Zimmerman not guilty
I guess at about 10pm last night, the six jurors, whose identities are being kept secret, decided that George Zimmerman is not guilty of all of the charges. So I guess there was room for justice in the court room. Of course, it was public opinion that got Zimmerman arrested, it took the prosecution almost two months to manufacture charges against him. From ABC News;
The Martin family lawyer, Ben Crump, said Trayvon Martin would go down “in the annals of history next to Medgar Evers and Emmett Till as symbols of the fight for equal justice for all.”
He added, “All America needs to dig deep to figure out how we learn from this tragedy and make sure it’s not repeated.”
The prosecutors were disappointed with the verdict.
Angela Corey, in a news conference following the verdict, said the state arrested Zimmerman because “We truly believe the mindset of George Zimmerman and the words that he used and that he was out doing what he was doing fit the bill for second degree murder.”
Prosecutor John Guy said during his rebuttal at the end of the trial that Zimmerman “had hate in his heart” when he followed Martin the night of the fatal confrontation. As evidence he quote Zimmerman telling a police dispatcher that “these a**holes always get away” and muttering “f***king punks.”
Talk about hyperbole. Fox News is broadcasting images of riots in Oakland. Yeah, that’ll fix things. But others are reporting that’s untrue. Twitchy has photos.
Casey Porter was at the scene of the trial the other day and got this video of a woman with a fake Jamaican accent who calls herself “Big Momma Jones”;
Category: Breaking News
and often have to work at being objective
You seem pretty objective to me on most things, you cite rule and regulation. I would not ever call you subjective only Hondo, whereas I tend to be opinionated right away and I have to be careful there as it draws me away from analytically taking an issue from both sides and disassembling it objectively…although I do that for my job all the time, look at images, pieces of code, intended result and work a project through…
But on these topical issues I think past experiences cloud my vision from time to time…growing up as the only poor family in an affluent neighborhood my brothers and I were often the initial suspects when something went south….it was usually the same group of spoiled rich kids, and it gets old having someone assume you’re always the culprit when there is no evidence of it…so I learned early not to believe, trust or respect cops because they did what their masters told them…don’t hassle the mayors kids or other officers kids, but go ahead and fuck with everybody in my neighborhood because we don’t have money and can’t fight back…those days are long past, I live in a nice house with a pool and a hot tub across the street from a high school…but the memories linger.
I have many friends who are LEOs now all of whom are great people including our local police chief who I worked with to write some fundraising grants to help the community get a sports complex with parking done in our town…but I am still suspicious of the police, probably without cause based on my current existence, but old lessons die hard.
Thanks folks for letting me express my viewpoints and making me think long and hard about this issue, it’s important for me to remember to be honest with myself about why I think what I do on this…
If you defend a sex assault case in the military, you can feel a strong political wind blowing in your face – which is why many cases get brought on weak evidence. I can imagine it’s similar defending a white man accused of doing bad things to a black man in civilian court.
But even when people are losing their heads and demonstrating in the streets, and you start to think you’re defending “witches” in Salem without a chance in Hades…those good old eighteenth-century protections, the presumption of innocence and the right to remain silent, can still come through. It says something good about the human race in general and this country in particular that military and civilian juries alike will so often acquit, even in the face of “pressure” to do the contrary.
“WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?” Sorry, had to shrill like a washed-up harpy there.
It is terrible that Martin was killed during the incident. It is just as terrible that Zimmerman will face threats and persecution for the rest of his life. But, he was found NOT GUILTY by a Jury of his peers. Leave it to the government to say that he is guilty and try to sentence him for civil rights violations against Trayvon.
I watched the trial, I listened to the evidence, and I believe that he did the right thing. Were I in an identical circumstance, I would do the same thing. Any of us would do the same thing. Would you rather get your head beaten in until your gun was found (at which point you would be shot and the gun would be used for who knows what) or would you rather not die from being assaulted?
