Free Republic

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradicts every thing you said today.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson And so I will. Not so long ago, right-wing bloggers blasted me for being a liberal sellout for my fierce defense of Trayvon Martin. During George Zimmerman’s trial, my email inbox...

Joe Scarborough is mad as hell and not etc. “Someone needs to tell me why Michael Brown has been chosen as the face of black oppression,” Scarborough said, arguing the left’s martyrdom of Brown mirrored the right’s lionization of George Zimmerman. “There are so many great people to embrace as heroes in the black community, that deciding you’re going to embrace a guy who knocked over a convenience store and then according to a Grand Jury testimony acted in ways that would get my children shot? …That’s your hero? That’s the reason you want to burn down black businesses?…Really? This...

All day people gathered, waiting, daring to hope, that maybe this time black lives would matter. Minutes passed. Then hours. And, as darkness descended on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, the now enormous crowd continued to wait patiently -- trying its best to remain optimistic. Perhaps, despite so many decades of history, black people really could find justice in the American legal system. That such a faith still flickered was, itself, remarkable. Everyone standing outside of the Ferguson police station awaiting news on whether the grand jury would indict police officer Darren Wilson well remembered what happened on February 26,...

Taaffe to testify to Grand Jury that he couldn’t be sure “racist call” was from Zimmerman.Earlier this month we posted news that Frank Taafe, a self-proclaimed “friend” of George Zimmerman, was going to testify before a Grand Jury that he now believed Zimmerman had a racist motivation for the shooting of Trayvon Martin. This news came just days before the hotly contested November 4 election in which the Democrats took the same kind of beating that Trayvon delivered to Zimmerman, but without the benefit of being armed. (See: Key Witness for Zimmerman Grand Jury Changes Story.) Taaffe’s Grand Jury appearance,...

A federal grand jury met today in Orlando to hear testimony about whether George Zimmerman violated Trayvon Martin’s civil rights when he shot and killed the 17-year-old nearly three years ago in Sanford, Florida. The timing here is, to say the least, suspicious. A day after an Oct. 30 Orlando Sentinel article first reported the impending session, the Washington Post conceded that “Justice Department investigators have all but concluded they do not have a strong enough case to bring civil rights charges against Darren Wilson.” To charge Wilson gratuitously would enrage the nation’s police. The luckless Zimmerman has no such...

The Orlando Sentinel newspaper is reporting that it appears as if no actual witnesses showed up for today’s Federal Grand Jury convened to determine if civil rights charges should be brought against George Zimmerman for his self-defense shooting of Trayvon Martin. The DOJ had subpoenaed Frank Taaffe, a self-declared “friend” of Zimmerman’s, to testify before the Grand Jury. In the days following the shooting Taaffe told FBI investigators that based on phone discussions with Zimmerman he did not believe there was a racial motive for the shooting.

Conservative Black Activists Comment on Washington Post Report that Federal Civil Rights Charges Will Not Be Filed Against Darren Wilson in Death of Michael Brown. Washington, DC - Activists with the Project 21 black leadership network say a new Washington Post report that the Eric Holder-led Department of Justice will not charge Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson with federal civil rights charges in the shooting death of Michael Brown is evidence that the time has come for healing. “Protestors called for the Eric Holder-led Justice Department to investigate this case. It seems to have concluded its investigation. What more is...

In May 2012 FBI interview Taaffe denied any talk of race with Zimmerman.We wrote yesterday about the “October Surprise/Get Out the Vote” announcement by a flailing Obama administration that the Department of Justice will be holding a Grand Jury hearing next Wednesday regarding possible federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman. The only named witness for Wednesday’s hearing is Frank Taaffe, a self-declared “friend” for George Zimmerman. Earlier this year Taaffe suddenly announced that he believed Zimmerman had a racial, not merely self-defense, motive in killing Trayvon Martin. This would be more than two years after the shooting occurred. One...

ORLANDO, Fla. - A federal grand jury is expected to hear testimony Wednesday surrounding the George Zimmerman case. The hearing is related to whether Zimmerman violated Trayvon Martin's civil rights when he shot and killed the unarmed teen in Sanford in 2012. At least one witness has been subpoenaed to testify. That man is believed to be Zimmerman's former neighbor, Frank Taaffe....

The Orlando Sentinel newspaper today reported that the Department of Justice has assembled a Federal Grand jury to meet next week to hear testimony about whether George Zimmerman violated Trayvon Martin’s civil rights on the night that Zimmerman ultimately killed Martin in self-defense. It was only last month that the Washington Post reported that unidentified Federal law enforcement officials thought it very unlikely that federal charges would be brought against Zimmerman, due to insufficient evidence. Indeed, despite having dozens of FBI agents interview scores of people regarding Zimmerman’s shooting of Martin, not even a smidgen of racism was uncovered in...

