On Thursday, the world was dealt what could be considered a heaping dose of karma when both George Zimmerman and Dylann Roof were attacked in separate instances. Zimmerman, the man who shot Trayvon Martin, was punched in the face at Gators Riverside Grille in Sanford, Florida, according to local police reports, coincidentally on the same day the accused Charleston shooter, Roof, was attacked in jail.
During his call to 911 operators, Zimmerman claimed the assailant punched him out of nowhere, saying, “He said he was going to kill me.” On the contrary, an interview with Edward Winters, the owner of the restaurant, revealed a different account. Winters told The New York Daily News: “They shoved each other and that was the end. He said, ‘You don’t know who I am, do you?’ And Zimmerman said, ‘I’m George Zimmerman.’”
According to Winters’ account, there were no punches thrown and the only physical altercation was the mutual shove. Other witnesses from the scene claimed the interaction was spurred when Zimmerman complimented another customer’s confederate flag tattoo and bragged about the death of Martin, at which point the man identified as “Eddie” approached the conversation. Eddie apparently confronted Zimmerman for openly bragging about Martin’s death, quickly leading to the physical altercation, which, according to everyone except Winter, did in fact include a punch so strong that Zimmerman’s glasses were broken.
The assailant apparently rode off on a Harley Davidson after punching Zimmerman, which feels like an act of cinematic karma if I’ve ever heard one. While in theory I’m not one to condone or promote violence, it’s difficult (to say the least) to not feel like this was 1,000 percent deserved.
In a separate but seemingly correlated incident, the alleged Charleston shooter, Dylann Roof, was reportedly assaulted by another inmate in the jail shower Thursday. The documented white supremacist was repeatedly punched in the shower by a 26-year-old inmate until guards separated the two. The attack didn’t leave Roof with serious injuries, as he reportedly returned to his cell with just bruises to show for the incident, but his attacker was immediately lauded as a force of vigilante karmic justice by Twitter users, though many claimed both Roof’s and Zimmerman’s attacks were too little too late.
As you can see, the reports of the Roof and Zimmerman attacks brought the sense of a sliver of justice to many, with people going so far as to suggest Zimmerman’s attacker be the next Bachelor, as well as the launch of a support fund for the guy who attacked Roof.
Original by: @BronwynIsaac
