Was Florida shooter a vigilante or good neighbor?

[Police Moderator]

Was Florida shooter a vigilante or good neighbor?
By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press

SANFORD, Fla. — George Zimmerman once took criminal justice classes at the community college and was practically a one-man neighborhood watch in his gated part of town, calling police close to 50 times over the past eight years to report such things as slow-driving vehicles, strangers loitering in the neighborhood and open garages.

Now, suddenly, people are wondering if the 28-year-old Zimmerman is an earnest if somewhat zealous young man who was just looking out for his neighborhood, or a wannabe cop who tried to take justice into his own hands.

He has been at the center of a growing furor over vigilantism, self-defense and racial profiling since he shot and killed an unarmed black teenager who was walking through his neighborhood Feb. 26 carrying only a bag of Skittles and an iced tea.

Zimmerman, a light-skinned Hispanic, has claimed self-defense in the slaying of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and has not been charged, but many black leaders are demanding his arrest, and state and federal authorities are investigating. Florida’s Stand Your Ground law on self-defense gives people wide latitude to use deadly force.

Read more: times free press

A glimpse into the future of 'privatized LE' or 'run it like a business.'

[Police Moderator]

Sanford police chief steps down 'temporarily' amid criticism for handling of Trayvon Martin case
March 22, 2012|

By Rene Stutzman and Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel

SANFORD – Embattled Sanford police Chief Bill Lee Jr. stepped down from his post "temporarily" today, brought down by a firestorm of criticism over the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old.

"My role as the leader of this agency has become a distraction from the investigation," Lee said in a brief statement. "It is apparent that my involvement in this matter is overshadowing the process.

"Therefore, I have come to the decision that I must temporarily relieve myself from the position as police chief for the city of Sanford," Lee said.

"I do this in the hopes of restoring some semblance of calm to a city which has been in turmoil for several weeks."

Read more: orlando sentinel

[Half-Tard]

Needs to be charged with murder.

[osrb]

Mar 23, 2012 0:27:45 GMT -5 Half-Tard said:

Needs to be charged with murder.

Why? Were a witness to this? Do you know something that the rest of the world does not? If you did witness this did you give your statement to the police? Are are you just in a hurry to see a Hispanic man put in jail?


***************************************
Zimmerman told police he acted in self-defense. Police found blood on his face and the back of his head as well as grass on the back of his shirt.

That jibes with what Cheryl Brown's teenage son witnessed while walking his dog that night. Thirteen-year-old Austin stepped out his front door and heard people fighting, he told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday.

"I heard screaming and crying for help," he said. "I heard, 'Help me.' "

It was dark, and the boy did not see how the fight started, in fact, he only saw one person, a man in a red shirt — Zimmerman — who was on the ground.

The boy said he is not sure who called for help. After a moment, his dog escaped, and he turned to catch it and a few seconds later heard a gunshot, he said.

"When I heard the shot, the screaming stopped," he said.

He then rushed inside and told his sister to call police


Orlando Sentinel
**********************************************

[Half-Tard]

If you did witness this did you give your statement to the police?

I already have

[pepper]

Sorry folks but I just have to do this.

"The only reason the others after you are coming out swinging in defense is because they're likely as big of a nut-jobs as Zimmerman.

I stopped attending those neighborhood meetings several years ago. You could already see the vigilante mindset taking shape in some of the attendees. The police officers who sometimes attended those meetings did next to nothing to discourage them, and in many ways were pumping them up.

Contrary to what some of the responders to Mr. Scruggs say, what happens in Sanford, Fla., or anywhere in America for that matter, has everything to do with Chattanooga and the rest of the nation. It affects us all. When a tragedy of this magnitude takes place it diminishes us as a richly diverse and civilized nation and people. As similar situations have already taken place in other cities in other states in America, just without the national and international coverage, where this "Stand Your Ground Law" exist. It's looney for anyone to try and excuse away a tragedy of this magnitude with one of those "he threw the rock through the window first. So why can't I," excuses. That's childish and immature.

The difference here is, the 17-year-old who allegedly shot the 13-yea-rold will be tried and surely convicted. In the Zimmerman situation in many states where the "Stand Your Ground" law exist, a shooter is pretty much immune to prosecution and even being sued, even when an innocent bystander is hit in the crossfire. Neither that innocent bystander, if he or she survives, nor the family member, if the victim doesn't, can prosecute or sue.

