Black Radio Host: "George Zimmerman Was Tired of Crime"

Larry Elder says Martin's murder is a civil matter, not criminal one

A controversial African-American radio host who has a frosty relationship with his own community, may have made the relationship even frostier after his comments on the Trayvon Martin case.

Larry Elder, a black conservative commentator, appeared on Good Day LA this morning and said that the Martin murder was a "civic matter, not a criminal one."

“There’s a big outcry,” Elder observed, “and I think, for PR purposes, we have to look as if we’re concerned about whether or not this 17-year-old was killed.”

Host Jillian Reynolds took exception at his phrasing.

“I hate the way you say ‘for PR purposes,’” she told him. “Come on, a child — maybe not a child, but a teenager was killed.”

“Well, why are we sure that the authorities in Florida are not investigating?” he asked. “Why are we sure that they’re not on top of it?” There are black law enforcement authorities and officials, he added, that are very concerned about this case. “The idea that Al Sharpton or the Congressional Black Caucus needs to yell and scream for the law enforcement authorities to do their job, I find offensive.

Elder described Zimmerman as a “neighborhood watch captain concerned about crime” who was frustrated with people getting away with crimes in his neighborhood.

“Let’s make the case the other way, Larry,” the host Steve Edwards interjected, “First of all, you often talk about the ‘race card’ being played too often. Sometimes it’s not a card, sometimes it’s a racial situation — even you would acknowledge that. Here in this situation you have a guy — Zimmerman — 28 years old, he’s a member of the volunteer watch, it’s a neighborhood watch that’s not official with the other neighborhood watches. He’s obviously, it seems to me, to be a guy who loves to be on the prowl, looking for trouble."

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“Or,” said Elder, “he’s a guy who’s trying to make sure that crime goes down in his neighborhood.”

The majority of opinion on the airwaves and television has focused on the injustice of the Martin murder. But this is the first time we've heard an individual in a way, defend George Zimmerman. What surprises many even more is that it's an African American man making these comments.