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[DMM]

http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=16252

Boy, you think the President will address this?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

Why would he?

Where is the injustice in that? Your post would only make sense if there were witnesses that can identify the murderer(s) and that the murderers are allowed to go free because they claim they were defending themselves against the victim. In this case, we know the suspects are possibly black and that they are on the run. I think your blinded by color. Let's pretend Trayvon Martin was white and Zimmerman is white. It's still completely fucked up that somebody can be shot and killed in their own neigborhood by some volunteer watchman with power tripping issues who has been known to harass people in that neighborhood. Even if Martin was "beating up" Zimmerman, it's still insane that he is allowed to say he was "defending his life." You really have to be hulking out in order to beat somebody to death.

[achilles]

Why would he?

Where is the injustice in that? Your post would only make sense if there were witnesses that can identify the murderer(s) and that the murderers are allowed to go free because they claim they were defending themselves against the victim. In this case, we know the suspects are possibly black and that they are on the run. I think your blinded by color. Let's pretend Trayvon Martin was white and Zimmerman is white. It's still completely fucked up that somebody can be shot and killed in their own neigborhood by some volunteer watchman with power tripping issues who has been known to harass people in that neighborhood. Even if Martin was "beating up" Zimmerman, it's still insane that he is allowed to say he was "defending his life." You really have to be hulking out in order to beat somebody to death.

No, you don't. You can know what you're doing, or get in one lucky shot. or simply beat the guy into the ground. In fact, it's fairly easy to kill someone with your hands and feet, especially if you have them down or get them by surprise.

[habitual]

Clearly not as easy as plugging them in the chest with a semi-automatic.

Hab

[Cat-Scratch]

No, you don't. You can know what you're doing, or get in one lucky shot. or simply beat the guy into the ground. In fact, it's fairly easy to kill someone with your hands and feet, especially if you have them down or get them by surprise.

*Posts video clip of the one elevator scene from Drive.*

[GOSD]

Why would he?

Where is the injustice in that? Your post would only make sense if there were witnesses that can identify the murderer(s) and that the murderers are allowed to go free because they claim they were defending themselves against the victim. In this case, we know the suspects are possibly black and that they are on the run. I think your blinded by color. Let's pretend Trayvon Martin was white and Zimmerman is white. It's still completely fucked up that somebody can be shot and killed in their own neigborhood by some volunteer watchman with power tripping issues who has been known to harass people in that neighborhood. Even if Martin was "beating up" Zimmerman, it's still insane that he is allowed to say he was "defending his life." You really have to be hulking out in order to beat somebody to death.

Actually, you don't have to be "hulking" out to kill someone, dude.

You're too quick to judge w/o knowing all of the facts like most people on here.

Just wait until ALL of the facts come out.

[GOSD]

where the black guys fleeing the scene campus security who shot the kid for being suspicious?

I think you were trying to make a point but it got lost in translation.

Try again.

[Cat-Scratch]

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/artic ... rally?bn=1

Trayvon Martin shooting: Shooter claims U.S. teen attacked him

With a single punch, Trayvon Martin decked the neighbourhood watch volunteer who eventually shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old, then Martin climbed on top of George Zimmerman and slammed his head into the sidewalk several times, leaving him bloody and battered, authorities have revealed to the Orlando Sentinel.

That is the account Zimmerman gave police, and much of it has been corroborated by witnesses, authorities say.

Zimmerman has not spoken publicly about what happened, but that night, Feb. 26, and in later meetings he described and re-enacted for police what he says happened.

Zimmerman’s lawyer, Craig Sonner, has denied there was any racial motive. Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is Hispanic.

In his version of events, he had turned around and was walking back to his SUV when Martin approached him from behind, the two exchanged words then Martin punched him in the nose, sending him to the ground, and began beating him.

Zimmerman told police he shot the teenager in self-defence.

Civil rights leaders and thousands of others have demanded Zimmerman's arrest, calling Martin a victim of racial profiling and Zimmerman a vigilante.

Martin was an unarmed black teenager who had committed no crime, they say, who was gunned down while walking back from a 7-Eleven with nothing more sinister than a package of Skittles and can of Arizona iced tea.

Supporters have held rallies in Sanford, Miami, New York and Tallahassee, calling the case a tragic miscarriage of injustice.

Activist Al Sharpton headlined a rally in Sanford Thursday that drew an estimated 8,000 people. The Rev. Jesse Jackson yesterday spoke at an Eatonville church, where he called the teen a martyr.