A federal grand jury will meet in downtown Orlando Wednesday to hear testimony about whether Trayvon Martin's civil rights were violated when Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman shot him in the chest, according to court paperwork.. A U.S. Department of Justice attorney from Washington, D.C., Mark Blumberg, has issued at least one subpoena for Wednesday in the case. Blumberg would not comment on the grand jury session, but the federal panel is to meet at 9 a.m. at the federal courts building on Central Avenue in downtown Orlando to hear evidence in the case. It's not clear how many witnesses...

A billboard advertising a line of bulletproof vests for young boys has appeared near the Florida capital in Tallahassee. Chilling, controversial and undeniably eye-catching, the ad is part of the “Vest or Vote” campaign mounted by The Dream Defenders. The Florida-based social justice organization is rallying residents to vote in Florida’s midterm election Nov. 4. According to a report on Jacksonville’s CBS 47 Action News, the group hopes to elect candidates who will repeal the state's controversial stand-your-ground law. According to The BRPR Group, the Miami-based advertising agency behind the campaign, the billboard was modeled after youth clothing ads like...

In a week that saw the capital city remove a mural that paid tribute to Ferguson, Mo. teenager Michael Brown, who was gunned down by a police officer while unarmed, a forum will be held to discuss the 18-year-old’s last words, in addition to other murder victims. Playing off the Seven Last Words of Jesus, the Shiloh Baptist Church will hold an event Friday to dissect the last words of seven murder victims, including Brown, Amadou Diallo, Shantel Davis, Jordan Davis, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and Renisha McBride. Preachers assigned to discussing each victim’s last words, include Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson...

George Zimmerman may already be destitute and homeless due to the shooting of Trayvon Martin, a Federal Justice Department investigation into whether or not Zimmerman committed civil rights violations has the potential to put him behind bars. In a related report by The Inquisitr, Robert Zimmerman is planning a Zimmerman family reality TV show and a line of self-defense products called Brand Z. A producer named Beth Marshall is working on a series of plays as a tribute to Trayvon Martin, and she claims Martin would be still be alive today if he was white like her own son. The...

We want to believe in justice for all, but when guns are in white privileged hands, blind justice remains impossible to expect.“I think it’s a vindication for justice.” Angela Corey said that. This is the same Angela Corey whose office failed, not so long ago, to secure a guilty verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman for the murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. But there was the Florida state attorney on Wednesday afternoon, having secured a guilty verdict – delivered by a mostly white-male jury in about five hours – that condemned Michael Dunn to a minimum of 25 years...

Few people thought they would, right? Holder’s teased friendly audiences from time to time with vague promises that “justice” would be done but even he’s been at pains to note that civil-rights cases are hard to win. I think that, ever since the Rodney King trials, the public has a hazy sense that if a state prosecutor can’t get a conviction in a racially charged case that’s gotten national attention, the feds will swoop in and file their own charges as a fallback option. It’s not a matter of law, it’s a matter of politics: If people are sufficiently...

The Justice Department is not expected to bring civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, according to three law enforcement officials, despite allegations that the killing was racially motivated. The federal investigation of Zimmerman was opened two years ago by the department’s civil rights division, but officials said there is insufficient evidence to bring federal charges. The investigation technically remains open, but it is all but certain the department will close it. …

an in-depth interview in GQ, George Zimmerman's brother discloses that his family wanted to "rebrand" the former Neighborhood Watch volunteer after his murder acquittal and make him the star of a reality TV show. "I learned a lot from watching 'Keeping up with the Kardashians,' " Robert Zimmerman Jr. told GQ in a story in its October editions. George Zimmerman, 30, would not take part in the interview unless he was offered a week's stay in a luxury hotel, something the magazine would not do, it reported. Still, the magazine reported some fascinating details about his pre- and post-trial life...

In order to secure an interview with George Zimmerman, CNN reportedly offered to put up Zimmerman and his brother, Robert, at the Ritz-Carlton for three nights and pay for “everything” else they needed. At the end of their stay, CNN was given a $3,600 tab that included a large room service bill, spa treatments and “swag” from the gift shop, according to GQ. When the bill was sent to a CNN producer, he reportedly told Robert Zimmerman, “You and your brother are evil!” More from the GQ profile on the Zimmermans: The Zimmermans seized on their brief stint of subsidized...

Mayor Kevin Johnson will convene a two-day forum of the U.S. Conference of Mayors this weekend in Sacramento that will include a session discussing the response to the violence in Ferguson, Mo. The attorney representing the family of Michael Brown, the young man killed by police in Ferguson in August, will be part of the panel discussion. Attorney Benjamin Crump also represents the family of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed teenager shot in 2012 by George Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla....