As Dave Weigel writes today, the right-wing media’s newest race-baiting theory around the George Zimmerman trial is that the Department of Justice organized the rallies calling for justice after Trayvon Martin’s death. This theory is based on documents “unearthed” by the right-wing Judicial Watch that don’t say what Judicial Watch says they do.
But the theory fits right in to the Right’s preferred narrative of the Zimmerman trial, so it’s stuck. In an interview with NewsMax radio host Steve Malzberg yesterday, Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton predicted that if Zimmerman is acquitted of murdering Martin, the Justice Department will then go after him. “Given the racial extremism of this president and this Justice Department, not only Mr. Holder and his civil rights division, it wouldn’t surprise me,” he said.
“There’s nothing neutral about this Justice Department…when it comes to race matters,” Malzberg said.
Malzberg: There’s nothing neutral about this Justice Department, and we’ve heard that from people who have worked, career Justice employees, when it comes to race matters. We’re talking to Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch president, here on the Steve Malzberg show. And let me ask you this, and I’m just asking your opinion, obviously. If there’s an acquittal in the Zimmerman trial, I think certainly, at least legally speaking, the door is still open for the Justice Department to pursue him with civil rights violations. And do you believe that that would be the case?
Fitton: Well, I don’t know, because, I would be very worried if I were Mr. Zimmerman, because we’ve also asked for documents from the Justice Department civil rights division, and we’ve gotten back, saying, the proverbial hand to the face, saying, ‘No, these are documents created for law enforcement purposes.’ So it seems like there has been, at least at one point, an active investigation. And, you know, given the racial extremism of this president and this Justice Department, not only Mr. Holder and his civil rights division, it wouldn’t surprise me. If I were betting, I’d bet they would try to do something, yes.
Malzberg: Yes, especially to quell what unfortunately, almost universally, experts, especially down in Sanford, Florida, and many others around the country, are expecting will be a horrific reaction on the streets of Sanford, of Miami and possible of other cities around the country. So, like you say, you know, I wouldn’t want to be George Zimmerman in any way, shape, or form, with this Justice Department and with this state prosecution, which is obviously politically motivated.
