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Sanford Police Prepare for Zimmerman Riots
Townhall.com ^ | July 10, 2013 | Ben Shapiro

Posted on 07/10/2013 11:02:20 AM PDT by Kaslin

On Monday, the Broward County Sheriff's Office in Florida released a public service announcement attempting to convince young people not to riot in case George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, was acquitted of second-degree murder. That likelihood remains high, thanks to the fact that the prosecution itself was weak and pushed forward by a breathless media desperate for a racial hot point to drive ratings.

The sheriff's office announced that it was "working closely with the Sanford Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies" on a "response plan in anticipation of the verdict." Sheriff Scott Israel appeared in a video alongside a rapping duet of two teenagers, one a Hispanic female and another a black male, who tell the public, "Raise your voice, and not your hands! We need to stand together as one, no cuffs, no guns. ... I know your patience will be tested, but law enforcement has your back!"

Despite the passions elicited in both the black community and the white community over Zimmerman, one fact remains clear: Americans are far more concerned with the possibility of a minority riot over Zimmerman's acquittal than they are with the possibility of a white riot over Zimmerman's conviction. That's not unreasonable. Al Sharpton of MSNBC, among others, has threatened civil disobedience in Sanford before, and Americans still remember the Crown Heights riots of 1991, the Los Angeles riots of 1992, the St. Petersburg riots of 1996, the Cincinnati riots of 2001 and the Oakland riots of 2009, among others.

Why, exactly, are Americans so seemingly complacent about the notion of another riot over a case about a Hispanic man shooting a black teenager, presumably in self-defense? It's thanks to a media that continues to maintain the fiction that every case allegedly involving a non-black suspect and a black victim is a test case for American racism. The media pretended that the case against George Zimmerman was unshakeable; it simply wasn't. There wasn't just reasonable doubt about whether Zimmerman engaged in self-defense when he shot Martin, there was virtually zero countervailing credible evidence to the proposition that he shot Martin in self-defense. Furthermore, there was literally zero evidence for the proposition that the shooting was racially motivated, or that the police didn't initially arrest Zimmerman thanks to their institutional racism.

Yet the story has played out in the media as a controversial example of America's continuing love affair with racism. The media's narrative went like this: white man shoots black man after racially profiling him, and racist local officers let him off the hook. That's a lie, but it's become widely accepted in the black community, where 72 percent of blacks polled thought that Zimmerman was definitely or probably guilty (compared with just 32 percent of nonblack Americans), and 73 percent thought he would have been arrested initially if he had shot a white person (compared with 35 percent of nonblack Americans).

Sadly, an incredible number of blacks feel that the system is biased against them: While most white people don't believe that the criminal justice system is racist (49 percent believe it is), a whopping 84 percent of blacks in America believe it is.

And so each case with racial overtones becomes another reminder to blacks that the system is out to get them, particularly when largely white media commentators wrongly paint a case as race-based. This means that anytime the media labels a case race-based, Americans are forced to accept the ugly calculus that acquittal, while proper, may result in riots based on perceived institutional wrongs.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: blackkk; florida; georgezimmerman; police; raceriots; riots; sanfordpolice; trayvonmartin; trial; verdictriotplans; zimmermantrial
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To: Salgak

Most of us are not looking forward to such.


61 posted on 07/10/2013 12:39:16 PM PDT by Bigg Red (Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved! -Ps80)
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To: Kaslin

62 posted on 07/10/2013 12:43:45 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Who could have guessed that one day pro wrestling would be less fake than mainstream journalism?)
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To: gwjack

I’m not sure how long a person has to have their head pounded in the pavement to make a decision about whether your life is in danger. Waiting until you’re unconscious or in a coma would be a little late.


63 posted on 07/10/2013 12:44:16 PM PDT by GOPPachyderm
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To: Kaslin

Yes, the judge would not allow the defense created animation to be used. The jury did see a re-enactment video of what happened when Zimmerman walked the police through the circumstances (before George had attorneys).


64 posted on 07/10/2013 12:45:47 PM PDT by GOPPachyderm
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To: ScottinVA
Zimmerman was absolutely wrong in following him for any length of time longer than to place the call to the dispatcher.

Would you mind showing me where that law is written? I haven't been able to find it.

