > > Sean Bell gets 59 million hits, and Amadou Diallo 720 thousand hits. Rodney king gets 11 million hits despite occurring before the internet was a public utility. Rodney King was in the news several times after 1991, including when he died about a year ago. And of course his name also comes up in news coverage of the riots that followed his acquittal and you can even see the video footage of his beating online. That’s probably good for some additional search results. ---
**Author:** ![tralfamidor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@tralfamidor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tralfamidor)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/152 "2013-07-03T19:38:57Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > You’ll excuse me if I don’t immediately stop what I’m doing and conduct my moderating specifically to your wishes. What I am doing now is giving you a warning for failure to follow moderator instructions. I’ll add that your posting here is going to be short unless you decide to follow our rules instead of your own. You can find them [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=650726) and [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=562482). I have no problems with the rules, or with following them, as long as they’re fairly rather than selectively enforced. At least half a dozen posters should have received warnings well before I did, and I certainly hope they have since. But it seems that that hasn’t been the case. If the moderating here is as biased as it seems to be, my tenure here will indeed be short, but not because you want it to be. I’ll monitor your and others’ moderating to see if you live up to your own stated rules. So far, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/153 "2013-07-12T10:01:52Z")
Seems that the official view is that violence might occur. Hence the rap like ad saying “raise your voice not your hand” and the push to approach the locals directly. However, the real danger is always the outsider looking for trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/154 "2013-07-14T02:33:45Z")
Well, it can’t possibly be as bad as Vancouver after losing a hockey game. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/155 "2013-07-14T03:02:11Z")
I say again, I don’t think there will be any riots. First, things have changed a lot since the 90s, and second, while one can disagree with the verdict, it is simply not the miscarriage of justice that the Rodney King beating verdict was. There was reasonable doubt and then some, especially given the bar the prosecution had to meet to get even a manslaughter verdict. ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/156 "2013-07-14T04:56:56Z")
So far, no riots reported anywhere. Hopefully that will continue. Of course the \*&^%$%$$ news media will be hoping for some so they can endlessly repeat pics of the rioters and have lots of talking heads discussing same. The media is sometimes pretty evil. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/157 "2013-07-14T05:02:21Z")
I did see the local police Special Response Team go by in the armored vehicle with a couple paddy wagons, which was a bit concerning. But I also saw them go back by home in what seemed to be an uneventful caravan about an hour later ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/158 "2013-07-14T05:57:52Z")
I accept your apologies. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/159 "2013-07-14T07:40:20Z")
First instance of violence comes courtesy of Occupy Oakland: [http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci\_23657597/protesters-san-francisco-oakland-gather-denounce-zimmerman-verdict](http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_23657597/protesters-san-francisco-oakland-gather-denounce-zimmerman-verdict) Thanks a lot for that, guys. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201/160 "2013-07-14T10:28:30Z")
An [Associated Press story](http://news.yahoo.com/protesters-zimmerman-acquittal-march-calif-091855459.html) on the Oakland protest cites broken windows, small fires, and a vandalized police car. The word ‘riot’ is not used. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-be-race-riots-if-zimmerman-is-found-not-guilty/662201.md?page=9)