In that, I can say that I am GEORGE ZIMMERMAN. I would react the same way. I would follow someone who looked out of place because I am the head of the neighborhood watch. I would call the non-emergency police line. I would do everything the same.
I just want to say this: If George Zimmerman is white, then so is Barack Obama.
Fairly regularly, TAH publishes “Good News” in which a gun owner becomes a gun user and shoots, sometimes fatally, a criminal. Beyond a news article, a spot on TAH, these criminals are unknown.
Trayvon Martin is know for one reason: to congeal the hate in the hearts of African Americans in order to get them to the voting booths.
To do that, George Zimmerman became a caucasian. Police officers were removed (and the retalions are continuing, btw – the IT specialist who notified the public that the prosecutor was withholdling evidence has been fired).
And now, the NAACP and the DOJ are working on civil trials of George Zimmerman. I hope Zimmerman countersues: the evidence points to DOJ stormtroopers whipping up the riots and protests that forced Zimmerman to be arrested.
I thought we left Jim Crow behind. Turns out he’s a lawyer for DOJ and the NAACP now.
very true doc,
tell yall a story
the other day, i pick up a 14 year old kid. hes from a split home and has had several vandalism, fighting, and petty theft run ins. i already know when i pick him up, he will be released back to his mother, and that will be the end of it. because of his age, there are no real penalties. any fines imposed will fall to his mother who is working her tail off to take care of this boy and his sister. this kid will eventually graduate to more serious crimes, and once he is old enough to actually be held responsible, will spend a lot of time at county.
So i hear about Martin, a young kid from a split home with several law run ins for fighting, a school suspension for possession of CDS, and now he ends up on the loseing end of a pistol. it is hard not to draw the parallels between the 2 cases. i dont want to see this 14 year old kid end up dead or in prison, but there is little i can do about that. he must choose his path, and the one he is on is leading him in the same direction as Martin. i was always raised to take responsibility for my actions and the results of them. as such i have no sympathy for the results that came of Martin’s actions nor will i have any when this young boy in my jurisdiction meets a similar fate. it is sad that a young life is wasted, but it was wasted long before Zimmerman pulled the trigger
I cannot believe the camera stayed on “Big Mamma” as long as it did. What a clown.
@29: Zimmerman didn’t “need” to get out of his vehicle and Martin didn’t “need” to attack him when Zimmerman had turned around and headed back to his vehicle. If Martin had just went on his way, he would still be alive, but being a wannabe gangsta got in the way of him just walking away. Should Zimmerman have let Martin continue to beat his head against the cement? Would the proper recourse have been to just let a stranger continue to walk close to houses that had been burglarized in the past (the whole reason for the neighborhood watch to begin with)? Is following someone a crime?
I’m tired of hearing the mantra that Zimmerman initiated this, because the evidence doesn’t support it. The prosecution, and several “expert” former prosecutor talking heads, have continued to push that Zimmerman lied, when all the evidence, including several of the prosecution’s own witnesses, have shown that everything Zimmerman said about that night was true. So; who is lying? Is it a tragedy, that Marin is dead? Of course. However, he wasn’t the sweet and innocent 12 year old that Martin’s family, the prosecution, and the media want to portray him to have been. He was 6′-3″ tall and 17 years old. I know of several 15-17 year old “children” that are some of the most dangerous thugs out there and when they commit a murder, you can bet they will be tried as adults. Why is it different in this instance?
Martin has to be held accountable for his actions that night as well.
Just to clarify the Autopsy report listed Martin’s size at death as being 5′ 11″ tall and 158 pounds. Following the incident some supporters of Zimmerman put up a picture of ANOTHER Trayvon Martin from Florida. This gentleman was 6’2″ over 200 pounds and had the gold teeth and tats that screamed “thug”.
Back to the size issue, Zimmerman is 5’8″ and was about 195 pounds at the time. He was shorter, and to put it kindly a “doughy Motherfucker”
All that being said, from fitness to aggressiveness Trayvon Martin was a much more dangerous individual in a fistfight.