This law is evil and wicked. Thought up by equally evil and wicked individuals. Either that, or they're suffering from a severe case of selective memory loss when it comes to America's darker side of history. It takes this country back to a time when it was acceptable to basically hunt humans with impunity. As it presently stands, the "Stand Your Ground Law" should be declared unconstitutional and illegal all across America. There's no place for it in a 21st Century "civilized" America. Period.

This is not about the truly responsible gun owners who own their guns and not the other way around. This is about the other "license to carry" seemingly normal on the surface nut jobs, fruit-loops and looney tunes who often slip under the radar, undetected and have deemed themselves invincible. You know they're out there. Everyone knows they're out there. And certainly the lawmakers who signed this evil law into law had to have known these types are out there. Every sane, decent American, whether you believe in owning a gun or not, should be upset.

Here is an excerpt taken from Mother Jones Magazine on the Florida "Stand Your Ground" law:

Zimmerman may have benefited from some of the broadest firearms and self-defense regulations in the nation. In 1987, then-Gov. Bob Martinez (R) signed Florida's concealed-carry provision into law, which "liberalized the restrictions that previously hindered the citizens of Florida from obtaining concealed weapons permits," according to one legal analyst. This trendsetting "shall-issue" statute triggered a wave of gun-carry laws in other states. (Critics said at the time that Florida would become "Dodge City.") Permit holders are also exempted from the mandatory state waiting period on handgun purchases.

Even though felons and other violent offenders are barred from getting a weapons permit, a 2007 investigation by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel found that licenses had been mistakenly issued to 1,400 felons and hundreds more applicants with warrants, domestic abuse injunctions, or gun violations. (More than 410,000 Floridians have been issued concealed weapons permits.) Since then, Florida also passed a law permitting residents to keep guns in their cars at work, against employers' wishes. The state also nearly allowed guns on college campuses last year, until an influential Republican lawmaker fought the bill after his close friend's daughter was killed by an AK-47 brandished at a Florida State University fraternity party.

Florida also makes it easy to plead self-defense in a killing. Under then-Gov. Jeb Bush, the state in 2005 passed a broad "stand your ground" law, which allows Florida residents to use deadly force against a threat without attempting to back down from the situation.

You can read more at Mother Jones Magazine."

Brenda Manghane-Washington

Now all I can say is......... Wow...... Really Brenda?

[LimitedRecourse]

All those "nut-jobs" who defend themselves when being atttacked by a younger, stronger and faster opponent? The same attacker who beat to the ground and then continued to pummel the victim (Zimmerman) while the victim was screaming for help? Crazy people.

[Tsavodiner]

One of the local TV stations broadcast an interview over the weekend while I was away.

A well-known, longtime neighborhood watch member said something like: "I don't think we should resort to BODILY HARM" [emphasis mine].

This is the SAME BUNCH that presented me once with a LIST of "suspicious" people they wanted "run out" of their neighborhood (most of them minorities, IMAGINE THAT!)

And it's also the SAME BUNCH from which I heard NOTHING either of the two times I wound up in the emergency room from trying to "do something" about their crime problem, or at promotion time when I needed a boost from somebody who actually benefited from what I'd done!

The moral of the story is this: Expect NONE of the credit, and ALL of the blame when something goes wrong with your "plan" to rid your neighborhood of crime!

[osrb]

In his version of events, he had turned around and was walking back to his SUV when Trayvon approached him from behind, the two exchanged words then Trayvon punched him in the nose, sending him to the ground, and began beating him.


One witnesses, who has since talked to local television news reporters, told police he saw Zimmerman on the ground with Trayvon on top, pounding him and was unequivocal that it was Zimmerman who was crying for help.


Orlando Sentinel


**********
Sounds like self defense to me. If this version is correct then Zimmerman was in the right protecting himself. A 17 yr old can be pretty strong and fast. In this case the only place age must taken into effect is that the 17 yr old did not have the control to walk away.

[Police Moderator]

Former NAACP leader accuses Sharpton and Jackson of ‘exploiting’ Trayvon Martin
03/26/2012
By Alex Pappas - The Daily Caller

Former NAACP leader C.L. Bryant is accusing Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton of “exploiting” the Trayvon Martin tragedy to “racially divide this country.”

“His family should be outraged at the fact that they’re using this child as the bait to inflame racial passions,” Rev. C.L. Bryant said in a Monday interview with The Daily Caller.