Another rally was scheduled for 4 p.m. Monday in Sanford.

Zimmerman has gone into hiding. A fringe group, the New Black Panthers, have offered a $10,000 reward for his capture.

Police have been reluctant to provided details about all their evidence, but this is what they've disclosed to the Sentinel:

Zimmerman was on his way to the grocery store when he spotted Martin walking through his gated community.

Martin was visiting his father's fiancée, who lived there. He had been suspended from school in Miami after being found with an empty marijuana baggie. Miami schools have a zero-tolerance policy for drug possession.

Zimmerman called police and reported a suspicious person, describing Martin as black, acting strangely and perhaps on drugs.

Zimmerman got out of his SUV to follow Martin on foot. When a dispatch employee asked Zimmerman if he was following the 17-year-old, Zimmerman said yes. The dispatcher told Zimmerman he did not need to do that.

There is about a one-minute gap during which police say they're not sure what happened.

Zimmerman told them he lost sight of Martin and was walking back to his SUV when Martin approached him from the left rear, and they exchanged words.

Martin asked Zimmerman if he had a problem. Zimmerman said no and reached for his cell phone, he told police.

Martin then said, “Well, you do now” or something similar and punched Zimmerman in the nose.

Zimmerman fell to the ground and Martin got on top of him and began slamming his head into the sidewalk, he told police.

Zimmerman began yelling for help.

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

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

One witness, who has since talked to local television news reporters, told police he saw Zimmerman on the ground with Martin on top, pounding him and was unequivocal that it was Zimmerman who was crying for help.

Zimmerman then shot Martin once in the chest from very close range, according to authorities.

When police arrived less than two minutes later, Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose, had a swollen lip and had bloody lacerations to the back of his head.

Paramedics gave him first aid, but he said no to going to the hospital. He got medical care the next day.

The Department of Justice last week opened a civil rights investigation into what happened, and Gov. Rick Scott appointed a special prosecutor.

It's not clear whether the special prosecutor, Angela Corey, the state attorney for Duval, Clay and Nassau counties, will have Zimmerman arrested, announce that there's not enough evidence to file a manslaughter charge or present evidence to a grand jury.

A friend of Zimmerman said Monday that Zimmerman would tell the teen's parents he's “very, very sorry” if he could.

Speaking on ABC's Good Morning America, Joe Oliver said Zimmerman is not a racist and has virtually lost his own life since the shooting.

“This is a guy who thought he was doing the right thing at the time, and it's turned out horribly wrong,” Oliver said.

Also Monday, the state Department of Juvenile Justice confirmed that Martin does not have a juvenile offender record. The information came after a public records request by The Associated Press.

With files from Star wire services

Before Frag asks... The most left wing paper here... outside of the downtown Toronto freebie papers...

[Psivage]

zimmerman should have went to the hospital, then he has proof his version happen.

I really don't think we will ever know what really happen on the night. Due to improper police procedures.

[achilles]

Clearly not as easy as plugging them in the chest with a semi-automatic.

Hab

No, but perfectly doable. In the isolated context of a hypothetical self-defense scenario, (since I don't know enough about this one to comment one way or another), I'd consider it perfectly reasonable in some circumstances to use a gun and lethal force to defend against a furious unarmed attack that catches me off guard and injures me.

Obviously not a 95 pound 80 year old woman attacking you, but yeah, a healthy athletic 17 year old guy, sure. Especially if, (and again, I don't know if this was the case at all), that guy was trying to take my firearm. Or was hitting me in the head area, which appears to have been the case.

[achilles]

zimmerman should have went to the hospital, then he has proof his version happen.

I really don't think we will ever know what really happen on the night. Due to improper police procedures.

He absolutely should have.

[achilles]

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1152058--trayvon-martin-shooting-parents-of-shot-u-s-teen-to-lead-rally?bn=1



Before Frag asks... The most left wing paper here... outside of the downtown Toronto freebie papers...

Yeah, that slamming the head against the sidewalk, if true, seals the deal. That's a killer right there. We'll see. I'd say wait another few weeks or so for more evidence to come out, tempers to clear, and the demagogues to go home.

[DMM]

Actually, you don't have to be "hulking" out to kill someone, dude.

You're too quick to judge w/o knowing all of the facts like most people on here.

Just wait until ALL of the facts come out.

Well, my first point was that your "comparison" post about Obama treating the murder in the story in your link equally to the Martin killing was completely wrong, which it was.

