The Trayvon Martin Case

DiamondDust · Mar 20, 2012

This should be a fun thread...

Just curious as to see what are the thoughts on the Trayvon Martin case in Florida. For those who don't know, Martin was a 17 year old that was shot and killed by the head of a neighborhood watch, even though Martin's father was living in the neighborhood. The gunman in the case, George Zimmerman, reported that Martin looked suspicious because he was walking slowly in the rain (Coming back from a store with a bottle of tea and a bag of skittles) and decided to pursue him... even though the police told him not to. Zimmerman apparently has a police/law enforcement fetish as he had numerous 911 calls in the past for "suspicious behavior". A conflict breaks out and Zimmerman shoots Martin, claiming it was self defense even though Martin wasn't armed. An interesting note about the aftermath is that witnesses have said police corrected them in saying Zimmerman was crying for help when it was actually Martin who did (considering an armed grown man was chasing him) The 911 calls have been released, and you can find them at numerous places.

My thoughts on this is that even with Florida "Stand Your Ground" laws, Zimmerman should be prosecuted. The police instructed him not to pursue, and he was in no imminent danger from Martin at the time. He also comes off as a hothead and policeman wannabe that, for whatever reason, couldn't be an officer himself. If he values law enforcement so much, I do hope he doesn't pitch a fit on the day he does get arrested.

92tide · Mar 20, 2012

DiamondDust said:
This should be a fun thread...

Just curious as to see what are the thoughts on the Trayvon Martin case in Florida. For those who don't know, Martin was a 19 year old that was shot and killed by the head of a neighborhood watch, even though Martin's father was living in the neighborhood. The gunman in the case, George Zimmerman, reported that Martin looked suspicious because he was walking slowly in the rain (Coming back from a store with a bottle of tea and a bag of skittles) and decided to pursue him... even though the police told him not to. Zimmerman apparently has a police/law enforcement fetish as he had numerous 911 calls in the past for "suspicious behavior". A conflict breaks out and Zimmerman shoots Martin, claiming it was self defense even though Martin wasn't armed. An interesting note about the aftermath is that witnesses have said police corrected them in saying Zimmerman was crying for help when it was actually Martin who did (considering an armed grown man was chasing him) The 911 calls have been released, and you can find them at numerous places.

My thoughts on this is that even with Florida "Stand Your Ground" laws, Zimmerman should be prosecuted. The police instructed him not to pursue, and he was in no imminent danger from Martin at the time. He also comes off as a hothead and policeman wannabe that, for whatever reason, couldn't be an officer himself. If he values law enforcement so much, I do hope he doesn't pitch a fit on the day he does get arrested.

i agree that zimmerman should be prosecuted, severely.

RammerJammer14 · Mar 20, 2012

Heard about this while surfing radio stations this morning. This dude followed, chased down, and attacked a kid, killing him, and somehow got a pass based on "self defense". Why? Because he was walking in the rain at night. Clearly a hardened criminal. I am all for self defense up to and including the taking of a life if, you know, you actually have to defend yourself. If you instigate the assault I don't really see how you can argue with a straight face that it was self defense. This guy needs to be prosecuted and thrown in prison.

bamanut_aj · Mar 20, 2012

soo......is the shooter going to be prosecuted or not?

crimsonaudio · Mar 20, 2012

Not sure how there's any debate - he should absolutely be prosecuted.

DiamondDust · Mar 20, 2012

bamanut_aj said:
soo......is the shooter going to be prosecuted or not?

Not sure yet, although the FBI/DOJ is now reviewing the case.

crimsonaudio · Mar 20, 2012

bamanut_aj said:
soo......is the shooter going to be prosecuted or not?

Almost certainly. Even in FL this should be considered murder.

DiamondDust · Mar 20, 2012

From this article: http://gma.yahoo.com/trayvon-martin...-teen-death-recounts-063243901--abc-news.html

Zimmerman violated major principles of the Neighborhood Watch manual, ABC News has learned. The manual from the Neighborhood Watch program states: "It should be emphasized to members that they do not possess police powers. And they shall not carry weapons or pursue vehicles."

According to Chris Tutko, the director of the National Neighborhood Watch program, there are about 22,000 registered watch groups nationwide, and Zimmerman was not part of a registered group, which police were not aware of at the time of the incident.

Bamabuzzard · Mar 20, 2012

If you want to see a convention center full of Zimmerman's type go to a gun & knife show down south. I love these shows because I grew up hunting and fishing but these shows also attract the militant, power hungry, "Buford T Justice" types as well. The ones who think they are the symbol of justice and power and it is their job to "right the wrongs" of our society through intimidation of their self perceived authority. You can spot them a mile away.

