What was "suspicious" about Trayvon Martin ?

[RichD]

Re: Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: WeNdY_PeNdY</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
On which 911 call? Not on the one they released to the public </div></div>


listen to it again....i just did
ETA the transcript:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/326700-full-transcript-zimmerman.html

[SmoothOperator]

Re: Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RichD</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i hear 20 other states have adopted the florida style law </div></div>

Yes but I think I read somewhere that Florida very strict in its interpretation of the law. Madness this cannot stand. If me did still down dey, no lie, me woulda march over this.

[remo]

Re: Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TreyJ</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RichD</div><div class="ubbcode-body">i hear 20 other states have adopted the florida style law </div></div>

Yes but I think I read somewhere that Florida very strict in its interpretation of the law. Madness this cannot stand. If me did still down dey, no lie, me woulda march over this. </div></div>

The Federal Government will have to go at this from a different angle..As a hate crime which it was......And yes that law is madness this is the 21 century..

[Gen]

Re: Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable

Stand Your Ground authors: Trayvon Martin’s shooter should likely be charged, avoid immunity

As black lawmakers call for hearings to review and possibly repeal the Stand-Your-Ground law, the authors of the legislation say it’s being misconstrued and shouldn’t protect the accused shooter of Trayvon Martin.

By Marc Caputo
[email protected]

<span style="font-weight: bold">The authors of Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law say the killer of 14-year-old Trayvon Martin probably should be arrested and doesn’t deserve immunity under the statute.</span>

The comments from the Republican lawmakers came the same day state Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, urged the Florida Conference of Black State Legislators to call for the law to be repealed, amended or subject to legislative hearings. Trayvon’s mother lives in Braynon’s district.

But the lawmakers who crafted the legislation in 2005 — former Sen. Durell Peaden and current state Rep. Dennis Baxley — said the law doesn’t need to be changed. They believe it has been misapplied in the shooting death of Trayvon by a Sanford crime-watch captain, George Zimmerman.

Zimmerman has not been charged because, police said, it appears he acted in self-defense. The Seminole County state attorney’s office decided Tuesday to take the case before a grand jury.

<span style="font-weight: bold">“They got the goods on him. They need to prosecute whoever shot the kid,” said Peaden, a Crestview Republican who sponsored the deadly force law in 2005. “He has no protection under my law.”</span>








yah suh

[mountaingal]

Re: Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable

i read something that said the shooter's father was defending him by saying he (Zimmerman) was Hispanic and thus was not racist.

i've been avoiding this thread and this issue because i'm still recovering from the two that hit close to home since january. i'm glad in a way i don't have sons, and my heart goes out to this young man's mother and other mothers of young black men who, through no fault of their own, are considered enemies of society.

[Nunya]

Re: Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable

[kia027]

Re: Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable

http://huff.to/GGATZh

Report: Lead officer at scene of Martin incident had several complaints, was involved in controversial 2010 case.

A few days ago, WFTV in Orlando reported that Anthony Raimondo, the first officer in charge of the scene the night Trayvon Martin was killed, had three validated complaints during his career and another pending complaint.

He was also involved in another local controversy two years ago. In 2010, Justin Collison, the son of a local police officer, sucker punched a homeless man and broke his nose. Raimondo declined to arrest Collison, and no charges were pressed until WFTV picked up the YouTube video of the incident. Collison, who is white, is the son of a local police lieutenant and the grandson of a former Florida judge. Collison was later ordered to pay the man's medical bills and to donate money to several nonprofit groups

[kia027]

Re: Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable

Martin has merited coverage by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today. The story has been covered by all three broadcast networks and extensively on cable. But there is one outlet that has barely mentioned Trayvon Martin — Fox News.