Good for George, he never should have been arrested, and this was completely racial. If you were to keep everything the same, but switch his gender, or switch races of the men involved, how would that influence public opinion? Racial and gender bias were rampant here, and I commend the jury for seeing through all of that. Had Trayvon commited rape or murder, he would have been tried as an adult, no doubt about it. Everyone wants to call him a child, but that was not the case. Sadly, that young man is doing more good in death than he ever would in life, by raising dialogue and awareness.
HLN is guilty of media bias by playing the second part of the 911 call, with the local operator snippet, “are you following him? okay we don’t need you to do that” Everyone has seen that commercial.
Now think for a minute how the people would react to a different commercial playing the first part of the 911 dispatcher, prior to being forwarded to the local operator, “Okay keep an eye on him and tell us where he is going.” Both statements are factually true and occurred on the same tape, but we see which one the news chose to play, and how it shaped popular opinion. The news made this possible through biased reporting. A different commercial would have painted Zimmerman innocent from the get go, and been more factually correct than anything the news chose to report.
The real question is did the robberies stop after the shooting happened?
Drug using, gun touting, thievery of Saint Trayvon won’t be missed. Someone with enough balls and sense of pride to take care of their community will.
Cop wannabe runs into a thug wannabe…it was a train-wreck and the out come was tragic.
FatCircles0311@62, I was wondering the same thing.
@62. Interesting question. I doubt that anyone could pry that info out of the Sanford PD now. The info is probably buried next to Jimmy Hoffa.
@58 I’m tired of hearing the mantra that Zimmerman initiated this, because the evidence doesn’t support it.
as a jury of Zimmerman’s peers agreed…thus he’s not guilty…I’m not ever going to believe he’s innocent, but he’s certainly not guilty. Which as I recall was the outcome I predicted a couple of days ago…it doesn’t mean you are going to change your mind about this case any more than I am.
F$ck Zimmerman, sh1tbag that he is…one doper killed another no big deal happens every day in the US…oh wait Zimmerman’s dope is legal so I guess only Martin was the doper….strike my comments as irrelevant…
Thank you for posting my work. Here are some other photos from the event.
@63: Yep. 2 wrongs don’t make a right and it can’t all be laid at Zimmerman’s feet.
From Twitchy this morning. Thought it was pretty succinct.
By: ChampionCapua
When you embrace a certain lifestyle, you become a 2-bit punk in school.
When you become a 2-bit punk in school, you think it’s funny to write “WTF” on someone’s locker.
When you write “WTF” on someone’s locker, you get reported.
When you get reported, you get YOUR locker searched.
When you get YOUR locker searched, they find stolen items and burglary tools.
When they find stolen items and burglary tools, you get a long suspension.
When you get a long suspension, your Mother sends you away for awhile to your father’s little town.
When you are away in your father’s little town, you get bored.
When you get bored, you take long walks through unfamiliar places.
When you take long walks through unfamiliar places, you get spotted and followed by Neighborhood watches.
When you get spotted and followed by Neighborhood watches, you get pissed.
When you get pissed, you start fighting.
When you start fighting, you start winning and feeling good.
When you start winning and feeling good, you keep pounding.
When you keep pounding, you get shot through the heart by a concealed carry.
Don’t get shot through the heart by a concealed carry. Don’t be a 2-bit punk in school.
i love it!
Trayvon got justice. What’s left/libtards’ issue?
I simply would like to know if all the outrage would still be there if Martin was a hispanic or white kid and Zimmerman a black guy. If they can honestly answer yes, and the protests area gainst crime and violence in the streets, then I can support them. If not, these are simply bored people with persecution complexes and too much time on their hands. My biggest question is have we learned anything, as a society, from this?
@70 Or there is this one….
When you embrace a certain lifestyle, you become a cop wannabe.
When you fail to actually become a cop you like to drink and fight.
When you like to drink and fight you beat your girlfriend.
When you beat your girlfriend the cops show up.
When the cops show up you fight with the cops and get arrested for a felony.
