Posted on 04/01/2012 5:18:58 PM PDT by marktwain
Robert Zimmerman Jr. is steadfast in his defense of his brother George, insisting that he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin to death in self-defense only because the teenager attacked him and attempted to take his gun, putting Zimmerman in mortal danger. “That’s called ‘saving your life,’” Robert Zimmerman Jr. said.
He appeared Thursday on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight denying that Zimmerman pulled a gun from its holster and fired, instead saying that “he stopped someone from disarming him and shooting him, he didn’t pull out a gun and shoot him. George showed tremendous restraint.”
(MORE: George Zimmerman’s Gun: A Popular Choice for Concealed Carry)
But according to an initial police report, Zimmerman told officers arriving at the scene of the Sanford, Fla., incident that he shot Trayvon Martin. Police reported that they found Trayvon lying face down on the ground and could not revive him. Zimmerman’s father, Robert Sr., told Orlando’s WOFL-TV in a silhouetted interview that the teen attacked his son, threatening to kill him. “At some point,” Robert Sr. said, “George pulled his pistol and did what he did.” His information was based on his own conversations with his son and others, he said.
Zimmerman has claimed that Trayvon pummeled him, broke his nose and smashed his head against the ground, causing severe injuries. But a police surveillance video obtained Wednesday by ABC News, showed Zimmerman handcuffed in police custody and apparently without any of the injuries that would be consistent with a life-or-death struggle. But his brother insists that he actually was hurt and was treated at the scene.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsfeed.time.com ...
What context?
No, but I do know that he was carrying concealed and has a CCL.
Apparently, the investigators agreed, but the Sheriff and local prosecutor (who are elected officials) blocked the prosecution.
Apparently the investigators agreed to what? I was not aware the Sheriff had ever been involved in this case. None of the original authorities has sought a prosecution.
No, but my only point was that he is the only source of the story that Martin saw the gun while they were on the ground fighting.
Some witnesses say they saw Trayvon on top of Zimmerman.
Two that I know of. Both on recorded 911 calls.
Others saw Zimmerman straddling Trayvon, hands pressed against the teen’s back.
I have never heard that account before. Do you have a source for that?
No, there isn't one looking at this case now and there may never be a grand jury for this reason...
Tough-minded prosecutor in spotlight on Trayvon Martin case“I always lean towards moving forward without needing the grand jury in a case like this,” Angela Corey, the state attorney assigned to the case by Gov. Rick Scott, told The Herald/Times. “I foresee us being able to make a decision, and move on it on our own.”
She can move on it without a grand jury and she can also dismiss it and that should be the end of it as far as the state of Florida is concerned.
I missed that story. It seems to contradict a statement released by the City of Sanford but perhaps they are two different things.
I have a question I haven’t seen addressed (of course it’s impossible to read everything on this case):
I’ve been on some Neighborhood Watch patrols, and we would never have done them solo. Why did Zimmerman do it alone? Just seems oddly careless to me.
The post was a reply to another poster. I was not asserting that Martin had planned to jump Zimmerman. Instead, I was ruling it out as a possibility based on Martin running away when Zimmerman started following him.
According to reports (not confirmed or denied by the Sanford Police Dept.):
"Zimmerman told police that he lost sight of Martin and was walking back to his SUV when Martin approached him from the left rear, and they exchanged words.Martin asked Zimmerman if he had a problem. Zimmerman said no and reached for his cell phone, he told police. Martin responded, "Well, you do now" or something similar and punched Zimmerman in the nose."
Unless his official statement contradicts what has been reported (which is possible), Zimmerman didn't claim that Martin attacked him from behind.
He was not “on patrol” that night. He was returning home and saw Martin walking through the complex in the rain. He followed him in his car and called the police (non-emergency).
It is basically the scenario you proposed in post #7. The other poster didn’t come up with it.
As reported in the City Manager's Statement, George Zimmerman was not on neighborhood watch when this happened. He was on a personal errand when he saw Martin and made the call to police.
Where did I say the other poster came up with it?
It certainly doesn’t have to go to a grand jury, but I thought I had read that the case was going in front of a grand jury in response to the pressure to hang Zimmerman. Of course, an even semi-competent prosecutor can usually get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich, so a grand jury indictment doesn’t necescarrily mean much.
You tried to pass off responsibility for your statement on another poster.
OK, I see the confusion now. I see why that post might’ve come across the wrong way. No, I was not claiming that anyone else said it. I was just trying to think the whole thing through in that post.
This is one of the frustrations of talking on the internet. No, that’s not what I was doing.
Unless things have changed since the date of that article I linked to a state attorney assigned by the Gov is going to decide it. I’m going to go against the flow and bet that after she reviews everything she will come to the same conclusion as the previous prosecutor and say “nothing to indict here.”
It has been reported that there is a witness who saw everything from start to finish of the confrontation but they haven't spoken to the press about it or been named.
Don’t matter what anyone with a drop of white blood seys. The brown guy with the whitey blood is a rrrraaaacis and should be lynched by the brothas.
The klan with a tan replaced the Dems’ white klan. They all wear hoodies.
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