As responses to the controversial George Zimmerman verdict continue to ripple across the country, John Oliver took the reigns as temporary co-host of The Daily Show , making a mockery of Florida in the wake of Zimmerman’s acquittal.
After a two-week hiatus, The Daily Show returned to the air. Oliver promptly launched into a segment about the trial entitled “Wait: What? How Could You Possibly…You’ve Got to be Kid…There is No Way… I Can’t… Oh My God,” according to The Los Angeles Times .
“Of the many truly depressing things about this case, where a man was found not guilty after admitting pursuing and shooting an unarmed teenager, one is just how unsurprised people seemed to be about the verdict,” the comedian said, playing clips that explain self-defense laws in Florida that would have inhibited a guilty verdict.
“According to current Florida law, you can get a gun, follow an unarmed minor, call the police, have them explicitly tell you to stop following them, then choose to ignore that, keep following the minor, get into a confrontation with them and, if at any point in that process you get scared, you can shoot the minor to death, and the state of Florida will say, ‘Well, look, you did what you could,’ ” Oliver said, chastising the state for being stuck in the 19th century.
John Stewart’s stand-in continued the segment by suggesting The Sunshine State change its tagline to “The Worst State,” before launching into criticism of the outcome of Marissa Alexander’s trial, a blaring inconsistency in Florida self-defense laws. Alexander was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot in the direction of her abusive husband.
“Has it ever occurred to anyone when visiting Orlando that when Mickey Mouse is waving at you, what he’s actually trying to say is ‘Please, someone get me … out of here, these people are … crazy’?” Oliver joked as he concluded the segment.
Oliver is not the only one outraged in the aftermath of the verdict. The New York Times reports that protests have sparked up across the country in response to the acquittal.
“This is much bigger than just this one trial,” a 20-year-old Los Angeles protestor said. “We people of color have always been at the bottom of the totem pole. People of color have not received our fair share with the American justice system.”
Image: NBC