George Zimmerman Was Never Violent–if You Don't Count Domestic Violence…

George Zimmerman's mugshot

Rarely has a story contradicted its lead like Lizette Alvarez's New York Times piece on George Zimmerman today (7/13/12). Here's the first sentence:

A wide-ranging investigation of George Zimmerman, who is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Trayvon Martin, found a man not prone to violence or prejudice and who moved easily between racial and ethnic groups–a "decent guy," "a good human being."

No, he's not prone to violence–except, as we learn after four paragraphs about what a great guy he is, that time that he slapped his ex-girlfriend:

During an argument with his ex-fiancée, a stylist he met at Supercuts in 2001, he slapped her in the mouth because she was chewing gum. As the two were breaking up, they pushed each other forcefully, and he kicked her dog in the stomach, she said. The dog bit him.

And he doesn't show signs of prejudice–aside from that "MySpace page Mr. Zimmerman once kept where he went on a rant about the Mexicans in his old Virginia neighborhood, saying they would mess with cars and pull knives."

I think it's safe to say that Zimmerman has never been violent or bigoted, other than when he has been.