George Zimmerman: Prelude to a shooting | Reuters

I’m an exceedingly fair person… 

…and, it’s wonderful that this man has such a glowing account of friends and he’s been given the opportunity to show that he’s supposedly not a “racist”…. but the fact of the matter is, he profiled Trayvon Martin.  Whether he did that because he was black or not, he profiled Trayvon Martin and, attempted to restrain another person, without any proof or a crime being committed at the time or without witnessing any proof of a crime.   He attempted to restrain a person without having been trained to do so and without that really being what he was asked to do.  This suspicious behaviour that Zimmerman witnessed was caused by himself, as he was following Trayvon and he claimed that these burglars, “always get away”, when the guy that caused a lot of this suspicion in Zimmerman’s mind is, in fact, back in jail.  

Zimmerman’s mental state, in this piece, clearly indicates that he was frustrated and felt that nothing was being done with regard to the crime in the neighbourhood, so he chose to take matters into his own hands.  He was the one pushing for the neighbourhood watch, and I’ve been at many of those kinds of meetings.  The first question you ask someone that wants to put a committee or subgroup together or wants to take some action, is to ask if the person making the request wants to step up and volunteer to head the group.   He was clearly in a vigilante state, and he was very much in a state of mind where he wanted people to be detained or arrested prior to an actual crime being committed or without actual proof of a crime.  I’m not saying that a part of that may or may not be justified, but it’s also the wrong kind of attitude to have as the person who heads the neighbourhood watch.  If anyone should have been on the side of local law enforcement, it should have been him.   

And, I’m sorry, but bottom of the line is… you’re pretty much saying he can’t be a racist, because he has this type of background and it’s a mixed background.  A lot of people hate where they come from… (number one).  Number two, he judged a person based on the colour of his skin.  He associated Trayvon Martin with a stereotype.  He prejudged him, which is prejudice, and his judgment caused Trayvon Martin’s death.   

A good attorney can make an EXCELLENT case for Murder Two with this story presented as is.  I, personally believe that what I’ve seen of the evidence (not what is being presented in a court of law, nor what I’m asked to review as a jurist) shows Zimmerman guilty of manslaughter.   Because, at the end of the day… we can’t have people getting frustrated with crime in their area and killing their neighbours.  At every step of the way, George Zimmerman disregarded local law enforcement, from carrying a fire arm with him while on neighbourhood watch, to not respecting the person on the phone’s request that he not engage or follow Trayvon Martin, to not discussing his frustrations with what he felt were local law enforcement’s inactions or slow reactions.   “They always get away,” is a comment just as revealing about how he felt about local law enforcement as those perpetrating the crimes.  He felt he could and would do better than them, and so he made a choice.  He made a choice to chase down someone he viewed was suspicious, based on the colour of his skin.  That is the very definition of racism. 

I’m sorry, but if I had any doubts at all about George Zimmerman before, his family trying to sell me on what a wonderful man he is negated them.  Like I said, I’m exceedingly fair… and if someone can present evidence that shows that Zimmerman had honestly, taken steps to express his frustrations prior to that night, that’s something I’m willing to look at.  Otherwise, it very much looks like Zimmerman wanted to be a cop and wanted to do everything he could to be a cop, when he didn’t have the training to be a cop and was not wearing a badge.  There are too many people in this country that think it’s acceptable to carry on in this kind of manner and, I think if George Zimmerman gets acquitted, that will only compound the problem.  

(Source: nedhepburn, via newsweek)

Police Report from the night Trayvon Martin was gunned down (PDF)

mohandasgandhi:

Question: If Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman were engaged in an altercation in the manner reported by Zimmerman, rather, Martin was on top of Zimmerman and beating him in the head before Zimmerman shot him in the chest, why didn’t Zimmerman have blood-stained clothes after shooting Martin at such a close range? Have you ever seen a gunshot victim? Forgive my vulgarity but usually, it’s an absolute mess.

….and so he didn’t go to the hospital to get cleaned up.  

(Source: abaldwin360, via randomactsofchaos)

Remember the George Zimmerman video from last night? Here's what his lawyer says about the clip: It's too grainy.

shortformblog:

Appearing on NBC’s TODAY on Thursday, Zimmerman’s attorney Craig Sonner described the video as “very grainy.” He also pointed out that Zimmerman had been “cleaned-up” and received first aid in the four hours between the incident and Zimmerman’s videotaped arrival at the police station.

Sonner has previously said that his client suffered a broken nose and a gash to his head during the altercation.

Having seen the clip, does Sonner have a point or do you think he’s just muddying the waters?

Broken noses SWELL horrifically - and if not swollen, it would have been taped, so would a gash. If it had been deep enough, it would have been sutured and stitched, and going into as an unsanitary place as a jail, a nurse would have been ordered to bandage it up, as well.  

I’m just saying - those injuries were so bad, he’d been to the hospital, and we don’t see any sign of serious treatment for wounds such as that?  Or a broken nose?  

The video isn’t very clear, but the black raccoon eyes that are the tell tale sign of a broken nose also seem to be clearly missing, as well.  Oh, the irony of “raccoon eyes” being a deciding factor here.