Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 712

Thread: George Zimmerman FOUND NOT GUILTY in 2012 FL Slaying of Trayvon Martin

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Administrator Michael's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    1,515

    George Zimmerman FOUND NOT GUILTY in 2012 FL Slaying of Trayvon Martin

    In wake of Trayvon Martin's death, America is soul-searching

    SANFORD, Fla. – Spurred by social media and community rallies, the shooting death of a 17-year-old Florida youth has become the latest flashpoint over how young black men are perceived in the United States.

    Trayvon Martin's death Feb. 26 at the hands of a Neighborhood Watch leader in this small, gated Florida community has rippled through many corners of the nation's justice and political system and raised questions about the relationship between the black community and police in small towns.

    In the past 48 hours, the case has:

    •Sparked an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI and the Florida state attorney's office;
    •Brought calls for changes in a Florida self-defense law that says a person being attacked has no duty to retreat and may return force;
    •Ignited protests, including a "Million Hoodie March" in New York City planned today, a protest Wednesday outside the Florida Division of Licensing, urging state officials to withdraw George Zimmerman's concealed weapons permit and a rally Thursday in Sanford led by civil rights activist Al Sharpton;

    •Amassed more than 600,000 signatures in an online petition calling for charges to be filed against George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch captain who said he shot Martin.

    •Prompted NAACP national President Benjamin Todd Jealous and local NAACP officials to host an open forum Wednesday in Sanford for residents to share their stories of abuse and discrimination by the Sanford Police Department. Jealous said Tuesday night that the information provided would be turned over to the Department of Justice, which is investigating the Martin shooting.

    Zimmerman has not been arrested or charged with a crime.

    The case has resonated for many who say Martin died because of stereotypes of young black men as violent criminals. The shooting is already being compared with high-profile and historic civil rights cases — for instance, a doctored photograph has circulated throughout many social media sites that compares Martin to Emmett Till, a young man lynched by white men in 1950s Mississippi.

    "It's not about these individual acts of racism," said Mark Neal, a professor of African and African American Studies at Duke University. "It's about the way that black males are framed in the larger culture … as being violent, criminal and threats to safety and property."

    The tragic case played out in Sanford, population 54,000, about 30 minutes north of Orlando, when Martin left his father's home to buy candy and iced tea for his little brother at a nearby 7-Eleven.

    He was on his way back in the rain when Zimmerman, 28, spotted him. Zimmerman was armed as he patroled the area in his car in response to several break-ins in the community.

    Zimmerman called 911 to report a suspicious person, according to the call released by Sanford emergency dispatch. Against the advice of the 911 dispatcher, Zimmerman followed Martin, according to the 911 recording.

    The two men fought and Trayvon Martin was left dead. Zimmerman told the Sanford police that he shot the teen in self-defense because he was fearful for his life. The police have said there is no evidence to contradict Zimmerman's claims. Police say Zimmerman was bleeding from his nose and the back of his head.

    Zimmerman has not spoken publicly. In a statement, his father, Robert, said, "The portrayal of George Zimmerman in the media, as well as the series of events that led to the tragic shooting are false and extremely misleading. … George is a Spanish-speaking minority with many black family members and friends. He would be the last to discriminate for any reason whatsoever."

    Outrage in Sanford

    The fatal shooting touched a chord of community outrage in Sanford on Tuesday night. The killing was "a senseless murder as far as we are concerned," Seminole County NAACP President Clayton Turner told a capacity crowd at the start of a town-hall-style meeting at Allen Chapel AME Church.

    Clayton said the Sanford city manager and mayor were unable to attend because they had been "summoned" to Washington by Attorney General Eric Holder.

    "The line has been drawn in the sand," Clayton said. "We as people of color are going to stand our ground. We are going to do it in a non-violent way, and we are going to prevail."

    Before his son's death, Tracy Martin warned son Trayvon that being a black man in America could be dangerous.

    "I've always let him know we as African Americans get stereotyped," Tracy Martin told USA TODAY. "I told him that society is cruel."

    Those warning messages have echoed in Tracy Martin's head since his son died.

    Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump said Tuesday that the young man was on the phone with his girlfriend when Zimmerman followed and approached him. He said the 16-year-old girl told a harrowing story that he says shows Martin did not attack Zimmerman.

    The girl, whose family asked the attorney not to reveal her identity, told Crump that she and Martin were talking on the phone when he left the store, a bag of Skittles in his pocket. Crump said as Martin walked home, he told the girl, "This dude is following me."