Here’s a breakdown of the coverage of Trayvon Martin on the three major cable networks from the day of his death through today at noon:

http://huff.to/GBZNs5

[Emperah]

Re: What was &quot;suspicious&quot; about Trayvon Martin ?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: WeNdY_PeNdY</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body">the president got very involved in the henry louis gates police incident-- beer summit &amp; everything;
let's see if he will comment on this- which was far more serious;

i think the shooter has yet to be arrested </div></div>

He should not have gotten involved with that - period

Look at the heat he got for that one and you want him stepping on hot coal again </div></div>

He should say supm now and nuff oddah times as the so-called leader of the country.
That is de problem wid nuff a unno ova deh unno listen tuh oddah ppl too much an tek on weh dem a seh bout how him shouldn't get involved. He's de blasted president an spose fi lead de country in a certain direction. But unno nuh kno bout kingdom laws still so...

[Gen]

Re: What was &quot;suspicious&quot; about Trayvon Martin ?

mek up one list a things him should comment pan nuh-this way we can send it guh gie him.mek sure yuh nuh leff out nothing

[remo]

Re: Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Kia</div><div class="ubbcode-body">:

http://huff.to/GBZNs5

</div></div>

Not to defend FOX but I watch MSNBC religiously and them just jump on this late last week

[kia027]

Re: Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable

Hence why msnbc have 13 compared to CNN 41

Here is a poem for Trayvon

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qm7Nhuthyns" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[jah_yout]

Re: What was &quot;suspicious&quot; about Trayvon Martin ?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: WeNdY_PeNdY</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body">the president got very involved in the henry louis gates police incident-- beer summit &amp; everything;
let's see if he will comment on this- which was far more serious;

i think the shooter has yet to be arrested </div></div>

He should not have gotten involved with that - period

Look at the heat he got for that one and you want him stepping on hot coal again </div></div>

it's not what i want or don't want...i just wonder what are some things a leader can do...

he had no problem lecturing black men on being better fathers when he was in election mode...

so why should he have a problem commenting that this case needs to be investigated to the fullest extent of the law
(shrug)

[lonewolf]

Re: Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable

Palm Beach Post

Close Shooter of Trayvon Martin a habitual caller to cops
At the focal point of a shooting scandal: a mild-mannered neighbor who fixated on crime and focused on young, black males.
By Frances Robles

MiamiHerald.com

Updated: 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Posted: 9:58 a.m. Monday, March 19, 2012


The people at the Retreat at Twin Lakes had been missing bikes, grills and a few times thought strangers were casing their town houses.


When the homeowners association wanted to start a neighborhood watch, only one man stepped up: George Zimmerman, the 28-year-old who admitted to shooting an unarmed Miami Gardens teenager and who is now the focal point of a race-related scandal of national proportions.


Interviews with neighbors reveal a pleasant young man passionate about neighborhood security who took it upon himself to do nightly patrols while he walked his dog.


Licensed to carry a firearm and a student of criminal justice, Zimmerman went door-to-door asking residents to be on the lookout, specifically referring to young black men who appeared to be outsiders, and warned that some were caught lurking, neighbors said. The self-appointed captain of the neighborhood watch program is credited with cracking some crimes, and thwarting others.


But the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin left the boy’s family and attorneys convinced that the volunteer developed a twisted sense of entitlement, one that gave him a false sense of authority to enforce the rule of law in his tiny gated community. Trayvon’s family’s attorneys believe that led to racial profiling and murder.


“He would circle the block and circle it; it was weird,” said Teontae Amie, 17. “If he had spotted me, he’d probably ask me if I lived here. He was known for being really strict.”


Zimmerman called police 46 times since Jan. 1, 2011 to report disturbances, break-ins, windows left open and other incidents. Nine of those times, he saw someone or something suspicious.


“Hey, we’ve had some break-ins in my neighborhood, and there’s a real suspicious guy at Retreat View Circle. This guy looks like he’s up to no good,” Zimmerman told a dispatcher on Feb. 26, the night of Trayvon’s death.


