Charles Barkley
The former NBA pro expressed a not so popular opinion when he agreed with the "not guilty" verdict passed down on George Zimmerman. Creative Commons

Media personality and NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley agrees with the jury that found George Zimmerman not guilty. While it is not the popular belief among the prosecution, the family of Trayvon Martin and the massive amount of people that followed the case, Barkley agrees Martin was the aggressor the night he was killed.

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In February of 2012 George Zimmerman noticed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin out walking one night. The neighborhood watch captain followed the teen for a while, suspecting Martin was one of the young teens breaking into homes in his Sanford, Florida community.

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Zimmerman and Martin encountered one another and a fight broke out. The prosecution says Zimmerman shot Martin because he profiled the young black man. The defense says Martin was shot in self-defense after becoming aggressive and attacking George Zimmerman.

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Charles Barkley appeared on CNBC's "Closing Bell" with host Maria Bartiromo. The host asked Barkley, known for being frank and telling it like it is, if he had any thoughts about the Zimmerman trial.

"Well, I agreed with the verdict," Barkley said. "I feel sorry that young kid got killed but they didn't have enough evidence to charge [Zimmerman]."

Barkley went on to explain that he felt the case was too much about race and not enough about the evidence. Barkley told Bartiromo that he followed the case closely and by just looking at the evidence he felt Zimmerman did not deserve to spend the rest of his life in jail.

Barkley kept making it clear he feels for the Martin family saying you never want to see a parent lose a child. Charles Barkley then went on to express an opinion he knows is not popular among trial watchers and the media.

"What I think Trayvon Martin, God rest his soul, I think he did flip the switch and started beating the hell out of Mr. Zimmerman. But it was just a bad situation. And like I said, the main thing I feel bad for, it gives every white person and black person who is racist a platform to vent their ignorance."

Barkley said he does not believe George Zimmerman is completely innocent in the fact that he believes Zimmerman did actually profile Trayvon Martin. But Barkley also blamed the media, but not in a heavy handed conspiracy theory way. Barkley said when race gets involved in a case such as this the media has an agenda.

The former NBA star said he feels the people who covered the murder trial so vigorously had their own agenda to push through. Barkley also believes racism is not the exclusive property of the white community. Barkley said black people are equally capable of racism.

"I just feel bad because I don't like when race gets out in the media, because I don't think the media has a pure heart, as I call it," Barkley told Bartiromo. "There are very few people who have a pure heart when it comes to race. Racism is wrong in any shape [and] form. There are a lot of black people who are racist too. I think sometimes when people talk about racism they act like only white people are racist. There are a lot of black people who are racist, and I don't like when it gets out there in the media because I don't think the media has clean hands."

Americanthinker.com says Charles Barkley may be the most famous African American to come out in support of the Zimmerman verdict. During Barkley's "Closing Bell" interview he was clear and did not become overly emotional as he expressed an opinion.

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