Posted on 03/25/2012 3:33:02 PM PDT by SaveOurRepublicFromTyranny
This news goes largely unreported, as race-hustling vultures, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, swoop onto the scene to exploit the tragic shooting for personal publicity and political gain, appointing themselves as judge and jury in the Trayvon Martin shooting case. President Obama is promoting a race war by inferring that Martin was practically his own son: "If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon." He might as well as said, "When you kill Trayvon, you've killed my own son. If you support me, retaliate!"
(Excerpt) Read more at myfreedompost.com ...
Who says he doesn’t? The only thing we know are that Zimmerman doesn’t know where Martin is, and that Martin thinks he’s lost Zimmerman. That doesn’t mean Martin doesn’t know where Zimmerman is.
Yes, many people are believing the man and what he said, not to mention the known witness statements, and are believing what he said was the truth. That makes sense as the facts that are known support his innocence.
On the flip side, you and others are posting speculation that paint him in a bad light, one way or another, and that pure speculation is not backed up by any known facts. That is uncalled for, IMO. Emotions get the better of some people and this case has been thrust upon Americans in a purely emotional manner by very familiar people. The reasons behind this push vary, but the story is told in different ways by different people for different reasons, none of them good, IMO.
Your posts have no basis in fact outside of pure speculation, and I’m posting in response to point that out. More facts may come out later that put Mr. Zimmerman in a bad light and could possibly cost him his freedom, and if he deserves it, so be it. My point is, at this time, from what we know, he deserves the benefit of the doubt and not wild speculation based upon emotions that have no basis in fact.
To each their own. Pulling a gun on someone is an act of aggression, and I will respond in a similar fashion. Cowering in a ball does not guarantee you safety either, its a bad situation regardless.
What's wrong with the black community? They allow dozens of young black folks getting killed every weekend. Why is this killing so special.
The police DID investigate it. They're prohibited by law from making an arrest on somebody that shot somebody in self defense. The police say the evidence they had was consistent with that determination of self defense. Since there isn't some magical time machine available to go back and make a video of what happened, what are you suggesting that the police should have done?
I’m not posting speculation as much as I’m trying to remind you that there are NO witnesses for the time frame between Zimmerman exiting the vehicle and the witness seeing Martin punching him. Zimmerman is the only person relaying information in between those two events, Martin is dead. If I’m Martin’s parents, damn right I want a more thorough investigation. Martin was innocent and minding his own business and Zimmerman threw out baseless accusations and tried to pursue, now the kid is dead. One last time, not saying that the facts aren’t as described, simply that no one (cops, you or I) knows other then Zimmerman.
NO and the Admin Mods have requested pictures of Trayvon Martin have a live link to the original source, not an image host service.
Pulling a gun on somebody after they've got you down on the ground and are punching you in the face for a minute is an act of selfdefense. Logic points to that being the more likely reality than that Martin decided to physically tangle with somebody that already had a gun drawn.
Why do you want to make things up? If you'd read the police report, you'd see that he was transported to the police department station. NOT released at the scene.
You don’t know if the gun was brandished at that point or not and you do not know if Martin became physically aggressive first. No witness verified what happened before Martin being seen punching Zimmerman, you’re going solely on Zimmerman’s word. Logic does not play into this, you’re speculating. And Zimmerman scaring the hell out of the kid because he was a vigilante, legal or not, was way out of line and contributed to the tense situation. I repeat, I am not saying things did not happen this way. The only thing I would say is that if a 17 year old child was shot dead after walking down the street to the convenience store, I can empathize with the parents wanting a thorough investigation. No one knows and what you believe was likely to happen does not imply facts.
Ignore that youre calling Zimmerman’s recollection of events factual (have repeatedly) and ignore that the man just may have an agenda. Ignore that he harrassed and scared a 17 year old kid, based not on a crime committed, but because the kid was black. Ignore that Martin’s family has every right to demand a thorough investigation. But you definitely are quick to tell me I’m “making things up” when I state he was released at the scene instead of after questioning, which was an error on me. So I accept that, can you accept that no one knows what happened and Zimmerman acted improperly (even if legal).
On THAT point I can completely agree with you.