    Crump said the girl told him that she told Martin to run. Martin ran, which coincided with Zimmerman's comments to 911 in which he said the suspicious man was running, Crump said.

    "Then she hears (Martin) say, 'Why are you following me?' and another voice say, 'What are you doing in the neighborhood?' " Crump said.

    Police actions questioned

    The girl told Crump she then thought she could hear Trayvon was pushed and she heard a brief altercation, then the line went dead.

    "This claim that Trayvon Martin was the aggressor is preposterous," the attorney said.

    Crump has questioned Sanford police actions after the shooting, noting that police did not run a blood-alcohol test or a background check on Zimmerman, but they ran both on Martin after he died. He said police took Zimmerman's word without conducting a thorough investigation.

    Tracy Martin says he wants Zimmerman arrested and tried in court.

    "My child was profiled," the father said. "He was stereotyped. We aren't letting our son die in vain."

    The decision not to arrest Zimmerman was made by the responding officer who released the gunman after he claimed to have acted in self-defense, Sanford officials said Tuesday.

    It was only after a growing public outcry expressing a lack of confidence in the police department's actions that city leaders called on the Justice Department to review the shooting, City Manager Norton Bonaparte and Mayor Jeff Triplett said.

    "We have a lot of strife in our community right now," Triplett said at a Capitol Hill briefing where he and Bonaparte appeared with Rep. Corrine Brown, a Florida Democrat. "If we've made an error, I want someone to tell me. There will be no stone that won't be overturned."

    Triplett said the Justice investigation would review all aspects of the case, including the police response and the decision not to arrest Zimmerman.

    Bonaparte acknowledged Zimmerman was part of a network of local Neighborhood Watch groups trained by the Sanford Police Department and urged "not to engage" possible suspects or people they encounter. Brown said she was "not satisfied" with the initial handling of the case, agreeing that Zimmerman was not tested for possible substance abuse immediately after the incident and lamenting that proper steps were not taken to preserve possible evidence at the scene.

    "People need to feel that the system is fair," Brown said. "It just wasn't handled right."

    In conversations with the Sanford police chief, Triplett said he believes the Florida law known as the "stand your ground" statute, which provides a broader interpretation of self-defense, played a role in the decision not to arrest and charge Zimmerman.

    The law allows the use of force if the person "reasonably believes" it is necessary to protect the person's own life, or the life of another or to prevent a forcible felony.

    In the wake of Martin's death, the law is getting a second look. State Sen. Oscar Braynon, who represents Miami Gardens where the teen lived with his mother, called for hearings or a select committee to clarify what constitutes self-defense under the law. He said that since the law was enacted in 2005, the number of justified homicides in the state has skyrocketed. In 2005, there were 43 such cases; in 2009, the last complete year available, there were 105, Braynon said.

    "I think there is vigilante justice happening and I think people are getting shot," he said. "This is an unintended consequence of the law."

    Social media's role

    Public activism has played a pivotal role in bringing national attention to the case and ultimately leading to a top-to-bottom review of what happened that day. A wellspring of social media grew by the day and became relentless, demanding that the spotlight return to Sanford. It's the only way to galvanize people in such cases, says Neal, the Duke professor.

    "If folks aren't on Twitter tweeting stories and giving particular testimonies; if you don't have artists doing videos on YouTube talking about what Trayvon might have experienced … I don't think we get a moment where suddenly the Justice Department is saying we need to investigate this case," Neal says.

    Change.org spokeswoman Brianna Cayo Cotter said the petition calling for prosecution of Zimmerman was drawing the second-highest amount of traffic to the site since a petition was launched for Kyleigh's Law, a measure passed in New Jersey in 2010 that requires drivers younger than 18 with permits or probationary licenses to display special decals on their vehicles. Kyleigh D'Alessio was 16 when she died in a 2006 car crash.

    "We are seeing unprecedented traffic on our website," Cayo Cotter said.

    The attention is also focusing on the town of Sanford, which has a history of racial tensions.

    "This case more than anything reminds me of Jena — of a small Southern town that played by its own rules," Sharpton said. "Sanford authorities thought they could contain it. … Once it becomes national, they can't contain and control the story and the outcome."

    The Jena 6 were black teens initially charged in 2006 with attempted murder for beating a white schoolmate in the town of Jena, La. After a national outcry, community rallies and online petitions, the charges were reduced.

