Charles Barkley announced Thursday that he agrees with the verdict in the George Zimmerman case, and said that racism can come from anyone, not just white people.
The outspoken former basketball all-star appeared on CNBC Thursday to give his analysis of the verdict that saw Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman,
acquitted of all charges in the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
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"Well I agree with the verdict," Barkley said. "I feel sorry that young kid got killed, but they didn't have enough evidence to charge [Zimmerman]. Something clearly went wrong that night — clearly something went wrong — and I feel bad for anybody who loses a kid, but if you looked at the case and you don't make it — there was some racial profiling, no question about it — but something happened that changed the dynamic of that night."
Barkley also accused the media of exploiting the parts of the case that dealt with race.
"I just feel bad because I don’t like when race gets out in the media 'cause I don't think the media has a 'pure heart,' as I call it," he said. "There are very few people who have a pure heart when it comes to race. Racism is wrong in any shape [or] form — there are a lot of black people who are racist, too. I think sometimes when people talk about race, they act like only white people are racist. There are a lot of black people who are racist. And I don't like when it gets out there in the media because I don't think the media has clean hands."
He also believes Martin was the aggressor in the confrontation that ended in the teen's death, but admitted that Zimmerman was racial profiling.
"Mr. Zimmerman was wrong to pursue, he was racial profiling, but I think Trayvon Martin — God rest his soul — I think he did flip the switch and started beating the hell out of Mr. Zimmerman," Barkley said. "It was just a bad situation. We all lost."
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