Race could play a part in the George Zimmerman murder-trial verdict as it has in past high-profile cases, political commentator and radio host Armstrong Williams says.
"Unfortunately, we're not going to get away from it and that's just the price that we pay," Williams told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
"They didn't care about the evidence . . . with O.J. Simpson, they just wanted a brother to get off.
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"They didn't care. But yet, it's a whole different standard with George Zimmerman."
Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida, is charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.
The defendant says he fired on the unarmed black teenager in self-defense last year and has
pleaded not guilty.
Despite the race factor, Williams said, "Most people want to get away from stereotyping what criminals are and non-criminals are."
He said he doesn't expect any racial unrest if Zimmerman is found not guilty.
"That's why we have law enforcement . . . The leadership will be advised to calm down their constituency and prepare them for the worst outcome," said Williams, author of "Letters to a young victim: Hope and Healing in America's Inner Cities."
"Given the high-pitched rhetoric and favor once given towards OJ Simpson, can we at least . . . give Zimmerman the benefit of the doubt and assume he is innocent until proven guilty?
"You may even sincerely cheer for Zimmerman's acquittal, as was with the case of O.J. Simpson during his highly-publicized trial."
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