EXCLUSIVE — Robert Zimmerman: Sharpton 'Damaged the Fabric of Our Society'

On early Sunday morning, Breitbart News spoke with Robert Zimmerman, brother of George Zimmerman. In response to media coverage from media outlets like MSNBC and Huffington Post decrying the verdict, Robert Zimmerman stated, “The hallmark of our judicial system is a trial by jury of your peers. People called for George’s arrest and called for him to have his day in court, and both of those things have come to pass. The hallmark of our society is the rule of law. It should go without saying that respecting the rule of law and the outcome, this verdict, is our duty.”

Zimmerman also said that he agreed with defense attorney Mark O’Mara, who said that his brother, George, would not have been arrested were he black. “I would have to agree with Mr. O’Mara. It’s hard to tell in hindsight what would or would not have happened if any other race had been involved, but certainly at the beginning of the narrative coming to light from Mr. Benjamin Crump and Ms. Natalie Jackson, it was clear that they wanted race front and center in their narrative and did a disservice to our country as a result.”

Zimmerman also expressed disappointment with Al Sharpton, who led protests back in March 2012 calling for George Zimmerman’s arrest, and who called the verdict “an atrocity” on MSNBC Saturday night. “In my opinion, the support we have received from the black community has been particularly inspiring,” Robert said. “I think that it’s time to pass the baton, as it were, to the new face of equality — equality that is colorblind and that is based on the rule of law rather than the weight of the race card. Mr. Sharpton has done enough damage to the fabric of our society by constantly injecting race into every dialogue and constantly taking the position that everyone who disagrees with him might be a racist or have racist inclinations, including the Sanford Police Department, the state attorney office in Sanford, and my brother and his family.”

Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the New York Times bestseller “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).