On the morning after the Army-Navy football game, the one at which Daniel Penny was honored for his good citizenship, I just so happened to meet with George Zimmerman.

If there is anyone in America who could identify with the plight of Penny, the U.S. Marine acquitted in the death of subway terrorist Jordan Neely, it is George. Over breakfast, he and I reflected on the changes in America over the last decade — especially over the last two years — that have made Penny’s life post-acquittal so dramatically different from his own.
Pre-acquittal, the parallels are strong. Like Penny, Zimmerman did what he thought any good citizen should do under similar circumstances. On the rainy night of Feb. 26, 2012, Zimmerman, on the way to the store, saw a suspicious character lurking in the shadows of the troubled housing development in which he lived.
Recently, a neighbor’s home had been invaded by two young black men. His wife saw the men, and they saw her. She wanted to move. George, an Obama supporter and civil rights activist, did not scare easily. His volunteer work mentoring two young black kids exposed him to some seriously troubled neighborhoods. To put his wife at ease, he assumed the role of neighborhood watch captain and honed his gun skills.
In the days after the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, New York City Mayor Eric Adams repeated the common sense understanding, “If you see something, say something.”  The police in Sanford, Florida had instructed George to do just that. Upon seeing something suspicious, George called the non-emergency number and, as instructed, tried to keep his eyes on the person in question.
That person was Trayvon Martin, a deeply disturbed 17-year-old whose life had spiraled into a death dive of drugs, guns, burglary, and street fighting. When Trayvon took off running, George tried to follow on foot until warned off by the dispatcher. George complied and went looking for an address at which to meet the police.
To this point in h...