According to 911 recordings released late Friday by Sanford police, Zimmerman said the person was walking slowly, looked drugged and appeared to be looking at people’s houses. Police would later learn that Trayvon had gone to 7-Eleven during the NBA All Star game halftime to get Skittles and Arizona iced tea.


“These a--holes always get away,” Zimmerman complained.


What happened next is unclear, and has already reverberated nationwide. Calls to 911 alerted police to a scuffle and someone crying for help. In one, the chilling howl stopped after the clear, crisp blast of a bullet. Trayvon was lying face down on the ground near a pathway that runs through the townhouse community.


One 911 caller sobbed to the dispatcher over not having helped the young man who wailed.


Zimmerman told police that was him crying for help and that Trayvon started the fight. He claimed self-defense and was not charged, flaring deep-seated racial tensions between blacks and police, who have a long history of distrust. On at least two prior occasions, the Sanford Police Department was accused of giving favorable treatment to relatives of officers involved in violent encounters with blacks.


In 2010, police waited seven weeks to arrest a lieutenant’s son who was caught on video sucker-punching a homeless black man.


In 2005, two security guards — one the son of a longtime Sanford police officer and the other a department volunteer — killed a black man they said was trying to run them over. Black leaders complained of a lackluster investigation. The guards ultimately were acquitted.


“Zimmerman felt he was one of them; he felt he was a cop,” said Trayvon’s family attorney, Natalie Jackson, who accuses the police of protecting him.


The recent shooting raised troubling questions about whether the homeowners association knew its volunteer was armed with a Kel Tek 9mm semiautomatic handgun. Many residents — black and white — question Zimmerman’s judgment and wonder why he would have engaged the teenager at all.


The answer may lie in police records, which show that 50 suspicious-person reports were called in to police in the past year at Twin Lakes. There were eight burglaries, nine thefts and one other shooting in the year prior to Trayvon’s death.


In all, police had been called to the 260-unit complex 402 times from Jan. 1, 2011 to Feb. 26, 2012.


“He once caught a thief and an arrest was made,” said Cynthia Wibker, secretary of the homeowners association. “He helped solve a lot of crimes.”


Zimmerman told neighbors about stolen laptops and unsavory characters. Ibrahim Rashada, a 25-year-old African American who works at U.S. Airways, once spotted young men cutting through the woods entering the complex on foot, and later learned items were stolen those days.


“It’s a gated community, but you can walk in and steal whatever you want,” Rashada’s wife, Quianna, said.


They discussed the topic with Zimmerman when the watch captain knocked on their door late last year. Zimmerman seemed friendly, helpful, and a “pretty cool dude,” Ibrahim Rashada said.


“He came by here and talked about carrying guns and getting my wife more involved with guns,” he said. “He said I should have a weapon and that his wife took classes to learn how to use one.


“I do have a weapon, but I don’t walk around the neighborhood with mine!”


Actually, he does not walk around the neighborhood at all.


“I fit the stereotype he emailed around,” he said. “Listen, you even hear me say it: ‘A black guy did this. A black guy did that.’ So I thought, ‘Let me sit in the house. I don’t want anyone chasing me.’&amp;#8201;”


For walks, he goes downtown. A pregnant Quianna listened to her husband’s rationale, dropped her head, and cried.


“That’s so sad,” she said. “I hope our child doesn’t have to go through that.”


Travis Williams, a black 16-year-old who wears dreadlocks, said last year a man came to his house and accused him of stealing a bicycle. The police even came and checked the serial numbers on the bike in his garage.


Problems in the 6-year-old community started during the recession, when foreclosures forced owners to rent out to “low-lifes and gangsters,” said Frank Taaffe, a former neighborhood block captain.


“Just two weeks before this shooting, George called me at my girlfriend’s house to say he saw some black guy doing surveillance at my house, because I had a left a window open,” Taaffe said. “He thwarted a potential burglary of my house.”