The conservative black pastor who was once the chapter president of the Garland, Texas NAACP called Jackson and Sharpton “race hustlers” and said they are “acting as though they are buzzards circling the carcass of this young boy.”

Jackson, for example, recently said Martin’s death shows how “blacks are under attack” and “targeting, arresting, convicting blacks and ultimately killing us is big business.”

Read more: daily caller

[Tsavodiner]

AAWWWWOOOHHHHH, MAH BBBAAAAABBBBYYYYYY!!!!

theurbantwist.com/2012/03/26/trayvon-martins-mother-sybrina-fulton-seeks-trademarks-for-i-am-trayvon-justice-for-travyon/

[Police Moderator]

Multiple suspensions paint complicated portrait of Trayvon Martin
By Frances Robles

SANFORD -- As thousands of people gathered here to demand an arrest in the Trayvon Martin case, a more complicated portrait began to emerge of a teenager whose problems at school ranged from getting spotted defacing lockers to getting caught with a marijuana baggie and women’s jewelry.

The Miami Gardens teen who has become a national symbol of racial injustice was suspended three times, and had a spotty school record that his family’s attorneys say is irrelevant to the facts that led up to his being gunned down on Feb. 26.

In October, a school police investigator said he saw Trayvon on the school surveillance camera in an unauthorized area “hiding and being suspicious.” Then he said he saw Trayvon mark up a door with “W.T.F” — an acronym for “what the f---.” The officer said he found Trayvon the next day and went through his book bag in search of the graffiti marker.

Instead the officer reported he found women’s jewelry and a screwdriver that he described as a “burglary tool,” according to a Miami-Dade Schools Police report obtained by The Miami Herald. Word of the incident came as the family’s lawyer acknowledged that the boy was suspended in February for getting caught with an empty bag with traces of marijuana, which he called “irrelevant” and an attempt to demonize a victim.

Read more here: miami herald

[Police Moderator]

Black churches call for justice for Trayvon Martin
Associated Press
Monday, March 26, 2012

Eatonville, Fla. -- African American community churches around the nation on Sunday amplified the cries for justice in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

One month ago today, Martin was shot while wearing a hooded sweatshirt as he walked home on a rainy night in a gated community in Sanford.

The neighborhood watch volunteer who shot him, 28-year-old George Zimmerman, is the son of a white father and Latino mother, and the demands to charge him in Martin's slaying have grown ever louder. He had called police to report the hooded figure as suspicious; Martin was carrying a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea, talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone.

In religious centers from Florida to Atlanta, New York and Chicago, messages from pulpits touched on a seemingly avoidable tragedy. Many preachers and their congregations wore hooded sweatshirts in Martin's memory.

Read more: sf gate

[Police Moderator]

Can We Trust the Cops’ New Account of Trayvon Martin’s Killing?
Not as long as they rely on leaks and unnamed witnesses.
By Emily Bazelon|Posted Monday, March 26, 2012

"With a single punch, Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who eventually shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old, then Trayvon climbed on top of George Zimmerman and slammed his head into the sidewalk several times, leaving him bloody and battered, authorities have revealed to the Orlando Sentinel."

Much of this “has been corroborated by witnesses,” the paper says. Also, “One eyewitness has said he saw the teenager on top of Zimmerman.”

This comes from a leak from the police to the Sentinel. Zimmerman, the 28-year-old who shot 17-year-old Martin to death in February and has not been arrested because he claimed self-defense, still hasn’t spoken publicly. Nor have the unnamed witnesses.

Which makes it very hard to know what to make of this new information. It’s entirely at odds with the account of Martin’s girlfriend, who says Martin was talking to her on his cell phone just before his death. The girlfriend says she heard Martin ask a man, “What are you following me for,” and that the man answered, “What are you doing here?” Then she heard Martin pushed to the ground. To point out the obvious, the police in Sanford, Fla., where the shooting took place, are the definition of embattled. Their chief resigned last week and the decision not to arrest Zimmerman—based on the belief that he reasonably feared bodily harm or for his life when he shot Martin—is a flashpoint for national outcry. No wonder someone in the department got fed up and leaked facts that support the cops’ decision-making.

Read more: slate.com

[JC]

which he called “irrelevant” and an attempt to demonize a victim.

Ironic. They're more then eager to demonize Zimmerman while innocent'izing Martin by releasing pictures of him as an 8yo kid.