    Theo Shaw, 23, one of the Jena 6 who is preparing to attend law school in the fall, says, "This is another incident in which there is a presumption that a young black man has been guilty of something."

    Source
    No murder can be so cruel that there are not still useful imbeciles who do gloss over the murderer and apologize.

  2. #2
    Senior Member Frequent Poster PATRICK5's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    329
    What a bunch of crap. There were no wits. The guy who had a gun had injuries. Where's the admissible evidence that a jury would convict? So, the locals authorities decline prosecution but referred it to the county prosecutor for an independent investigation. Last I heard, it is being submitted to a grand jury. They will decide whether charges should be filed.

    But the same people who declare every brutal murderer innocent are the same ones who want to convict others with no evidence.


    Errata: Apparently, there were some wits.
    Last edited by PATRICK5; 03-22-2012 at 12:11 PM. Reason: I was wrong!!!

  3. #3
    Administrator Michael's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    1,515
    I think you´re wrong in this case. Zimmerman seems to be a psycho. I´m curious how the story developes.
    No murder can be so cruel that there are not still useful imbeciles who do gloss over the murderer and apologize.

  4. #4
    Passed away.
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    The Phog
    Posts
    651
    Just found this. Shot the day after the shooting of poor, innocent Trayvon.



    Too bad that the media is being very dis-honest and one sided with their reporting.

  5. #5
    Administrator Michael's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    1,515
    Quote Originally Posted by tpg View Post
    And you are basing this on what?
    I read about the case on some german and some us sites. On all the sites he good "bad" PR.
    No murder can be so cruel that there are not still useful imbeciles who do gloss over the murderer and apologize.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Frequent Poster PATRICK5's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Posts
    329
    I've looked at the news websites, right leaning blogs, left leaning blogs, etc. There is so much misinformation going around it's scary. It's like people are just demanding a lynching/race riot. And the local politicians are just fanning the flames...

    The whole affair makes me sick.

  7. #7
    Candy
    Guest
    I have ask been reading about this, it's a big discussion on Facebook. It's shocking, I read Zimmerman had called 911 50 times in 1 year. This is a wannabe cop. "Justice 4 Trayvon"

  8. #8
    Passed away.
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    The Phog
    Posts
    651
    I find the outrage in the "black community" laughable. You have one group of people, who are 3% of the population, who commit nearly HALF of all murders in the United States (black males aged 16-35). These are the "stereotypes" they are talking about. There is no outrage, federal investigations, online petitions, or non stop coverage on MSNBC about that....but have one half-white dude shoot a black kid and the pandemonium starts.

    We have not heard nor seen the shooters side of the story. Florida's Sunshine laws should have made the police reports available to the public, but they are not being posted by the MSM. Trayvon was supposed on a 10 day suspension from school for "tardies". The Miami Public Schools policy clearly differs from what the family is saying..he would have had in-school suspension for tardies. And now Zimmerman is alleged to say "fucking coons" in the 911 call. At least that is what Al Sharpton told me on MSNBC last night. But they bleeped it out. The whole thing. And Sharpton would never perpetuate a lie, would he? Also no mention in the MSM about the cuts to Zimmerman's head, or the grass stains on the back of his shirt...both of those were reported in the Miami news when this happened a month ago.

    The worst case scenario for Zimmerman is a federal charge. That is where his trouble would be. In Florida the most I could see him being charged with is manslaughter.

    This is just like the Anti's and innocence claims. If you yell loud enough for long enough, it soon enough becomes the truth, and what is right.

    Quote Originally Posted by Michael View Post
    I think you´re wrong in this case. Zimmerman seems to be a psycho. I´m curious how the story developes.
    And you are basing this on what? What the US media is reporting about him? He and his family have been in hiding since this happened..he has not even had his lawyer speak to the media on the matter. So you have a bunch of white people hating folks (Sharpton, NAACP, etc) and the liberal media telling you exactly what they want you to know.

    This could go either way, but one thing I am certain of is this is not a first degree hang-em-high racially based type of murder the MSM is trying to play this up as.

  9. #9
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    33,217
    Zimmeran called 911 as a neighborhood watch representative 47 times. Never once had he pulled his gun on prior patrols. Let's keep in mind that American citizens have the right to bear arms, and the eye witness said Zimmerman was the one on the ground on his back being attacked!

    psst...Just because it is on Facebook don't mean it is true!
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  10. #10
    Candy
    Guest
    Point taken. :0)

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •