Teenager shot/killed while Tweek's hero gets off free

[Churchill]

My original posts asked a question, a clarification really, that you understood or didn't understand that there really is no difference between a couple of bangers killing a white kid, or a hispanic guy killing a black kid. The ex post facto reasoning of what happens to this guy and maybe not to others doesn't pertain to what I'm asking, and everything that followed was still irrelevant. I didn't detract from the issue or the incident, even if my opinion on it varies from yours.

As far as the FBI, I'm surprised they haven't done anything yet, I thought someone mentioned the ACLU petitioning them or did I misunderstand? If they have been, it doesn't look good as far as them getting involved.

[Sera]

Only one gun wound?

Black kid, white shooter.

He's gettin away with it lol

two shots though. there's two shots on the recording & witnesses have corroborated

[imveryemo]

after observing all the evidence I can conclude it was a righteous kill and will be surprised if charges are filed

[Brill Weave]

after observing all the evidence I can conclude it was a righteous kill and will be surprised if charges are filed

We really need an eyeroll emote.

[Headspace]

always double tap

[richardd]

always double tap

the combination of this post and your sig has just made you more appealing in my eyes. if i were gay, i'd buy you dinner baby.

[Ghost_Wheel22]

What about that black kid who got Mozambique'd trying to rob a Waffle House?

[imveryemo]

What about that black kid who got Mozambique'd trying to rob a Waffle House?

what about him? it's a shame he didn't get both of them

[Byrthnoth]

Looks like the feds are getting involved: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/20/ju...ing/?hpt=hp_t1

Sanford, Florida (CNN) -- Federal prosecutors and the FBI have opened an investigation into the killing of an unarmed teen by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida. The death drew protesters Monday to the courthouse in Seminole County, north of Orlando, to demand justice for Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old who was shot and killed last month while walking back to his father's fiancee's house in Sanford.
The African-American teen's parents said Monday that they believed race was a factor in their son's death, and the Congressional Black Caucus had called for a federal investigation, saying local police have shown "blatant disregard for justice."
Late Monday, the Justice Department said it would dispatch officials to Sanford to investigate and "to address tension in the community."
"The department will conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence and take appropriate action at the conclusion of the investigation," Justice Department spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said in a written statement. "The department also is providing assistance to and cooperating with the state officials in their investigation into the incident."
Florida Gov. Rick Scott also weighed in Monday evening, noting that the case has "caused significant concern within the Sanford community and the state" and asking the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to provide "any assistance necessary" to local investigators.
The man who shot Trayvon, George Zimmerman, has not been charged. He told police he shot the teen in self-defense, and police say they have no evidence to refute his story.
Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, told CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" that his son's death was "a matter of profiling."
"I think that's an issue that Mr. Zimmerman himself considers as someone suspicious -- a black kid with a hoodie on, jeans, tennis shoes," Martin said. "Thousands of people wear that outfit every day, so what was so suspicious about Trayvon that Zimmerman felt as though he had to confront him?"
And the slain teen's mother told NBC's "Today" show that the neighborhood watch captain "was out there reacting to the color of his skin."
"My son wasn't doing anything but walking on the sidewalk, and I just don't understand why this situation got out of control," Sybrina Fulton said.
CNN has made numerous attempts to contact Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, but have been unsuccessful. In a statement to the Orlando Sentinel, his father says Zimmerman grew up in a multiracial family and has moved out of his home after receiving death threats.
And in announcing the federal probe, Hinojosa cautioned that bringing a civil rights case requires the government prove "that a person acted intentionally and with the specific intent to do something which the law forbids -- the highest level of intent in criminal law."
At the Seminole County courthouse, a handful of student protesters and a law professor from Florida A&M University met with a representative of the state attorney's office to discuss the ongoing investigation while protesters demanded Zimmerman's arrest. Many carried signs in remembrance of Trayvon.
"Gone but not forgotten," read one that had a picture of the young man wearing a football uniform. "No justice for Trayvon. No peace for Sanford!" read another.
Assistant State Attorney Pat Whitaker told the students it would take several weeks to look at the case, but that the "investigation of the Sanford police needs to be greatly supplemented," Jasmine Rand, the FAMU professor, said after the meeting.
The state attorney's office also said a voice analysis would be conducted on 911 calls from the night of the shooting to determine who was yelling for help, students said.
Zimmerman, 28, called police around nightfall on February 26 to report a suspicious man in his neighborhood.
"Something's wrong with him. Yep. He's coming to check me out," Zimmerman told a police dispatcher in a 911 call released Monday. "He's got something in his hands. I don't know what his deal is. Send officers over here."
The teen started to run, Zimmerman reported. When he said he was following, the dispatcher told him, "We don't need you to do that."
Shortly afterward, neighbors began calling 911 to report a fight, then a gunshot. By the time police arrived, Trayvon lay dead. He was carrying a bag of Skittles and an iced tea that he had purchased at a nearby convenience store, and was headed back to his father's fiancee's home.
Martin said he's "positive" that it's his son's voice that can be heard screaming for help in the neighbors' calls.
"It's heart wrenching, because those actually were my son's last words," he said. "And to hear his last words being cries of help, is devastating. It tears me apart as a father."

