Santorum: Zimmerman ‘has a very sick mind,’ motive ‘a malicious one’

The Daily Caller ^ | March 25, 2012 | Jeff Poor

[expat1000]

On “Face the Nation” Sunday on CBS, Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum explained that his view of the Trayvon Martin shooting differed significantly from the one held by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

[TigersEye]

Maybe trailing people you don’t know in your neighborhood with a gun was normal for Zimmerman, but it was nonetheless provocative.

Yes, you missed Zimmerman's call to the police where he describes Martin's behavior. As far as citizens carrying guns and watching out for their homes and communities we have the 2nd Amendment. Militias are a principle enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

[Zhang Fei]

Maybe trailing people you don’t know in your neighborhood with a gun was normal for Zimmerman, but it was nonetheless provocative.

Looking and reporting is what neighborhood watch people do. Criminals do take violent exception to their livelihoods being threatened, so neighborhood watch people are taking a risk, which is why some of them are armed. In the past month, the gated complex (with gate pass codes but no private security) had had half a dozen burglaries and a home invasion.

[Bikkuri]

[bkopto]

The only reason Santorum is around is because everyone else dropped out, like Bachmann and the rest.

Santorum is as light as a feather, has poor judgement, and doesn’t know how to keep his mouth shut.

He’s a complete sucker for MSM tricks.

And he is NOT much of a conservative.

Of all the elections not to have at least a pretense of a decent GOP candidate, when the republic is being destroyed by leftists.

I view this all as God’s ongoing judgement of this country.

[marstegreg]

Hey, it’s not like Rick has all the time in the world to check if what he has read and seen from the media is true or not. It’s not like he’s campaigning all over the country or anything. If there is any blame for the misinformation Rick and everyone else has gotten on this story it lies with the media (even FOX) that is to blame. If the President (lame as he is) comes out against this, why would Santorum even question it? He has bigger fish to fry right now. Give the guy a break. I am a Newt supporter, but fair is fair.

[Do Not Make Fun Of His Ears]

He first says he can’t know what’s going on in someone’s mind, then he contradicts himself and says the man’s mind is sick and malicious.

In other words, Rick Santorum is willing to throw George Zimmerman to the wolves and sacrifice him to the angry mob, to try to help his chances of being elected.

Rick was my #1 choice of the remaining candidates. This is sickening and shameful.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Rich Lowry’s column was even worse than this....

[justlurking]

The 911 operator told him to stop following him. It sounds like he didn’t listen. I imagine if somebody started following me through a neighborhood, I would go over and talk to them too.

I'm going to offer you a suggestion. Whether you take it or not is up to you.

You have a pre-conceived notion of what happened, and are twisting the narrative to fit it. None of the facts (as they are coming out) support your pre-conceived notion.

• Both parties were on their cell phones: Zimmerman to the police, and Martin to his girlfriend.

• The recording of Zimmerman indicates that he was actually confronted by Martin, not the other way around.

• Martin's girlfriend provided an interview to ABC News. Her account also indicates that Martin confronted Zimmerman.

• "Following" someone is not a crime. The 911 operator had no authority to order Zimmerman to stop doing so. That requires a LEO on the scene.

• "Being followed" is not a justification for the use of force in self-defense. That requires an explicit threat or an incontrovertible fear of bodily harm.

• By your own account, you would have gone over to talk to someone that is following you. I would do the same. But, the evidence indicates that Martin subsequently escalated to the use of force (and at least in Texas, deadly force by striking Zimmerman in the head).

Did Zimmerman act wisely? I wasn't there, and I don't know his experiences. I do know that the Neighborhood Watch program was an attempt to reduce the spike in property crimes that have recently occurred in the development. But, there's no indication that Zimmerman did not violate ANY law.

Zimmerman -- by his account, by the recordings, and by witnesses -- did not initiate the use of force. Martin did, and it wasn't justifiable under the law. Unless more evidence becomes public that contradicts that, Zimmerman acted in self-defense.

All Martin had to do was tell Zimmerman that he was a guest of his father's girlfriend, and there would have been no escalation to violence. Zimmerman may not have believed him, but that would have been an easy question to solve -- by either walking together to her residence, or calling her.

Barring new and contradictory evidence, the outcome was Martin's responsibility.

[PhilDragoo]

The government's 911 recording is genuine, and at 2:18 the word is "punks" not the racial slur on the doctored tape.

[vox_freedom]

It is really dumb, dumb, dumb to comment without the facts becoming known about this case -- that, precisely, is what was wrong with Obama, Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and a host of other idiots yapping about it... and now Santorum has joined the chorus.

and besides aren't there enough critically important federal issues to discuss and give viewpoints about? I mean, really...

[little jeremiah]

You are apparently gravely ill-informed.

[bigheadfred]

Santorum.

Out of touch.

Your voter base is filled with people who have that same “very sick mind”.

Buh bye, Rick.