Wonder why the family doesn't want to release recent pictures of him

[osrb]

Mar 27, 2012 10:35:35 GMT -5 JC said:

which he called “irrelevant” and an attempt to demonize a victim.

Ironic. They're more then eager to demonize Zimmerman while innocent'izing Martin by releasing pictures of him as an 8yo kid.

Wonder why the family doesn't want to release recent pictures of him

and this one too

[LimitedRecourse]

The girlfriend "....heard Martin pushed to the ground..." over the phone. How does she know that? What she could have heard was Zimmerman getting pushed to the ground. The girlfriend's story, heard through a cell phone, is sketchy, at best.

[Half-Tard]

sketchy, at best.

Poor police work is the main driver of this tragedy. This whole event is sketchy all three sides.

Skittles and hoodies are the real victims

[Tsavodiner]

Poor police work is the main driver of this tragedy.

Elaborate, please?

We work with what we're given; if there's NOT a case, prima facie, we can't MAKE one up!

We only get one bite of the apple; would you rather Zimmerman be charged with an unprovable case, a la O.J. Simpson, and get a free "double jeopardy" WALK?

Seems that would have been the "racist PO-lice" play if skulduggery was afoot. You know, kinda like Teddy Kennedy did after Chappaquiddick....

[Police Moderator]

Sanford cops wanted to charge Zimmerman in Trayvon Martin case
Sanford cops asked prosecutors to file charges in the Trayvon Martin case, but the Seminole County State Attorney’s office held off.
By Frances Robles

SANFORD -- Despite public claims that there wasn’t enough probable cause to make a criminal case in the Trayvon Martin killing, early in the investigation the Sanford Police Department requested an arrest warrant from the Seminole County State Attorney’s office, the special prosecutor in the case told The Miami Herald on Tuesday.

A Sanford Police incident report shows the case was categorized as “homicide/negligent manslaughter.”

The state attorney’s office held off pending further review, The Miami Herald has learned.

The Miami Gardens high school junior was killed Feb. 26 by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. The 28-year-old insurance underwriter and college student was never charged, triggering a nationwide crusade on the dead teen’s behalf.

Read more here: miami herald

[Police Moderator]

Elderly couple abandons home after address is posted on Twitter as George Zimmerman’s

A school-cafeteria lunch lady and her husband have received hate mail, unwanted visits from reporters and fearful inquiries from neighbors — all because their Sanford-area address is being disseminated on Twitter as belonging to Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman, her son said late Tuesday.

The woman, 70, who has a heart condition, and her husband, 72, have temporarily moved to a hotel to avoid the spotlight and possible danger, said son Chip Humble of Longwood.

The woman has another son named William George Zimmerman who lived with her in 1995 and still lives in Central Florida. He is no relation to George Zimmerman, 28, who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Feb. 26, sparking national outrage and international interest.

William Zimmerman isn't sure how his mother and stepfather's address became public. He said he used it to register a car, get a drivers license and vote when he lived there briefly after college.

Read more here: miami herald

[Half-Tard]

would you rather Zimmerman be charged

yes I would.

[JC]

911 calls
sanfordfl.gov/investigation/trayvon_martin.html

[Half-Tard]

Video released of him in custody that night. No bruises no blood no scratches, nothing. Waiting on ballistics. Why did they drug test the dead boy and not the shooter. Why did the Chief of Police step down..Becasue they botched this muther, heads are gonna roll............BOYCOTT RIVERBEND>>LITTLEFIELD HATES BLACKS!!

[Police Moderator]

Trayvon Martin Video Shows No Blood or Bruises on George Zimmerman
By MATT GUTMAN
March 28, 2012

A police surveillance video taken the night that Trayvon Martin was shot dead shows no blood or bruises on George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain who says he shot Martin after he was punched in the nose, knocked down and had his head slammed into the ground.

The surveillance video, which was obtained exclusively by ABC News, shows Zimmerman arriving in a police cruiser. As he exits the car, his hands are cuffed behind his back. Zimmerman is frisked and then led down a series of hallways, still cuffed.

Zimmerman, 28, is wearing a red and black fleece and his face and head are cleanly shaven. He appears well built, hardly the portly young man depicted in a 2005 mug shot that until a two days ago was the single image the media had of Zimmerman.

The initial police report noted that Zimmerman was bleeding from the back of the head and nose, and after medical attention it was decided that he was in good enough condition to travel in a police cruiser to the Sanford, Fla., police station for questioning.

