Neighborhood Crime Watch

[dgs49]

I assume we are all aware of the unfortunate shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin by a "Neighborhood Crime Watch 'captain'" named George Zimmerman.

Now that Zimmerman's guilt of homicide has been firmly established, the only real question is what sort of tools does the state of Florida use to execute someone?

But a few additional facts are now trickling in.

The unarmed "child" was 6'3" tall and the Captain is 5'9".

The unarmed child, it appears, attacked Zimmerman when Zimmerman asked him what he was doing in that neighborhood in the middle of the night. Rather than answering the question truthfully and civilly ("I'm staying with my father's fiance, who lives over there"), he proceeded to beat the snot out of Zimmerman, and try to snatch his handgun.

Initial reports were that Martin lived there, but it turns out he was visiting his father's fiance, because he had been suspended from high school for having an empty MJ baggie. Surely, the baggie had been planted on Martin - maybe while he was at choir practice.

Zimmerman was seen moaning, lying in the grass by an eyewitness, and when the police arrived, he was bleeding from the back of his head and nose.

I guess this is the flip side of the "Stand your ground law": if someone asks what you are doing in a neighborhood where you don't live, you have a right to kick the crap out of him - especially if he is white and half your size. I'm sure that "right" is somewhere in the Constitution.

The dialog between Martin and Zimmerman was heard by Martin's girlfriend, with whom he was talking until the two encountered each other.

The initial reports were that the police had told Zimmerman not to follow the innocent child, but the actual recording had said, "We don't need you to do that." Not quite as definitive as it seemed at first.

This particular circus will probably not run its course for many months. As with many, many other such unfortunate incidents, the lesson will be entirely lost that this whole thing would certainly have been avoided had Martin just given a simple, honest response to a reasonable question. If the kid had been white, the reportage would be 180 degrees different: "White kid gets himself killed by starting a meaningless fight in response to a simple question."

Two lives ruined because some young punk copped an attitude. And the lesson is completely lost.

[Scooter]

If Martin had been white, people like you would have been asking, "who the fuck did that dumbass spic Zimmerman think he was, confronting an innocent white kid who was minding his own business?"

And once again, getting the worst of an altercation that he initiated doesn't magically transform Zimmerman's actions into self-defense.

[dgs49]

There is NO indication of any "confrontation" by Zimmerman. He asked a reasonable question - one that any civil human would have answered without any bullshit. The sort of question that Neighborhood Watch people are supposed to ask.

Looking at the residue of this confrontation without blinders, there is no question that Zimmerman was attacked and beaten, and there is no reason to doubt him when he says that the now-dead punk went for his gun. Color has nothing to do with the FACTS. A white kid acting the same way would still be a punk and he would still be dead, and he would still be largely at fault for his fate.

When the dust settles on this whole matter, there will be a perfectly reasonable finding that Zimmerman did nothing criminally wrong (though his judgment is certainly questionable), and the Jesse Jackson's of our world will be wailing that it is just one more example of Black folks not gettin' no "justice."

Well, the death penalty is not an appropriate punishment for being a punk with a chip on your shoulder, but he largely brought it on himself, and the lesson will be lost amid the bombast of the self-appointed "Black Leaders."

[Scooter]

No one has any obiligation to answer "questions" put to them by strangers who accost them on a public street. Especially one who may have been overhead referring to someone doing nothing but minding his own business as a "fucking coon" and who is brandishing a gun as if he were Marshall Dillon. If Zimmerman got the worst of a confrontation he initiated, that is tough shit for him, and that still doesn't give him the right to assassinate innocent people in the street.

[Sean]

If I was innocently walking down the street and some random demanded to know what I was doing I'd tell him to mind his own fucking business. I would obviously deserve to be shot dead.

Furthermore, if he had a gun in his hand I would either run like fuck or (if that were not a good option) do whatever I could to stop him using it on me. Again, bullety justice is what I would surely deserve for acting in such a heinous manner!

[dales]

http://blog.sfgate.com/hottopics/2012/0 ... ays/?tsp=1

Trayvon Martin attacked George Zimmerman, knocking the man to the ground, jumping on top of him and slamming his head against the ground several times before the tables turned and Zimmerman shot him, the Orlando Sentinel is quoting law enforcement authorities as saying this afternoon.

Martin, 17 and unarmed, was killed Feb. 26 in the altercation, after Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, followed Martin through his Sanford, Fla., development, sizing him up as a criminal, and telling a 911 dispatcher as much.

Sanford police told the Sentinel:

Zimmerman … had turned around and was walking back to his SUV when Trayvon approached him from behind, the two exchanged words then Trayvon punched him in the nose, sending him to the ground, and began beating him.

… Zimmerman began yelling for help.

Several witnesses heard those cries, and there’s been a dispute about from whom they came: Zimmerman or Trayvon.

Lawyers for Trayvon’s family say it was Trayvon, but police say their evidence indicates it was Zimmerman.

Zimmerman had a bloody nose, swollen lip and bloody cuts on the back of his head, according to police.

