Robertson defends Zimmerman: Trayvon was 'African-American' and 'wearing these hoods'

Televangelist Pat Robertson this week defended former neighborhood watchmen George Zimmerman after his acquittal for murder, saying that he was right to follow the "fully-formed young African-American male" because other criminals had been seen "wearing these hoods."

On Monday's episode of The 700 Club, Robertson complained that the media had mostly used photos of Trayvon Martin when he was younger.

"He was 17 and he was a fully-formed young African-American male," he explained "They've showed him as a little boy, like 12-year-old pictures."

Co-host Terry Meeuwsen, however, was clearly conflicted about the verdict because Zimmerman had followed Martin after he had been asked not to by the police dispatcher.

"We just can't have people doing that," Meeuwsen said.

"You can't or can," Robertson shrugged. "But there had been some crime this area and the criminals were wearing these hoods. And so, it's one of those things."

The following day, Robertson called for those protesting the the verdict to "chill out" and "live in harmony."

"There was a tragedy in Mississippi and a man named Emmett Till was taken and lynched and brutally murdered, and it was apparently supported by the state and people involved in the government," he pointed out. "There was no question of what that was. This thing was not Emmett Till. This was a young man, who apparently jumped on a man who thought he was a quasi-policeman. And the two had a scuffle, and one of them shot the other one."

"Well, that's the way it was. So, why do we make such a big thing out of it?" Robertson asked. "Why don't we just chill out and say justice has been served, justice has been done?"

"We don't need to exacerbate the racial tension. What we need to do is love each other and live in harmony in this land and respect the rule of law."

Watch this video from CBN, broadcast July 15 and 16, 2013.

(h/t: Right Wing Watch)