In this country though, we don't leave it up to the relatives of a homicide victim to determine whether a thorough investigation was completed, based on whether or not they are happy with the outcome of that investigation. I haven't seen any indication that any new evidence has come out that would point to the police making an error in the decision they made at that time, and with the amount of publicity this case had received, I feel pretty confident that if there WAS any contradictory evidence we'd be hearing about it.
Not sure what time frame you're referring to, but Zimmerman was not let go from the scene. He was handcuffed and taken to the police station. His clothing and his weapon were taken into evidence, and are now in evidence.
-- No one (not you, I or the police) know what happened in that time frame or who attacked who first. The only witness is Zimmerman and a kid that is dead. --
We have Zimmerman on tape, and also have neighbors' recorded calls. There are also a reasonable set of inferences about behavior that can be drawn. Every single piece of evidence and inference points away from Zimmerman initiating a physical confrontation.
-- I also know the kid was innocent of any wrong doing. --
That statement contradicts your "No one (not you, I or the police) know what happened in that time frame or who attacked who first."
-- ... cases like this should NEVER be an open and shut as the police made it. --
The evidence speaks for itself. If the case is clear cut, it's clear cut. If it's not, it's not.
I have to get to work, its been fun. My point in all of this has been no one knows. No one will ever know what happened in that time frame. No evidence is going to come out barring a video tape ala Rodney King. The only thing we will ever have to go on about who swung at who first, when the weapon was drawn, etc is Zimmerman’s statement. This was a preventable situation had Zimmerman not racially profiled and then exited his car to follow an innocent 17 year old child. I feel bad for Zimmerman if it was in self defense and he genuinely acted in good faith, but he erred in judgment and a kid is dead as a result. This is a tragedy from multiple angles. Hope you have a good night.
You have neighbors reporting noise, not visual reenactments of the events. No one will ever know if Martin saw the gun prior to the physical altercation as there is no way of knowing. The kid was innocent of wrong doing at the point where Zimmerman was yelling accusations and got out of the vehicle to go after him, and Zimmerman was guilty of being a vigilante in the way he handled things. Pursuit (legal or not) is not the right course of action and how could the kid not feel threatened.
I'll say that nobody knows 100% of what happened that night. Since they already investigated the matter, I'd also say though that the police know a heck of a lot more about what happened than anybody else outside of Zimmerman. They investigated the shooting and decided that the evidence apparently backed up the version that Zimmerman gave them. Absent any evidence (I repeat, ANY evidence) to make me doubt their competence, I'll believe they made the right call. Whether Martin's parents, or the left, or a percentage of the black population want to make this a political issue is not relevant.
and Zimmerman acted improperly (even if legal).
Can't go along with you there. He was doing what was expected of him in letting the police know about what he considered suspicious activity, in accordance with training received from the police at the neighborhood watch training sessions. The police didn't specifically tell him NOT to follow Martin. They didn't tell him they didn't WANT him to follow Martin. They said they didn't NEED him to do it. With Zimmerman being the one on the scene, having to make the decisions, I'm not going to say that he acted improperly, solely based on how tragic the consequences turned out to be. I wasn't there, so I'm not in a position to judge him guilty of "acting improperly".
Ummm cause he thought he was potentially criminal? Because there had been numerous burglaries and break-ins in the neighborhood. Because the crime rate of young black males is extremely high.
There is the error. He did not act in accordance with the training he received in the Neighborhood Watch program. He got out of the vehicle and pursued, that is the crucial and deadly error. That program is explicit about not pursuing a suspect, that was all on Zimmerman. If he avoids that crucial act, we aren’t discussing this.
If Zimmerman's version of events conflicts with with any eyewitness testimony, as well as any other evidence, such as phone transcripts, etc., then he probably will get charges filed against him.
But if there is insufficient evidence to contradict Zimmerman's statements, he'll get the benefit of the doubt, as jury convictions only accrue when there is NO reasonable doubt.
It would appear that from the actual evidence available at the time, that some legal authorities concluded that no charges were to be filed. If negative evidence develps pursuant to further investigation, I'm sure that will change.
As opposed to a special investigator politically issuing an indictment, I think that the most legitimate way to proceed would be to impanel a grand jury, and let the chips fall where they may.
Wrong, he was acting as a member of the Neighborhood Watch and they explicitly state NEVER to pursue. While not explicitly illegal, it was stupid and everything that followed could have been avoided. It heightened tensions for him, and it probably scared the kid to death. He stays in the car, we aren’t discussing this.
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