[Scooter]

None of which changes a thing if Zimmerman instigated the confrontation, which he obviously did.

[dales]

Let us wait and see until the Grand Jury report, shall we?

[Scooter]

Which will inevitably be deficient because the police failed to conduct a proper investigation in the first place.

But no doubt those who want to portray Zimmerman as some sort of hero will see it as vindication that the evidence has probably become too tainted to secure a conviction, owing to utter incompetence and bias on the part of the police.

[rubato]

Did the teenager have a weapon? A gun, perhaps?

If not it was murder by a thug who chased him down, provoked a confrontation, and then used the moronic excuse of the "stand your ground" law to murder a kid.

yrs,
rubato

[Liberty1]

If this had been black on black crime, like 49 shooting on Chicago over the same weekend, none of you would have known it ever happened.

Your hypocricy knows no bounds.

[Gob]

So we are hypocrits for not knowing something happens?

hy·poc·ri·sy   
noun, p

1. a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.
2. a pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude.
3. an act or instance of hypocrisy.

[Scooter]

If this had been black on black crime, like 49 shooting on Chicago over the same weekend, none of you would have known it ever happened.

And how many of those 49 shootings did police attempt to sweep under the rug by labelling them "self-defence" in spite of all evidence to the contrary?

This wasn't news because someone got shot. It didn't become news until the police completely fucked up their job and let someone who should have been a suspect walk without any meaningful investigation.

[Sean]

So we are hypocrits for not knowing something happens?

So it would seem...

[Scooter]

And nothing like taking an opportunity to highlight black-on-black violence, no matter that it has absolutely nothing to do with the issue at hand.

[Grim Reaper]

Mr. Zimmerman went beyond the law when he confronted Mr. Martin. The police told him to stay put and not do anything until they arrived. He then tried to be a macho hero and nearly got himself killed for his efforts. He has no one to blame but himself for his actions.

The "innocent" question should never have been asked because Mr. Zimmerman should never have been close enough to say anything.

And something dgs49 conveniently left out of his description of the two individuals is that Mr. Zimmerman weighs 200+ pounds and Mr. Martin weighed 150.

[dgs49]

Reaper, get serious. Martin was a 6'3" tall black kid, and weighed about 150 pounds. Zim is 5'9" and pudgy. Knowing nothing else, which one would you bet on in a fight? Martin sized him up quickly and knew he could kick the shit out of him - which he proceeded to do without provocation - attacked him from behind, according to credible reports.

Martin reacted violently - criminally - to a simple, appropriate question. The idea that a YBM has the right to commit aggravated assault for no other reason than he is asked what he is doing...

...is something that only an idiot would subscribe to. Which explains a lot about recent demonstrations around the country.

Again, when all is said and done, history will record that the deceased precipitated his own demise, Zimmerman will be chastened but not charged, and all the libs and race baiters will whine that a Black man can't get no justice.

SOS.

[Scooter]

The only report that says Zimmerman was attacked from behind without provocation is Zimmerman's own statement. A claim that makes absolutely no sense. If Zimmerman had done absolutely nothing to instigate a confrontation, why did this person he did not even know coincidentally happen to attack him out of the blue?

Zimmerman went looking for trouble, found it, and responded by assassinating a young man in the street.

And if no case can now be made against him then the police can be thanked for botching their investigation when they had the chance, in order to protect the ass of someone they saw as one of the "good guys."

[Grim Reaper]

Reaper, get serious. Martin was a 6'3" tall black kid, and weighed about 150 pounds. Zim is 5'9" and pudgy. Knowing nothing else, which one would you bet on in a fight? Martin sized him up quickly and knew he could kick the shit out of him - which he proceeded to do without provocation - attacked him from behind, according to credible reports.

The guy with a gun, that's who. And guess who won? That's right, the guy with a gun. Go figure. And how pudgy is Mr. Zimmerman? Or is this just more rampant speculation on your part? Also, experience and training probably helps a bit too.

And Mr. Zimmerman was the one overstepping his bounds. He should never have been close to Mr. Martin at all. Which you have deliberately ignored because it decimates your pathetic excuse for an argument.

Martin reacted violently - criminally - to a simple, appropriate question. The idea that a YBM has the right to commit aggravated assault for no other reason than he is asked what he is doing...

Right, after being followed for several minutes by some dude he didn't know. And we don't know how "appropriate" this question was or in what manner it was delivered. All we have is the defendant's version.

...is something that only an idiot would subscribe to. Which explains a lot about recent demonstrations around the country.

If that's all that happened, you'd have a point. But you're just oversimplifying what happened in order to appear to have a point.

Again, when all is said and done, history will record that the deceased precipitated his own demise, Zimmerman will be chastened but not charged, and all the libs and race baiters will whine that a Black man can't get no justice.

Mr. Zimmerman precipitated the argument that lead to the death of Mr. Martin. He's the one ultimately responsible for everything that happened that day.

[Grim Reaper]

And to add some fuel to the fire, Mr. Zimmerman apparently described Mr. Martin as a fucking coon while talking to the 911 operator.