Zimmerman seems unable to stay quiet and move on

George Zimmerman needs no introduction.

His name is as recognizable as that of the young man that he shot and killed — Trayvon Martin.

Just as assuredly, uttering either name generates intense polarization — depending on where you sit on #BlackLivesMatter, firearms and the right to self-defense, along with any number of both bigoted and reasoned views on race in America.

But Trayvon is dead, never having his proverbial day in court. And the other, Zimmerman, can’t shut up.

The latest is that Zimmerman is suing a slew of people, but most notably Trayvon’s parents, claiming a long litany of grievances and demanding $100 million to compensate his wounded spirit.

At this point, a fairminded person might ask, “Wait, wasn’t Zimmerman acquitted, found not guilty of the charge of second-degree murder?”

Yes, he was, back in 2013. The issue was whether or not he killed the unarmed teenager in self-defense. The jury found that he did. Zimmerman was acquitted and set free.

But it’s as if he has never stopped retrying the case, a case that he’s already won.

The trial stoked headlines and debate for weeks, but the jury found Zimmerman not guilty of all charges from the night he encountered the 17-year-old Trayvon in a Florida town house development. Zimmerman had been acting as a neighborhood watchman and said Trayvon attacked him and that he shot the teenager fearing for his own life.

But rather than accepting that legal absolution and beginning the assuredly arduous path of rebuilding a life after such intense public scrutiny, Zimmerman has done the opposite.

Some headlines have been his own doing; like trying to sell the handgun he used to kill Trayvon for a profit. At other points, he got into altercations where he wound up the victim.

Overwhelmingly, the gut reaction by most people to the lawsuit has been anger. How could Zimmerman have the audacity to sue the grieving parents of the child that he killed?

But the better question, the one that might be more illuminating, is to ask what’s driving Zimmerman to continue wallowing in such self-generated negativity?

The answer may very well be that Trayvon continues to haunt Zimmerman.

And it’s likely not so much in the way that the suit portrays, illustrating Trayvon as a teenager on the brink of becoming a full-blown criminal. And Zimmerman as a social justice sleuth, a future attorney, and a stalwart mentor and friend to African American youth.

If you find that difficult to believe, there’s more.

The attorney for Trayvon’s parents, Benjamin Crump, is also accused. The charge is defamation from his recently released book, “Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People.”

Most of this drama seems to be orchestrated by others. There is the attorney who filed the lawsuit, Larry Klayman, who has his own questionable legal background of similar frivolous cases. And a documentarian, also questionable, who is pimping a new book and a movie, “The Trayvon Hoax, Unmasking the Witness Fraud That Divided America.”

But it’s Zimmerman who allows others to feed off of his life story. He controls the jumping off point of these narratives by allowing them to surround him.

Character, the aspect of personality that grounds intent and guides action, is best revealed after, rather than during a personal crisis. That’s the space that continues to trap Zimmerman.