Former President Jimmy Carter broke with many liberal commentators yesterday when he told a local NBC affiliate that the jury’s acquittal of George Zimmerman was “the right decision.”
“I think the jury made the right decision based in the evidence presented,” said Carter “It’s not a moral question, it’s a legal question and the American law requires that the jury listens to the evidence presented.”
Carter didn’t directly respond to a question asking whether race played a role in the shooting, but did say that it was inappropriate to speculate on whether racial factors influenced the jurors.
The former president concluded on a note of optimism, placing current racial tension in historical context and saying that America continues to make substantial progress on civil rights.