[Byrthnoth]

A little bit more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayvon-mar...7#.T2hZYdnmzo4

MATT GUTMAN[/URL] (@mattgutmanABC) and SENI TIENABESO (@senijr_abc) "]
In the last moments of his life Trayvon Martin was being hounded by a strange man on a cell phone who ran after him, cornered him, and confronted him, according to the teenage girl whose call logs show she was on the phone with the 17-year-old boy in the moments before neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman shot him dead.
Martin's death on Feb. 26 has stirred national outrage and protests, partly prompting the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the FBI to open an investigation into the case.
ABC News was there exclusively as the 16-year-old girl told Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump about the last terrifying moments of the doe-eyed teenager's life.
"He said this man was watching him, so he put his hoodie on. He said he lost the man," Martin's friend said. "I asked Trayvon to run, and he said he was going to walk fast. I told him to run but he said he was not going to run."
Eventually he would run, said the girl, thinking that he'd managed to escape. But suddenly the strange man was back, cornering Martin.
"Trayvon said 'what are you following me for,' and the man said 'what are you doing here.' Next thing I hear is somebody pushing, and somebody pushed Trayvon because the head set just fell. I called him again and he didn't answer the phone."
The line went dead. Besides screams heard on 911 calls that night as Martin and Zimmerman scuffled, those were the last words he said.
http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/abc_..._120319_wl.jpg
Florida Teen Killed by Community-Watch Member Watch Video


http://a.abcnews.com/images/WNT/abc_..._120318_wl.jpg
Trayvon Martin's Family Calls for Justice Watch Video


http://a.abcnews.com/images/GMA/abc_..._120318_wl.jpg
Trayvon Martin Neighborhood Watch Shooting Watch Video


Trayvon's phone logs, also obtained exclusively by ABC News, show the conversation occurred five minutes before police first arrived on scene. The young woman's parents asked that we not use her name, and that only an attorney could ask her questions.
Martin's father Tracey Martin and mother Sybrina Fulton listened to the call along with ABC News, ashen-faced.
"He knew he was being followed and tried to get away from the guy, and the guy still caught up with him," Tracey Martin said. "And that's the most disturbing part. He thought he had got away from the guy and the guy back-tracked for him."
The teen was killed by Zimmerman while walking back to his father's fiancés home after stepping out to buy Skittles and some iced tea during the NBA All-Star Game. After weeks of relentless pressure, the Sanford Police have decided to release emergency and non-emergency calls placed during the incident.
"These a**holes always get away," Zimmerman says in a call to a non-emergency number.
Dispatcher: "Are you following him?"
Zimmerman: "Yeah."
Dispatcher: "We don't need you to do that."
An altercation soon ensued. A few moments later a torrent of 911 calls flooded in and Martin was killed by a single bullet. Zimmerman claimed self-defense and has yet to be arrested, stoking outrage and claims of prejudice against the police department.
"When George Zimmerman is arrested, tried and convicted I will get a little rest," Tracey Martin said.
According to a statement by the Justice Department, "The department will conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence and take appropriate action and the conclusion of the investigation … The government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person acted intentionally and with the specific intent to do something which the law forbids. Negligence, recklessness, mistakes and accidents are not prosecutable under the federal criminal civil rights laws."
Nearly half a million people have signed an online petition on change.org urging law enforcement officials to step in and arrest Zimmerman. Protest have played out in the Florida town all week with a large gathering expected Thursday.
Zimmerman blatantly 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, another fact the police were not aware of at the time of the incident.

[Trinsie]

I know you are all circle-jerking in here real hard, but I want to come in and tell you what is being said on the other side of the argument which it seems no one has heard or cared about. Most sites are all convinced this guy set out to murder a black person because he could. After reading different sides of the argument and facts on different sides, this is what your opposition says.

It is said that the shooter went to the hospital after the incident and was pretty banged up from blows to the face and head. The people on the phone in 911 calls say their are two men wrestling outside. They believe that Trayvon had the shooter pinned down and was beating the shit out of him and the shooter managed to get his gun out and fired a shot to scare him off and get free, but all it did was make him fight for his life and start to choke the shooter out who responded by defending himself in fear of his life by shooting. They also say the shouts for help in the 911 calls are form the shooter who is on the ground being pummeled screaming for someone to help him.

I can't say that any of that is true. But even if it is completely true, none of it lets him off the hook for following him and confronting him.

