via moonbattery.com
Posted on 03/25/2012 5:42:32 AM PDT by Kaslin
A young man was shot dead by a neighborhood watch captain a month ago in Sanford, Florida, a town I’ve only driven through during a vacation or two.
The particular facts of the case, at least as they’ve been reported, are that the victim, 17-year old Trayvon Martin, committed no crime and was totally unarmed — unless a package of Skittles and an iced tea are considered dangerous weapons. Still, the shooter, 28-year old George Zimmerman, has not been arrested or charged with homicide.
The killing and the lack of an arrest — or even any sign, until recent days, of a serious investigation into the deadly incident — have understandably elicited public outrage and protest.
That anger and offense seems as universal as anything can be. President Barack Obama as well as Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have all expressed it.
GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney called the shooting a “tragedy” and offered, “There needs to be a thorough investigation that reassures the public that justice is carried out with impartiality and integrity.”
Newt Gingrich also called it a “tragedy” and said, “we’re going to relentlessly seek justice.” Rick Santorum argued it was “horrible” that local police didn’t “immediately go after and prosecute this case.”
The president went much further, stating that, “All of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how does something like this happen.”
Yet, the trigger wasn’t pulled by “all of us.” It was pulled by George Zimmerman.
On Fox News, Geraldo Rivera shifted blame elsewhere: onto hoodies. “I am urging the parents of black and Latino youngsters, particularly, not to let their children go out wearing hoodies,” he said. “I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as much as George Zimmerman was.”
Beware the dreaded hoodie makers and those heartless retailers!
Throughout the news coverage and political punditry the issue of race is consistently raised. Some contend that Zimmerman is a racist. On the tape of his calls with a 911-dispatcher, some say they hear Zimmerman use a racial epithet. I’ve listened to the recording a dozen times and just can’t hear anything.
Zimmerman’s father adamantly denies his son had any racial animus, since “George is a Spanish-speaking minority with many black family members and friends. He would be the last to discriminate for any reason whatsoever.”
In his younger days, Zimmerman had been the victim of a criminal assault, which might have influenced him to be more fearful of being victimized, quicker to pull a trigger. There is no indication of a racial component to that earlier incident.
On the more crucial issue, self-defense, it appears that it was Zimmerman who was following Martin, not the other way around. This seems to obliterate a defense under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which allows the use of deadly force when under threat.
As for any tendency toward violence, in 2005 an ex-fiancée won a protective injunction against Zimmerman citing domestic violence. The implication of this is muddied up by the fact that Zimmerman filed and won his own injunction against her, too.
George Zimmerman attended a four-month law-enforcement program put on by the local sheriff’s office in 2008 and claimed at that time that he hoped to become a policeman one day. He has also worked with the Retreat at Twin Lakes neighborhood watch for eight years.
The bottom-line? We know too little about Mr. Zimmerman’s state of mind before or during this tragic clash. But whether his shooting of Trayvon Martin was spurred by race or an itchy trigger finger or a hero complex or something we know absolutely nothing about, or was actually somehow in self defense, is beside the point.
The point is that our justice system ought to get to the bottom of it.
We innocent bystanders are no more responsible for this deadly tragedy than are hoodies. But a miscarriage of justice by those who work for us — our government, our police — is our responsibility. Even though African Americans have experienced a lack of justice for far too long, the broader lesson here is for all of us to stand up in whatever way we can to demand and secure justice for each and every individual.
Sabrina Fulton, Trayvon’s mother, put it all in proper perspective, when she said, “This is not about a black and white thing; this is about a right and wrong thing.”
Doing the right thing isn’t always easy, and the complexities of this case may have baffled the police in the first instance, discouraging action. Or habitual racism may have been a factor in officialdom’s initial inaction, even if it played a scant role in the shooting itself.
Whatever proves to be the case, public reaction and a free press seem to be doing their job, spurring review, investigation and, ultimately, some justice.
This article is predicated on the notion that the blacks have nothing to rally around and celebrate. As if Black History Month doesn’t matter.
Reports of a witness testifying Zimmerman was being pummeled and bloodied will save Zimmerman from a murder charge. In this, he’z a lucky man.
Yet no witness has come forth and said Zimmerman chased him down. It's all conjecture.
It shouldn't be too tough of a fact to verify one way or the other, so I'll try to ping you when and if I find a link.
I'll add that considering it has been almost a month since this shooting took place and the national publicity is barely 10 days old, it looks quite agenda driven. The media is not only trying to exploit the race thing but the idea that private citizens can use firearms in self-defense outside their homes.