Read more: abc news

[Police Moderator]

Spike Lee apologizes to elderly Florida couple
By Kerry Picket
March 28, 2012

Filmmaker Spike Lee apologized to David and Elaine McClain of Sanford, Florida on Wednesday night after re-tweeting their address out to his 250,000 followers last week. Mr. Lee thought the McClain's address belonged to George Zimmerman, the 28 year old man who fatally shot 17 year old Trayvon Martin last month.

In a tweet Mr. Lee wrote:

• "I Deeply Apologize To The McClain Family For Retweeting Their Address.It Was A Mistake.Please Leave The McClain's In Peace.Justice In Court."

The McClains were forced to flee their home and stay at a local Sanford hotel after their address was tweeted out to hundreds of thousands of twitter followers.

Read more: washington times

[JC]

Mar 29, 2012 2:55:21 GMT -5 Police Moderator said:

Spike Lee apologizes to elderly Florida couple
By Kerry Picket
March 28, 2012

Filmmaker Spike Lee apologized to David and Elaine McClain of Sanford, Florida on Wednesday night after re-tweeting their address out to his 250,000 followers last week. Mr. Lee thought the McClain's address belonged to George Zimmerman, the 28 year old man who fatally shot 17 year old Trayvon Martin last month.

In a tweet Mr. Lee wrote:

• "I Deeply Apologize To The McClain Family For Retweeting Their Address.It Was A Mistake.Please Leave The McClain's In Peace.Justice In Court."

The McClains were forced to flee their home and stay at a local Sanford hotel after their address was tweeted out to hundreds of thousands of twitter followers.

Read more: washington times

This case aside, I deary hope this innocent family sues and are awarded millions fir their trouble...

[Police Moderator]

For Skittles, Death Brings Both Profit and Risk
David Goldman/Associated Press

Skittles are the candy of the moment.

Rashaun Collins, who owns the Discreetly Greek T-shirt company in Minnesota, slips a pack into every order he ships.

At Spelman College, the historically black women’s liberal arts school in Atlanta, the student government is buying Skittles in bulk and reselling them for 50 cents a bag to raise money for the family of Trayvon Martin, the teenager who was shot and killed by a crime watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla., last month carrying only a packet of the candy and a bottle of iced tea.

The candy has been piled into makeshift memorials, crammed into the pockets of thousands of people who have shown up at rallies in his name and sent to the Sanford Police Department to protest the lack of an arrest in the case.

Like the hoodie sweatshirt he was wearing, the candy has been transformed into a cultural icon, a symbol of racial injustice that underscores Trayvon’s youth and the circumstances surrounding his death. But in the offices of the company that makes Skittles, Wrigley, and its parent company, Mars, Skittles’ new level of fame has quickly become a kind of marketing crisis that is threatening to hurt the company even as sales improve.

Read more: ny times

[JC]

Seems his friends robbed a Walgreens

ironicsurrealism.com/2012/03/28/video-miami-students-flash-mob-and-rob-walgreens-on-way-to-trayvon-martin-protest/



Black Panthers puts 10k bounty on Zimmerman's head

"white America", he says. I thought Zimmerman was Hispanic/white mixed.
Would this "bounty" have been made had the shooter been all Hispanic?
I'm guessing NOT since no bounty was out on the head of this black teen's head that murdered two white men:
www.cnn.com/2012/03/28/justice/florida-tourists-murder-trial/index.html?hpt=hp_t3
Hypocritical?


Zimmerman's black (all black) friend defends him



Yeah, seems like a "racist murder" to me, too

[Police Moderator]

Cook: I am not Trayvon Martin
By David Cook

Just listen. To a few sentences. Just … listen.

“It’s a whole different kind of universe for white folks as for black folks,” said Maxine Cousins. “It’s a whole different kind of reality with the police.”

It was Monday night, and Cousins, whose son died in police custody in a Chattanooga jail 30 years ago, was sitting on a Miller Park bench, in the middle of one of the largest rallies I’ve ever seen in Chattanooga. Marvin Gaye is singing from the loudspeakers.

“Our own son got stopped over on Lone Oak,” said Cousins. “He was 17. They threw him up against the car.”

Fifteen feet away sat Tyisha Brown and Shana Sanders, both 26.

“A situation like this could affect anyone,” said Brown. “The big issue here is about justice. How could you shoot someone and not serve a day in jail?”

Read more: times free press