Other things they are saying though I cannot back up because I haven't researched this part myself. They say that people are trying to pull sympathy by showing pictures of Trayvon when he was a child and sometimes and infant. A football picture form junior high and a hooded picture when he was 14. It is said the latest picture of him that his family let out is at least 3 years old to make him look and seem younger and pull in more sympathy.

Maybe he was being beaten and choked and feared for his life and tried to defend himself, maybe he was the one screaming for help, maybe people are trying to make this seem worse than it is. Or maybe a bunch of racist asses are just trying to make him look innocent. I can't tell you the answer because I only have what information is released by the news and will not be on a jury if it comes to that to make these choices. I am just saying that it is possible it looks worse than it is and at most the guy might be guilty of manslaughter if that.

Discuss

[Byrthnoth]

I suspect Zimmerman is mostly guilty of being a meatheaded idiot, but the question at this point is whether his idiotic transgression will land him in a mental hospital or jail. The death penalty would never stick in a case like this, and frankly the guy probably doesn't deserve it.

[Kohan]

I know you are all circle-jerking in here real hard, but I want to come in and tell you my opinion, not any actual facts, because it'd be too damn hard to post any references and I want to stir up some controversy really, really bad. I mean, I'm desperate.

That's cool, chucklefuck, but you'll need to try a little bit harder if you want anyone to care. Better luck next time.

[Sera]

That girl who was on the phone with Treyvon while he was being followed will end up being important testimony.

Far as Zimmerman's injuries, they could've been done to himself when he realized he had fucked up, too. Makes no sense for an unarmed kid to attack a Guy twice his size.

[Trinsie]

That's cool, chucklefuck, but you'll need to try a little bit harder if you want anyone to care. Better luck next time.

Not my opinion at all. My actual opinion is that people tend to throw around labels like good and evil. This guy was probably a racist and followed and approached the boy because of this. He said that Trayvon was approaching him on the phone to confront him probably about the following of him. They got in an altercation that I am not sure who started, but that part doesn't matter. Trayvon got the better of George and George being punched and pissed and already hating the kid for being black just shot him. Murder yes. This is my opinion based on very little evidence.

[Yugl]

I think she meant the source for the opposing argument. Your opening paragraph hints at some sort of source representing the opposing view.

[Kohan]

It's completely my opinion. I don't even have any idea what you're talking about with all these fancy words like "resources" and "facts".

I'd apologize for picking on the mentally deficient, but I wouldn't mean it.

[Trinsie]

I think she meant the source for the opposing argument. Your opening paragraph hints at some sort of source representing the opposing view.

Mostly 2 days of reading tons of forums around the web and remembering what the very few opposing postings said. I also said I couldn't back any of this up I was just saying what some others have said.


I also want to take this moment to go over the size difference here also. People say he should have been able to handle the small kid or the guy half his size. I think he might not have been able to and this is why. The police report says Trayvon was about 160 lbs. His family says 140 lbs. Doesn't matter lets go worst cast 140, he is also 6' 3" tall so tall skinny. George is 5'5" 250 lbs which is way out of shape. Now I would not say this if I didn't have a little personal experience. I have been arrested once in my entire life and it was for the one fight I have ever been in in my life. I was 5'10 185 lbs and the other guy was 5'4 280 lbs and not in good shape. I was arrested because he had to go to the hospital and it wasn't much a fight after the first swing. He could barely brace himself. I think it is very possible that he could have been getting his ass kicked in by Trayvon.

Ok you win, now I got to go point by point and do some fact checking to see what is up and what I can find

[Trinsie]

I'd apologize for picking on the mentally deficient, but I wouldn't mean it.

Well apparently you don't give a shit what I write, you are just here to get your rocks off trolling.

[Eurell]

I can't say that any of that is true. But even if it is completely true, none of it lets him off the hook for following him and confronting him.

This is why noone gives a shit. He broke every fucking neighborhood watch rule there was, and went against what the police told him. He absolutely created the situation. Even if this kid (who was half his weight?) did try to beat the shit out of him, it was quite obviously because douchebag chased him through the goddamn neighborhood.

And who the fuck cares what pictures they use? I don't understand what the difference is between a picture of him a week ago or a picture of him when he was 14. Unless you're saying they should use a picture of him laying there dead with blood and skittles all over the place, that might actually pull in some more sympathy than a school picture from 3 years ago.

Not my opinion at all. My actual opinion is that people tend to throw around labels like good and evil. This guy was probably a racist and followed and approached the boy because of this. He said that Trayvon was approaching him on the phone to confront him probably about the following of him. They got in an altercation that I am not sure who started, but that part doesn't matter. Trayvon got the better of George and George being punched and pissed and already hating the kid for being black just shot him. Murder yes. This is my opinion based on very little evidence.

If you had read/listened to everything, you'd know this line is pointless. Zimmerman said that on the call, but trayvon never actually went up to him. The next thing Zimmerman said is that trayvon was running, and he decided to chase a scared child in the middle of the night with a goddamn gun, while ignoring directions from the police.