Bamaro · Mar 20, 2012

The shooter screwed up royally and must pay the price.

jthomas666 · Mar 20, 2012

They should throw the book at the guy.

gmart74 · Mar 20, 2012

It appears the shooter was clearly in the wrong. I would like some additional info bc parts of the article didn't make sense. Initial reports said this was a nice neighborhood with some even saying it was a gated community. Is that correct? Also they said they had over 400 calls to the police in the past yr. I don't know about the rest of you, but I have never lived anywhere that had 400 calls to the police, and I have lived in some housing projects. So parts of the story just seem a bit odd to me.

DiamondDust · Mar 20, 2012

gmart74 said:
It appears the shooter was clearly in the wrong. I would like some additional info bc parts of the article didn't make sense. Initial reports said this was a nice neighborhood with some even saying it was a gated community. Is that correct? Also they said they had over 400 calls to the police in the past yr. I don't know about the rest of you, but I have never lived anywhere that had 400 calls to the police, and I have lived in some housing projects. So parts of the story just seem a bit odd to me.

I believe it was a gated community, at least from what I've gathered in other articles. As for the calls, I don't know about that, but I do know Zimmerman had a history of making calls to the police.

SimplyTide · Mar 20, 2012

I believe that they had originally decided not to press charges, calling it self-defense. That forced the Justice Department to get involved. This guy is going to go to prison for a very long time.

willie52 · Mar 20, 2012

I'm a firm believer in the "self defense" but this one just doesn't fit the bill. Zimmerman was instructed by the 911 dispatcher not to follow the person and he continued. He should have waited for police response since there was no immediate threat, if anything, the 17 year old would have the self defense claim by being "stalked" by an unkown person. Part of the tapes I heard was he said that the 17 year old had his hands in his pockets, like no one ever did that walking in the rain. The reason Zimmerman wasn't arrested is the "take a stand law" or whatever they call it, doesn't mean they are not going to arrest him. When all is said and done they need to prosecute him for murder and introduce him to his new friend Bubba.

Displaced Bama Fan · Mar 20, 2012

My initial reaction is yes, Zimmerman was in the wrong and needs to be prosecuted. Not knowing all the facts, it's otherwise hard to say.

If Zimmerman did pursue after being told not to, and had no reason to pursue such as witnessing the young man commit a crime, then yes, Zimmerman needs to fry.

A sort of similar case took place in Houston several years ago. A retired gentleman witnessed two black men breaking into a neighbor's house. He called police, asked if he could confront them, he was told "no", confronted them anyway and shot them both dead.

Now, the fact that he witnessed them committed a crime played into his favor and he was not convicted. To be honest, I had no problem with his actions because he did witness a crime and was protecting his neighbors' property. Of course the "honorable" Quanell X led his protest in the neighborhood only to get shouted down and rocked by all the neighbors. It was great.

twofbyc · Mar 20, 2012

Bamabuzzard said:
If you want to see a convention center full of Zimmerman's type go to a gun & knife show down south. I love these shows because I grew up hunting and fishing but these shows also attract the militant, power hungry, "Buford T Justice" types as well. The ones who think they are the symbol of justice and power and it is their job to "right the wrongs" of our society through intimidation of their self perceived authority. You can spot them a mile away.

These shows attract ALL types - I have seen way too many gang-bangers at some of these to think otherwise.
I, for one, am not an "opponent" of vigilante justice - but this was not vigilante justice. No one saw this kid do anything wrong, this guy just ended up shooting him. Like gmart, I'd like to hear more details, but I don't think, from what i have heard to this point, this is anything but murder.

SimplyTide · Mar 20, 2012

The key elements of this case:

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/20...out-about-trayvon-martin-1995-2012/?mobile=nc

Tide1986 · Mar 20, 2012

Eh...I'm sure the local police and DA know better than I do whether or not Zimmerman should be arrested. But of course, I'm pretty sure the Feds will find some way to twist it into some kind of civil rights issue.

Bamabuzzard · Mar 20, 2012

twofbyc said:
These shows attract ALL types - I have seen way too many gang-bangers at some of these to think otherwise.
I, for one, am not an "opponent" of vigilante justice - but this was not vigilante justice. No one saw this kid do anything wrong, this guy just ended up shooting him. Like gmart, I'd like to hear more details, but I don't think, from what i have heard to this point, this is anything but murder.

No doubt about it. All kinds come to these things. My dad and I were in a hunting club years ago that was run by a dude who was of the "law enforcement wannabe" mentality. He had the cb's, police radio's, volunteered down at the local fire station, went to every gun and knife show that came to town etc. He was just hungry for any form of power. By trade he worked at the local papermill but you could tell he wanted to be in law enforcement. We stayed in the hunting lease about two years then got sick of his Billy Joe Bad Britches type attitude with regard to green fields, how they were used, his thirst to boss people around and a whole bunch of other bull malarkey. He fit the mold of doing something just like in this story.

The Trayvon Martin Case

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