When your dad is a retired judge you get to enter an alcohol education program and have your felony wiped away without repercussion or permanent record.
When you get your felonies wiped clean without paying your dues you have trouble sleeping with your guilt at night.
When you have trouble sleeping with your guilt you tell your doctor.
When you tell your doctor he prescribes hypnotic sleep drugs like Temazapem to ease your troubled conscience.
When you take Temazapem to help you sleep you need help staying focused in the morning.
When you need help staying focused in the morning your doctor prescribes Adderall to keep your mind clear.
When you take hypnotics to sleep and amphetamines to focus your judgment becomes impaired.
When your judgment becomes impaired you find yourself in a situation where you end up killing a kid during a confrontation.
When your dad is a retired judge and you are able to raise 300,000 dollars to defend yourself you aren’t convicted of any crime for killing a kid.
When you have connections your life is always better than when you don’t.
VOV, If I remember correctly the arrest for assaulting a cop was for when he pushed an undercover cop in a bar. I also don’t know how much pull that a judge that retired 10 years prior in a different State would have.
The problem here is both of these people suck and supporters on both sides are trying to make them something they are not….
Zimmerman is no more of hero than Ken Crocheron, and Martin is no more of a martyr than Tupac….
We forgive the flawed characters of the guys on our side, while demonizing the guys on the other side. I’m as guilty as anyone on this case of that charge.
I guess when I distill it all down the take away is there’s a dead punk killed by a sh1tbag….nothing different than any other day in American except this one caught fire…
Shouldn’t caucasians we rioting… or something – based on the following article, about a white guy who died as the result of a race-related beating?
Funny how the media is silent about this one.
http://www.wnd.com/2012/08/blacks-pummel-white-guy-for-fun-of-it/
…sorry, I forgot to add this.
The victim died Friday:
http://www.theglobaldispatch.com/boredom-beating-victim-pat-mahaney-dead-less-than-a-year-after-the-beating-44519/
@78 I’m with you where do we start? That’s a group of kids who would not be missed…
being the son of a retired judge has nothing to do with anything. it certainly has nothing to do with raising 300K for his defense, as i donated 500$ of that and dont care what his dad did. he wasnt convicted of a crime, because he didnt commit one. no one has claimed he is a saint, simply that he was in the right in this case. i dont live in a gated community and id follow someone that is walking between houses in the middle of the night. im sure id call it in too. Zimmerman followed the instructions of the dispatcher, and only exited his vehicle when asked where martin was after he had said he lost sight of him. the dispatcher said we dont need you to follow him, and zimmerman went back to his truck. on his way back, martin attacked him. these are the facts of the case and why zimmerman is the “good guy” in this case. he is no saint, but neither is anyone here. in this incident, he was in the right.
@77: While I don’t consider myself a “supporter” of Zimmerman, the man, I am a supporter of Zimmerman “the wrongly charged and tried and rightly acquitted”. Martin wasn’t “a kid”, either, since he was old enough to drive a car, old enough to smoke weed, old enough to have a picture of himself with a pistol (not old enough to legally have possession of it, though), old enough to have that gold grill cooking, etc.
As for the felony of fighting with cops………if you even put a finger on a cop it’s a felony, whether you are fighting with them, or not, so I will take that charge with a grain of salt.
Trooper, the alleged felony was Zimmerman pushing a State Alcohol Agent, or whatever Florida calls them. He got court-approved diversion for that, I believe. So, it wasn’t all that, to begin with.
I agree, I doubt that I’d be friends with Zimmerman, but I also support Zimmerman the wrongly arrested, wrongly tried, rightly acquitted man.
For whatever it’s worth, I think that this piece by William Saletan is the fairest I’ve seen on the Martin/Zimmerman affair.
http://mobile.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/frame_game/2013/07/trayvon_martin_verdict_racism_hate_crimes_prosecution_and_other_overreactions.html?original_referrer=http%3A%2F%2Face.mu.nu%2F