[Polynikes]

“All Martin had to do was tell Zimmerman that he was a guest of his father's girlfriend, and there would have been no escalation to violence. Zimmerman may not have believed him, but that would have been an easy question to solve — by either walking together to her residence, or calling her.’

That brings up a point that I have wondered about. Where is this girlfriend? I would think that she would be being paraded around, giving statements like “Martin was staying at my place” “I invited him to stay and he is so nice” etc. It would lend quite a bit of credence to Martins’side. Her absence is puzzling.

[Reese Hamm]

Both parties were on their cell phones: Zimmerman to the police, and Martin to his girlfriend.

Zimmerman's call had ended before the confrontation.

The recording of Zimmerman indicates that he was actually confronted by Martin, not the other way around.

I haven't encountered this claim before - do you have a link? (It has been reported that Zimmerman's statement after the shooting stated that he was attacked on the way back to his vehicle.)

Martin's girlfriend provided an interview to ABC News. Her account also indicates that Martin confronted Zimmerman.

True.

"Following" someone is not a crime. The 911 operator dispatcher had no authority to order Zimmerman to stop doing so. That requires a LEO on the scene.

"Being followed" is not a justification for the use of force in self-defense. That requires an explicit threat or an incontrovertible fear of bodily harm.

This is open to interpretation in the state of Florida. The stand your ground law only requires that you "feel threatened", not that there is necessarily an explicit threat. It could be argued that a kid raised in the "stranger danger" era might feel threatened by someone following him.

By your own account, you would have gone over to talk to someone that is following you. I would do the same. But, the evidence indicates that Martin subsequently escalated to the use of force (and at least in Texas, deadly force by striking Zimmerman in the head).

Zimmerman's statement indicates this. Martin's girlfriend's statement seems to contradict that. (If she is telling the truth about being on the phone when the fight started, I do find it odd that Martin would attempt to take a swing at someone while also trying to talk on the phone.) So far, I haven't been able to find any independent witness statements that indicate that they saw the beginning of the confrontation, only the middle/end.

[Yaelle]

Sorry, I agree with you. I hate the term “walking something back.” It usually means “caught in a lie.” My candidate is not perfect and I really regret he involved himself in this affair without possibly knowing who was right or wrong. He really has NO wiggle room but neither does obama. You are correct. But no doubt he will go ahead and “walk it back” and make himself look worse.

I still support him over all the others in the race and know he will appoint CONSERVATIVE JUDGES and this will make a difference in my children’s lives. That is important to me. None of them are perfect.

[little jeremiah]

Imagine having a president this ill-informed and shooting off his mouth like this. This also shows how poor his advisers, assistants and so on are. Of course no one who is very busy can read “everything” and be infomred 100% about every issue. That’s what personal assisants are for - to do the research and inform him. He obviously knew nothing except the MSM crap. So that also means he trusts the MSM and gets his news there.

100% fail.

[taildragger]

Does anyone have a picture of the Fonz Jumping the Shark with Rick’s Face super-imposed?

[TigersEye]

I wouldn’t expect presidential candidates to know about a story like this but wisdom dictates that if you don’t know a subject well you decline to comment on it. I don’t see how he can backpedal on this one successfully. If he made those remarks in ignorance then his ignorance was quite profound. If he is up to speed on this story his comments reflect some really bad judgment and loathsome pandering to the worst of political correctness.

[hinckley buzzard]

I guess Rick must have also been wrong to OPINE on the Jerry Sandusky investigation since that case is still pending as well.

If he offered an opinion of guilt or innocence about Sandusky, especially being from Pennsylvania, then yes he was wrong. Santorum is a public political figure and his statement can be expected to have an effect on the public, who may well be on the jury. Put it this way: if Zimmerman was on trial right now, Santorum just handed his attorney grounds for mistrial.

This has everything to do with ethics and judgment, nothing to do with your ignorant notions of "free speech." This is not merely a stupid statement--this reflects impaired judgment and /or defective impulse control--just what we want in the White House.

[Miss Behave]

I appreciate your thoughtful post, Yaelle. My frustration is in those who should be leading, diffusing and de-escalating this lawless, terrible, precarious lynch-mob ground swell...but instead are exhibiting anything but right and decent and just and *life-protecting* behavior.

What ever happened to "first do no harm?" We need a leader who understands that...as second nature...just as many loving American parents already instinctively do and put to practice without hesitation...every single day.

Imagine a loved one of yours in Mr. Zimmerman's extremely dangerous, life-threatened situation. It would be horrifying...with an added double-dose of the sinking dread of helplessness for that loved one's plight.

Again, thanks for your thoughtful post. I just feel more strongly by the day that Santorum absolutely doesn't "get it" and lacks basic instincts and vision critical to lead us in these very troubled times...where things are guarenteed to get much worse before better...and I pray that our children's country does get better, for their and their's sake. Take care, Yaelle. :-)