I fail to see what the big deal is about the verdict in the George Zimmerman case. On the issue of racism, the prosecution produced exactly zero evidence of any racist intent on his part. And when it comes to the question of self-defense, this turned out to be a textbook case in that regard.

Besides, even liberals believe in the right of self-defense, don’t they? Let’s do a little thought experiment. Let’s imagine an instance in which it was a black guy who shot an unarmed man because he feared for his life. Let’s see if liberals would take that guy’s side.

Actually, you don’t have to imagine it. That prosecution of a black man for defending himself against a white assailant is going on right now, and it’s a New Jersey man who is the target of an overzealous prosecutor.

The man is Joseph Walker. He's a Hudson County prosecutor's investigator who is facing the same charges as Zimmerman did, second-degree murder and manslaughter, after a shooting last month in Maryland. I called his defense attorney, Anthony Pope of Newark, to hear his description of what happened on the evening of Saturday, June 8, on a highway not far from Annapolis.

Walker was driving home to Jersey after a family birthday party with his wife and three kids in the family minivan when he inadvertently became involved in a road-rage incident with a couple of locals. The driver of a Honda Accord, 36-year-old Joseph Harvey, apparently thought the minivan had cut his Honda off. He began pursuing the van and, "Once he pulled alongside, the N-word came out," said Pope.

The 40-year-old Walker tried holding up his badge to get the guy to back off, said Pope.

"He said, '(Expletive) you. I don't care if you're a police officer, you're gonna die tonight,' " he said.

A bottle struck the minivan and then it was forced off the road by the Honda, Pope said. Walker got out to check for damage, unaware that the Honda had stopped up ahead. As he was checking the van, his wife shouted a warning that the 290-pound Harvey was heading Walker’s way.

At that point, said Pope, Walker pulled his Glock service pistol and again warned Harvey to back off. He didn’t. When he got within six feet, Walker fired three shots. That ended the attack — and Harvey’s life.

When the Maryland State Police showed up, they arrested Walker. In published reports, State Police officials said the charges were brought because Walker fired two more shots after his initial shot hit Harvey in the leg. Pope dismissed that.

"When you fire, you fire," he said. "The manner in which he acted is consistent with his training as police officer. His fear that he was in imminent danger was real."

It certainly sounds that way to me. This sounds like a classic case of self-defense. It also sounds like a classic case of good, old Southern-fried racism.

Let’s imagine the races were reversed here and it was a white cop from out of state tooling along in a minivan packed with kids. And let’s imagine the two guys running him off the road were black. Would the State Police have filed charges against the white guy?

I put that question to the guy who's in charge of the Maryland State Police, Gov. Martin O'Malley. His people declined to answer. They instead referred me to a State Police spokeswoman, Elena Russo. I asked Russo to respond to each

of Pope's allegations.

She declined, in each case stating that interviews of witnesses are being conducted and the relevant information will come out in legal proceedings.

But Pope said the incident is redolent of racism.

"Even if he thought somebody cut him off, he went from being angry to being absolutely livid when he found out it was an African-American," said Pope of the deceased Harvey.

I noticed the other day that Stevie Wonder is proposing a boycott of Florida over the Zimmerman verdict. Well, I hereby call for my fellow New Jerseyans to boycott Maryland until the charges are dropped against Walker, who’s now back home after posting $1 million bail. We should also expect an apology from O’Malley for how his fellow Marylanders treated a family man from Jersey who made the mistake of thinking he’d be safe there.

But that’s just one conservative’s opinion. Liberals may feel otherwise.

It’s a free country — though it’s full of places where you might not want to drive if you’re black.

ADD: Here's an article about Wonder and other celebrities demanding Florida drop its stand-your-ground law. I would love to ask every one of these liberals about the Walker case. If Maryland had such a law, then Walker would not even have been prosecuted for defnding himself and his family. I wonder how Wonder would feel about a case where it's the black man who exercised his right of self-defense.

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