65 posted on 07/10/2013 12:45:57 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Who could have guessed that one day pro wrestling would be less fake than mainstream journalism?)
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To: GOPPachyderm

Exactly! That is why it is what GZ’s thoughts were at the time that his head was being used as a punching bag, and a bouncy ball. I’m guessing that injuries on the back of his head were from TM violently pushing his head down quickly as he struggled to choke and smother GZ.

Myself, I would have a hair trigger (pardon the pun). I’m older than GZ, and in better condition, but any perp gets one warning, and if no retreat (by me or the perp), I would act. My opinion for myself is if I’m going to be rolled, I will get in a few shots (from my hands, feet, or firearms). Hopefully I will never be in that situation. But, I have thought through my limits, and am always aware of surroundings.


66 posted on 07/10/2013 1:08:55 PM PDT by gwjack (May God give America His richest blessings.)
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To: Kaslin

The media does all it can to stir up resentment against Christians/normals/men/Whites. It loves to divide people and have them arguing. Then it rushes in to film the arguing.

The media would love to have riots. In their minds, it would be the righteous uprising of an oppressed, downtrodden underclass against evil oppressors.


67 posted on 07/10/2013 1:09:37 PM PDT by I want the USA back (If I Pi$$ed off just one liberal today my mission has been accomplished.)
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To: Kaslin

The point I just don’t get...

If you are maliciously profiling and trailing black kids in the neighbor with the hopes of engaging and possibility shooting one...why would you bother calling 911?


68 posted on 07/10/2013 1:20:15 PM PDT by JenB987 (I'm still an American and 'til they take that away from me there's no day ruined. - El Rushbo)
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To: Sequoyah101

“Who do you call when a cop violates your civil rights or the law? “

You form a Vigilance committee.


69 posted on 07/10/2013 1:21:13 PM PDT by TalBlack (Evil doesn't have a day job.)
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To: JenB987

Excellent point, which shows he did not profile black kids


70 posted on 07/10/2013 1:26:51 PM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Kaslin
Sanford Police Prepare for Zimmerman Riots

And if there aren't any, community organizers at the DOJ will make sure to start some.

71 posted on 07/10/2013 1:28:36 PM PDT by Albion Wilde ("Remember... the first revolutionary was Satan."--Russian Orthodox Archpriest Dmitry Smirnov)
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To: Kaslin

“Sanford Police Prepare for Zimmerman Riots”
No, Zimmerman is not going to riot.


72 posted on 07/10/2013 1:40:29 PM PDT by I want the USA back (If I Pi$$ed off just one liberal today my mission has been accomplished.)
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To: AppyPappy

it most certainly is NOT...it’s meant to mean policy is averse to it but i aint there and if it take tailin the perp to prevent him from scaring the hell out of a 91 yr old or harming her ...best tail him and scare him out BEFORE HE GETS THE CHANCE...clear 2 YOU NOW? EVERY HEAR OF THE TRUE DESCRIPTION OF THESE THINGS? ‘THE COPS THERE IN MINUTES WHEN SECONDS COUNT’?
THIS ALL MAKING SENSE TO YOU NOW?....ESPECIALLY IN THE LIGHT OF THE FACT THAT THE CONDO WAS BURGLARIZED 3 X RECENTLY...
WHATS YOUR SOLUTION? JUST LAY IN WAIT AND LET MAYEM AND MURDER TAKE IT’S COURSE? IM SURE THE LITTLE OLD LADY THIS HERO PROTECTED WOULD DISAGREE WITH YOU IF THAT IS WHAT YOU THINK....HUH?


73 posted on 07/10/2013 2:26:13 PM PDT by jimsin
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To: Bigg Red

Oh, not looking forward to it. But handguns vs. scope-sighted rifles wielded by marksmen-hunters ???

Fish in a barrel. . .


74 posted on 07/10/2013 2:40:32 PM PDT by Salgak (http://catalogoftehburningstoopid.blogspot.com 100% all-natural snark !)
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To: jimsin

WHY DO YOU PEOPLE CONTINUE TO USE MARTIN’S FIRST NAME AND GEORGE’S LAST NAME ! ! ! ! ! ! !


75 posted on 07/10/2013 2:40:57 PM PDT by bicyclerepair (Inbred, pedophile-worshipping, misogynists (mozlums) offend me.)
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To: bicyclerepair
WHY DO YOU PEOPLE CONTINUE TO USE MARTIN’S FIRST NAME AND GEORGE’S LAST NAME ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Probably because each is, respectively, the more unusual of the names.
76 posted on 07/10/2013 2:48:13 PM PDT by aruanan
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