Taaffe sounded chagrined when he noted that the complex is now majority-minority. Census figures show Retreat at Twin Lakes is 49 percent white, non-Hispanic, 23 percent Hispanic, 20 percent African-American and 5 percent Asian.


He suspects Zimmerman got tired of thugs “and reached his breaking point,” Taaffe said. “But why was he carrying a gun? Why not carry pepper spray or a Taser? That’s bizarre-o.”


Taaffe said Zimmerman was so normal that he came across as though he were “an engineer from Lockheed Martin.” He did not show up to homeowner association meetings Rambo-style “wearing a bandana around his head with a bowie knife sticking out of his pocket,” Taaffe said.


It’s unclear what Zimmerman, who is married, does for a living, although he once owned a pressure washing company.


As for any past legal blemishes, he was once arrested for battery on a law enforcement officer when he interfered in a friend’s arrest. The charge was reduced to simple battery, and he entered a plea that allowed him to have a clean record and qualify for a concealed weapons permit.


In a statement delivered to the Orlando Sentinel, his father, Robert Zimmerman, defended his son, who he said was a “Spanish-speaking minority with many black family members and friends.”


“He would be the last to discriminate for any reason whatsoever,” Robert Zimmerman wrote. “One black neighbor recently interviewed said she knew everything in the media was untrue and that she would trust George with her life. Another black neighbor said that George was the only one, black or white, who came and welcomed her to the community, offering any assistance he could provide. Recently, I met two black children George invited to a social event. I asked where they met George. They responded that he was their mentor.”


He said the family prays for Trayvon and his parents every day.


At no time, the father wrote, did George Zimmerman follow or confront Trayvon, although the recording of the call to police shows the dispatcher asking him, “Are you following him?” and Zimmerman answered, “yeah.”


“We don’t need you to do that,” the police dispatcher said.


Police volunteer program coordinator Wendy Dorival said she met Zimmerman in September at a community neighborhood watch presentation.


“I said, ‘If it’s someone you don’t recognize, call us. We’ll figure it out,’&amp;#8201; ” Dorival said. “‘Observe from a safe location.’ There’s even a slide about not being vigilante police. I don’t know how many more times I can repeat it.”


Police Chief Bill Lee said that although police do not encourage watch program volunteers to carry weapons, he recognizes a citizen’s constitutional right to do so. No arrest was made, Lee said, because there was no evidence to disprove Zimmerman’s account.


He has cooperated with the investigation and never retained an attorney, Lee said. His phone numbers are disconnected and no one answered the door at his home or his parents’ home. His in-laws shooed a reporter away. After death threats and an avalanche of hate mail, Lee said Zimmerman went into hiding. Local station WFTV Channel 9 reported that he showed up with a truck last week and moved out.


“We are taking a beating over this,” said Lee, who defends the investigation. “This is all very unsettling. I’m sure if George Zimmerman had the opportunity to relive Sunday, Feb. 26, he’d probably do things differently. I’m sure Trayvon would, too.”

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/...?printArticle=y

[mangoskin]

Re: Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: lonrwolf</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Palm Beach Post

Close Shooter of Trayvon Martin a habitual caller to cops
At the focal point of a shooting scandal: a mild-mannered neighbor who fixated on crime and<span style="font-weight: bold"> focused on young, black males.</span>
By Frances Robles

MiamiHerald.com

Updated: 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Posted: 9:58 a.m. Monday, March 19, 2012


<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 14pt">It’s unclear what Zimmerman, who is married, does for a living, although he once owned a pressure washing company.
As for any past legal blemishes, he was once arrested for battery on a law enforcement officer when he interfered in a friend’s arrest. The charge was reduced to simple battery, and he entered a plea that allowed him to have a clean record and qualify for a concealed weapons permit. </span></span>




http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime/...?printArticle=y </div></div>
Zimmerman might have been responsible for some of the thefts himself, how was he paying his bills? Crime watch association members arent supposed to be armed when patrolling