Free Republic

As much of the political world shifts its attention towards the South Carolina primary, MSNBCs Steve Kornacki checked in this morning with Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), the states former governor. Sanford noted he’d heard from a lot of locals that supporting Donald Trump would help send a message to Washington. The Trump candidacy, the congressman added, has tapped into Republicans frustrations. Sanford’s troubles were understandable. There were plenty of Republicans who effectively, if not literally, ruled out Trump as a possibility in 2015, when they still assumed the New York developer’s support would collapse. But many of those same GOP...

DELTONA -- Attention nationwide has been turned to immigration policies after a man who had previously been deported five times, was charged with murdering a young woman in San Francisco, a so-called "immigration sanctuary city." Now, leaders in two local cities in Central Florida said they have been mislabeled as immigration sanctuaries, which in turn is worrying residents. "We're kind of shocked that we would be placed on the list. We had no idea we were on that list," said Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett. "We received several phone calls Tuesday from residents. They were concerned," said Lee Lopez, the spokesperson...

In an appearance on CNN’s “New Day” on Thursday, Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC), the congressman who represents Charleston, SC, reacted to last night’s mass shooting at the Charleston’s historic Emanuel AME Church that resulted in nine dead. Sanford said it was uncharacteristic of city of Charleston and the state of South Carolina, calling it an outlier.

Acquiring any object for our museum involves rigorous consultation with a team of museum historians and curators. Any items connected to the Trayvon Martin case – should they even become available – would have to go through that lengthy process." Curators can't plan for specific evidence from the case to be included yet because it was all transported to the FBI for the U.S. Department of Justice's investigation into whether Zimmerman violated Trayvon's civil rights. "Trayvon will probably be a bigger history maker than the men before him, because President Obama addressed the situation," said Francis Oliver, curator of the...

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. (WFTV) -- A group of Trayvon Martin supporters walked from Jacksonville to Sanford, where they dedicated a memorial for the teen at a museum late Saturday afternoon. The demonstrators arrived in Sanford late Friday, ending what they called the "Walk for Dignity," which started in Jacksonville. The group held a community forum Saturday afternoon, followed by a dedication of the Trayvon Martin memorial at the Goldsboro Westside Historical Museum. "The most important reason why we're here, we want a system that treats us equally," marcher Estefania Galvis said. The group's six-day walk from Jacksonville to Sanford...

SANFORD – Four of the five Sanford police officers most closely involved in the Trayvon Martin homicide investigation are no longer working the same job. Chris Serino, the lead detective, transferred voluntarily to road patrol in July. It was not a demotion and he took no pay cut, according to an agency spokesman. Serino took the stand Monday. His boss, Sgt. Randy Smith, was promoted to lieutenant two months after the shooting and retired in January. Capt. Robert O'Connor, who oversaw this and other major crime investigations, resigned in February and now works as an investigator with the State Attorney's...

This account was found on a site devoted to survival in times when societal order has broken down.  It offers some interesting background to the Martin/Zimmerman confrontation.   Response to the Zimmerman trial verdict was mixed at the site.   This was penned by "Mac":  I know the area where Zimmerman was forced to kill to survive. I walked away from a very lucrative service contract in Sanford, Florida just two weeks before the incident happened because of the people that live there. One of the properties I was assigned work on was just around the corner from where it...

George Zimmerman’s defense team released a statement Friday shortly after President Obama’s remarks in a press conference. “Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago,” Obama said, and urged the nation to have a conversation about race. Zimmerman’s legal team promptly responded.

SANFORD, Fla. — Federal investigators want the public's help as they try to decide whether George Zimmerman violated Trayvon Martin's civil rights, but Channel 9 learned Sanford's mayor has a big problem with how the feds are collecting tips. The email address justice officials created reads Sanford.Florida@USDOJ.gov. Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett believes that email address indirectly blames the entire city for what happened to Martin, despite all their work to get rid of the stigma. A jury on Saturday acquitted Zimmerman of second-degree murder charges in Martin's shooting death. Channel 9's Karla Ray got a copy of the letter Triplett...

SANFORD, Fla. — Authorities said Sanford's city manager Norton Bonaparte's son, also named Norton Bonaparte, was arrested overnight in Seminole County on domestic violence against his mother. According the arrest report, Bonaparte barged into his parent's home and got into an argument with his mother, who called police. "My husband is working on changing the locks right now," the woman told 911 dispatchers. "I have his home address and I've asked him repeatedly to leave my house." According to the report, Bonaparte's mother felt he was angry enough to hurt her, and at one point she thought he said, "I...

<p>The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday afternoon appealed to civil rights groups and community leaders, nationally and in Sanford, for help investigating whether a federal criminal case might be brought against George Zimmerman for the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, one advocate said.</p>

In a way, part of the outrage had always been about public space: Trayvon Martin, 17, carrying a can of iced tea and a bag of Skittles, was walking home when he was shot dead after a struggle with a neighborhood watch volunteer who had viewed him as suspicious.

Just a question: I've been following the case pretty well, I think, and part of the back story was there were a lot of burglaries in Zimmerman's community before the incident occurred. It was also reported that in each case, the perp was black (or at least suspected to be). So here's my politically incorrect question that I hope someone has an answer... ... how many burglaries have their been in that community since the death of Young Mr. Martin?

Mark O’Mara and Don West sat down with GMA to talk about what has happened since the Zimmerman case, including potential federal and civil lawsuits being brought against George Zimmerman. While they don’t see anything becoming much from a federal or civil lawsuit, they do think that Zimmerman has a case of his own against the Florida prosecution for the way they handled the case that might yield ‘compensation’. Watch:

It wasn’t about Trayvon. It was about Zimmerman. Specifically, it was about Zimmerman’s skin. It was white. That’s what caused the upset, that’s what drove the charges, that’s what brought the trial. As the president – the same president who conjectured that his own son would have looked like Trayvon – urges us to calm and reflection, we should calmly reflect upon what made this incident unique. Sadly, it was not the shooting death of a young black man. There is nothing unique about the shooting death of a young black man. That tragedy plays out with predictable regularity as...

SANFORD, Fla. - Minutes after George Zimmerman was found not guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin, police surrounded the community where the unarmed teen was shot and killed. Police swarmed the Retreat at Twin Lakes, a gated community in Sanford, as a precaution following the verdict, which was delivered late Saturday after the jury deliberated for nearly 15 hours. "There is no party in this case who wants to see any violence," Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said immediately after jurors began deliberating. "We have an expectation upon this announcement that our community will continue to...

SANFORD, Fla. —What happens in the case of a "hung jury" in the George Zimmerman murder trial? If the jury tells the judge it can't make a unanimous decision, the judge will read an Allen Charge – a strongly worded letter encouraging deadlocked jurors to continue deliberations until they reach a verdict.

I didn't see a thread to follow and discuss the pending verdict. I have been praying fervently for George, his family and this jury. I pray he is exonerated completely as this wholely affects ALL of us. This case is about our ability to protect ourselves and it is in jeopardy.

  

Questions raised about attacks that already are happening Al [Sharpton] and Jesse [Jackson] may worry that the acquittal of George Zimmerman will usher in a new era of white-on-black violence in America. After all, the local CBS affiliate is reporting that police officers already are training for violence. “There has been some talk among the officers that we believe that this training has to do with the fact that there might be some type of civil unrest, but we are hoping that that doesn’t happen,” said Javier Ortiz with the Fraternal Order of Police. The affiliate also said in Broward...