FWIW, I live in the Pittsburgh market, probably one of the safer metro areas in the USA and hardly a couple of days go by that we don't have similar incidents minus the racial element. But because it is black on black, black on redneck or even redneck on redneck type incidents, it never makes it out of the local news.
via moonbattery.com
Zimmerman did wait for the police, according to the 911 call tapes. Looking at the currently available records, at no time did Zimmerman attempt to contact or confront Martin. On the contrary, Zimmerman is reported to have done nothing more than attempt to maintain observation of the suspect, Martin, in order to direct the police offices to the location of the suspect. None of that is contrary to neighborhood watch protocols or beyond the right of every Citizen.
Zimmerman did wait for the police, according to the 911 call tapes and the police officer reports. On the contrary, the current evidence indicates Zimmerman did nothing more than attempt to maintain a line of sight needed to observe the suspect for the purpose of directing the police officers to the current location of the suspect. There is no evidence or indication whatsoever that Zimmerman ever attempted to contact, verbally confront the suspect, or physically confron the suspect. Instead, the evidence appears to indicated the suspect, Martin, hid from Zimmerman, stalked Zimmerman, and physically attacked Zimmerman from behind as Zimmerman was returning to his vehicle to await the arrival of the police. It appears that Martin was beating Zimmerman severely and perhaps threatened Zimmerman’s life and/or limb as Zimmerman shouted for help for a number of minutes. Zimmerman quite obviously did not shoot Martin until he had already sustained serious injuries and was threatened with possible disfigurement or even death.
Under these circumstances the Florida is very clear that Martin was the criminal assailant and Zimmerman was immune to arrest and prosecution because he had the right of self defense to protect his life and limb against the grievous bodily harm being suffered under Martin’s assault upon Zimmerman.
There is no evidence to indicate Martin had any justification whatsoever for his assault and battery upon Zimmerman. On the contrary, there is evidence that Martin’s assault upon Zimmerman was criminal conduct. If reports about Martin’s alleged juvenile delinquency and gang relationship later prove to be valid, then the evidence will be even more damaging to Martin’s conduct on the night of his death. Consequently, you may be falsely accsuing an innocent man, Zimmerman, when it was actually Martin who was committing the crimes.
Your Photo is lifted FB profile of a kid in Georgia names Trayvon Martin. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2863732/replies?c=27
I would guess from a nick “240B” that you would be gunmetal grey.
To be sorta PC, I guess he's a Halfrican-American, but the jury is still out on the 'American' part, imho.
I still think the Casey Anthony trial was a trial run for whipping the masses into a frenzy. The Mob triggers work just fine, as people were trying to run down people who looked like Casey Anthony hundreds of miles away on the dayshe was supposed to be released.
Having drunk deeply of that level of power, do you really think the media can avoid another little sip...and another...
Power can be addictive, and the power to wield a mob, even target the group involved is heady stuff.
You are so full of crap. Casey Anthony killed her kid. Just because some nuts did some stupid things doesn't mean somebody can't express disgust with a miscarriage of justice. A very stupid comment you made.
Thanks for proving my point.
The jury said "Not Guilty". Prove otherwise, in court, in front of a jury, and obtain a guilty verdict. Otherwise, it is slander.
In our system of jurisprudence, that is the way it works, whether we 'like' the outcome or not.
In the meantime, I find it interesting that so many people were whipped into a frenzy they were willing to kill.
If you don't think the MSM can do that, wholesale, and make anyone the object of it (Remember Richard Jewell?), you are the one who has to open their eyes.
Millions of people were appalled at her walking. Nobody but a tiny minority wanted her killed. You misrepresent the facts. What you've been smokin joe?
Funny how that selfsame media can't be bothered to report on the hundreds of murders abetted by our own ATF and DOJ, in collusion with some of the most brutal criminals in the hemisphere, but can spend virtually every waking hour on a dysfunctional mother to whip the populace into a soap-opera frenzy.
When the media are used to incite the urge to kill, whether it be in two people, two hundred, or two thousand, in defiance of our system of jurisprudence and the rights of the accused, we live in a dangerous age indeed.
When they abdicate the reporting of even more heinous and better documented crimes, they show their true colors--it has nothing to do with justice, but instead the exercise of raw power over the mob while running a smokescreen for this administration.
We'll see more of this before November, but it won't be directed at just one or two people.
In the meantime, trial by media, especially considering their flawless delivery of facts, is something I would think any Conservative would be especially leery and skeptical of.
The reporters will go home to their warm beds, and may God help those they decide to villify, especially those not deserving of the attention.
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