Lawrence O’Donnell, from MSNBC, was scheduled to interview the lawyer for George Zimmerman, Craig Sonner, on Monday night. Instead of interviewing Sonner, O’Donnell interviewed an empty chair. It was reported that Sonner decided to flee the studio located in Orlando only minutes prior to the start of the television show. Zimmerman is the ex-neighborhood watchman who killed teenager Trayvon Martin by shooting him back in February. The incident took place in a Florida town.
Should Sonner have appeared on the show, it would have been yet another appearance in a long list of high-profile appearances where Sonner has attempted to change the story about the case. Sonner has argued that the shooting of Martin was not caused by race but because of self-defense. Sonner has yet to elaborate on his stance of self-defense on the part of his client. The host, O’Donnell, said that previous interviews done by Sonner have lacked in rigor. He also said that the possible reason why Sonner disappeared and did not do the interview was the fact that O’Donnell has a stronger approach to conducting an interview than others in the media. The following is an excerpt from O’Donnell’s show on Monday night in regards to Sonner not appearing for the interview:
“Craig Sonner has been the first guest in the history of this particular show, to get scared, to be terrified, so terrified of coming on this show that he has literally run away. He’s in our car right now, taking him home from our studio, afraid to face the questioning he would face on this show. Watch out for wherever Craig Sonner shows up next on television, because wherever he shows up next on television has an obligation to put him through serious questioning about what he’s doing and what he knows, and the contradictions in the things he’s already said on television.”
Then, as the segment regarding Sonner went on, O’Donnell decided to turn to Sonner’s empty chair and began asking the chair the same questions that Sonner was going to be subject to if he appeared on the show. From the show, those questions included the following:
“Who is paying you, Mr. Lawyer?”
“Does George Zimmerman have a job?”
“Did you represent him when he was arrested for assault on a police officer in 2005?”
“Your client was not injured enough to go to the hospital that night. You say he sought some sort of medical treatment the next day. Do you have those medical records that you can show us?”
