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Demonstrators outside the Seminole County Courthouse react after hearing the verdict of not guilty in the trial of George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida. (AP Photo/John Raoux)Ad Policy

A jury has found George Zimmerman not guilty of all charges in connection to death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. But while the verdict came as a surprise to some people, it makes perfect sense to others. This verdict is a crystal-clear illustration of the way white supremacy operates in America.

Throughout the trial, the media repeatedly referred to an all-woman jury in that Seminole County courtroom, adding that most of them were mothers. That is truebut so is that five of the six jurors were white, and that is profoundly significant for cases like this one. We also know that the lone juror of color was seen apparently wiping a tear during the prosecutions rebuttal yesterday. But that tear didnt ultimately convince her or the white people on that jury that Zimmerman was guilty of anything. Not guilty. Not after stalking, shooting and killing a black child, a child that the defense insultingly argued was armed with concrete.

In the last few days, Latinos in particular have spoken up again about Zimmermans race, and the white Hispanic label especially, largely responding to social media users and mass media pundits who employed the term. Watching Zimmerman in the defense seat, his sister in the courtroom, and his mother on the stand, one cant deny the skin color that informs their experience. They are not white. Yet Zimmermans apparent ideologyone that is suspicious of black men in his neighborhood, the assholes who always get away is one that adheres to white supremacy. It was replicated in the courtroom by his defense, whose team tore away at Rachel Jeantel, questioning the young woman as if she was taking a Jim Crowera literacy test. A defense that, during closing, cited slave-owning rapist Thomas Jefferson, played an animation for the jury based on erroneous assumptions, made racially coded accusations about Trayvon Martin emerging out of the darkness, and had the audacity to compare the case of the killing of an unarmed black teenager to siblings arguing over which one stole a cookie.

When Zimmerman was acquitted today, it wasnt because hes a so-called white Hispanic. Hes not. Its because he abides by the logic of white supremacy, and was supported by a defense teamand a swath of societythat supports the lingering idea that some black men must occasionally be killed with impunity in order to keep society-at-large safe.

Media on the left, right and center have been fanning the flames of fear-mongering, speculating that peopleand black people especiallywill take to the streets. That fear-mongering represents a deep white anxiety about black bodies on the streets, and echoes Zimmermans fears: that black bodies on the street pose a public threat. But the real violence in those speculations, regardless of whether they prove to be true, is that it silences black anxiety. The anxiety that black men feel every time they walk outside the doorand the anxiety their loved ones feel for them as well. That white anxiety serves to conceal the real public threat: that a black man is killed every twenty-eight hours by a cop or vigilante.

People will take to the streets, and with good reason. Theyll be there because they know that, yes, some people do always get awayand it tends to be those strapped with guns and the logic of white supremacy at their side.

The NAACP will seek the Department of Justice's intervention in the Zimmerman case. Read John Nichols's report.

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White Supremacy Acquits George Zimmerman | The Nation

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George Zimmerman Injured in a Road Rage Incident Video - ABC News

Trayvon Martin was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Walking back from a 7-Eleven to the Sanford, Florida townhouse of his father's fiancee on a dark and rainy February evening in 2012, Martin aroused the suspicions of neighborhood watch leader George Zimmerman, setting in motion a chain of events that led to Martin's death and one of the most intensely followed trials of the twenty-first century--a trial that provoked arguments about America's gun culture and racial profiling. As the case progressed, in cities across the county rallies calling for "Justice for Trayvon" were held, and everyone from President Barrack Obama to Hollywood stars to cable news personalities jumped into the debate over whether Martin's death was murder or a justifiable use of force by a man fearing for his life.

