On the night of February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin, a black 17-year-old high school student,

was tragically shot and killed by 28-year-old George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida.

Zimmerman was armed with a semi-automatic handgun, Trayvon was unarmed, and a week ago

on July 13, a jury acquitted Zimmerman of second-degree murder and of manslaughter charges.

The decision has obviously stirred up a lot of controversy and reopened old wounds of

racial tension in the United States.

Pastor John, you're actually in Florida right now, having just spoken at the campus

outreach global staff conference in Orlando.

And while you were at the conference, you met with 30 African-American leaders in campus

outreach to answer their questions, and you said the first one came from a man who asked

this, there's a lot of responses out there on the Zimmerman verdict, but you haven't

spoken on it.

What was the wisdom in not speaking after the verdict?

Pastor John, what did you say to the group?

Right.

Let me just say, first of all, that that was an unbelievably encouraging meeting with

those brothers and sisters.

What's happening in ethnic diversity and ethnic harmony, intentionality in that whole

area in campus outreach is one of the most encouraging things about that ministry.

So just brought off a bat, there was many hostility towards me.

There was a real, earnest, deep, wise interaction there.

So let me try to sum up what I said.

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