Shortly after 7:00 P.M. on Sunday, February 26, 2012, seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin talked on his cellphone with his friend, Rachel Jeantel. He carried a bag of Skittles and an Arizona watermelon juice cooler as he headed along a sidewalk in the Retreat at Twin Lakes townhouse community in Sanford. When George Zimmerman, driving his SUV to Target for an errand, looked out his window he spotted Martin and concluded, as he told police in a phone call, he was "a real suspicious guy." What about Martin made him suspicious is not completely clear. What is known is that Martin was unknown to Zimmerman, young, wore a hooded sweatshirt, walked slowly in the rain--and, most central to the debates that would later ensue, was black. Asked later that night in a police interview the cause for his suspicion, Zimmerman said, "I've never seen him in the neighborhood. I know all the residents. It was raining out and he was leisurely walking, taking his time, looking at all the houses."

Zimmerman called Sanford police at 7:09 to report his suspicions....Continued

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George Zimmerman Trial - Famous Trials

Outside the courthouse, perhaps a hundred protesters who had been gathering through the night, their numbers building as the hours passed, began pumping their fists in the air, waving placards and chanting No justice, no peace! Sheriffs deputies lined up inside the courthouse, watching the crowd, who were chanting peacefully, but intently.

By 11:20, more than an hour after the verdict had been read, the crowd outside the courtroom had begun to dwindle; fists were no longer aloft, placards had come down.

Among the last of the protesters to leave the courthouse lawn was Mattie Aikens, 33, of Sanford. She had been standing outside since noon, holding a bag of Skittles and a can of Arizona watermelon drink, which Mr. Martin was carrying the night he was shot. More than an hour after the verdict, she was still shocked. He should have went to prison, she said. He should have just got guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty.

Mark OMara, one of Mr. Zimmermans lawyers, said, George Zimmerman was never guilty of anything except firing the gun in self-defense.

In a news conference following the verdict, Angela B. Corey, the state attorney who brought the charges, rebuffed the suggestion that her office overcharged Mr. Zimmerman.

We charged what we had based on the facts of the case, she said. We truly believe the mind-set of George Zimmerman and the reason he was doing what he did fit the bill for second-degree murder.

Calling it a very trying time, Benjamin Crump, a Martin family lawyer, said he had urged Mr. Martins parents to stay out of the courtroom for the verdict. They were home and planning to attend church on Sunday. The parents, he said, were grateful for all the support.

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Zimmerman Is Acquitted in Trayvon Martin Killing - The New ...

If the reason youre in the public eye is for killing someone, youd think it would be best to keep a low-ish profile. Not so for George Zimmerman, who recently went to a restaurant and ended up outing himself, after which he was promptly punched.

Zimmerman and the friend with whom he was dining called the police over the weekend after the outing to the establishment ended badly.

A recording of Zimmermans friends call to the police, reporting an assault and death threat, was obtained by WFTV. The 911 dispatcher asked if they could get out of the situation, he responded, I can try but his friends are all around us.

Zimmerman is still riding on his notoriety from being acquitted charges related to the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager that he followed against police dispatchers instructions. The two scuffled and Martin, 17, was fatally shot by Zimmerman.

In the recent incident at the restaurant, Zimmerman claimed that the fight began when the man recognized him.

He told me he was going to kill me, Zimmerman told the dispatcher, continuing, he told me he'd (expletive) shoot me and he punched me in the face, accordingto WFTV.

Zimmerman went on to claim that the man overheard him explaining how he shot Martin in self-defense and then approached Zimmerman, saying, You're bragging about that? before punching him in the face.

This version differs slightly from the version that witnesses describe, where Zimmerman started a conversation with someone saying, I love your tattoos. My name is George Zimmerman, you know, that guy who killed Trayvon Martin? and then showed a form of identification.

While Zimmerman is undoubtedly the victim in the situation, it has a striking similarity to the behavior of Ernesto Miranda.

Miranda, the namesake of the Miranda Rights, was so proud of the notoriety he gained for beating a rape case in the Supreme Court due to improper interrogation that he sold autographed Miranda warning cards. Miranda would go on to be killed in a bar fight.

Zimmermans unidentified assailant could face charges.

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George Zimmerman punched in face after introducing himself as ...