As to my second point, the human body is very resilient. It is hard to kill somebody in hand-to-hand combat unless you choke somebody to death or crush their windpipe. If you pick up a rock or other weapon, you may be able to crush somebody's skull in, or--as is the case based on the details in Scratch's post--pound somebody's head into concrete or rock. Sounds like Zimmerman really may have felt his life was in danger with some justification. It's a bad situation, and I just hope this teaches him to stop trying to play hero and let the police do their jobs instead.

[Cat-Scratch]

Thing is, could Trayvon be covered under the very same law as Zimmerman is trying to use?

To add some contrast, for Frag and others whom want to say sources can be slanted or at least suggest they are...

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/03/26/ki ... cked-first

Killer of Florida teen told police he was attacked first
Witness said to corroborate self-defense account

Barbara Liston, Reuters

SANFORD, FLA. - A neighborhood watch captain told police he fatally shot Trayvon Martin after the teenager punched him, knocked him down and slammed his head into the ground, the Orlando Sentinel reported on Monday.

At least one witness told police he saw Martin, 17, atop George Zimmerman, 28, and that Zimmerman was calling for help, the newspaper said, adding that other witnesses disputed who the cries were coming from.

ABC News quoted a police source as saying that Zimmerman, in a written statement, claimed that Martin tried to take his gun.

The Feb. 26 killing of the black teenager as he walked through a gated community by Zimmerman, a white Hispanic, has triggered protests around the country and calls for Zimmerman’s arrest.

Zimmerman had followed Martin and reported him to police before their deadly encounter. He said believed the young man in a “hoodie” hooded sweatshirt looked to be “up to no good.”

Zimmerman’s attorney has said he acted in self-defense. He has not been arrested and Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which broadened the legal definition of self-defense when it was passed in 2005, provides people with immunity from detention or arrest if they use deadly force in their own defense without clear evidence of malice.

Sanford police said they could neither confirm nor deny the Sentinel story about Zimmerman’s account of the incident, which occurred as Martin returned from a convenience store carrying candy and a can of iced tea.

Florida law enforcement has been under fire for weeks as protests decrying inaction in the case have spread to cities across the country. Florida Governor Rick Scott on Monday cautioned against a rush to judgment and state authorities were still gathering facts.

“Justice will prevail,” Scott said in an interview with Reuters Insider in New York. “That’s what we all want. We want the ... facts and we want to know that justice happens.”

Protesters, many dressed in hoodies like the kind Martin wore at the time of his death, point to a 911 call Zimmerman made before the altercation began.

Last Thursday, Scott said State Attorney Norman Wolfinger had agreed to remove himself from the investigation. Scott appointed another Florida prosecutor, Angela Corey, to handle the case. He also created a task force to study crime prevention and specifically the state’s Stand Your Ground law.

Asked if the case rose to the level of a possible hate crime, Scott said such a judgment would be premature.

Corey called for patience on Monday as her team of investigators continues looking into Martin’s killing.

“Justifiable use of deadly force has been asserted in this case, will continue to be asserted, which will make our job more difficult,” Corey told CNN, referring to the Stand Your Ground law.

“However, we do believe when we’re done with our investigation the family will know all of the facts and details, as will the public. But they must be patient and we ask for their indulgence.”

Martin, a Miami high school student, was in Sanford, staying at the home of a friend of his father, because he had been suspended from school shortly before his death.

On Monday, a family spokesman said the 10-day suspension came after school officials discovered marijuana residue in a plastic bag inside Martin’s book bag.

“Regardless of Trayvon’s suspension, it had nothing to do with what happened on Feb. 26,” Ryan Julison, the family spokesman, told reporters.

Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, suggested in comments at a news conference that the marijuana residue report was aimed at smearing her dead child.

“They’ve killed my son and now they’re trying to kill his reputation,” she said.

That was the "most right wing" paper as some would say, here in Toronto and one belonging to the chain Stephen Day pointed out.

But here's what the other one, that folks call the most "most right wing" paper in Toronto is reporting today... The National Post...

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/26 ... -governor/

Trayvon Martin case will see justice prevail, but we shouldn’t rush to judgment: Florida Governor

Reuters

NEW YORK — Florida Governor Rick Scott on Monday cautioned against a rush to judgment in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, saying state authorities were still gathering facts.

Martin, a 17-year-old African American, was killed on February 26 while walking through a gated community in an Orlando suburb. George Zimmerman, a white Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer, believed the young man in a “hoodie” hooded sweatshirt looked suspicious. Zimmerman followed him and an altercation ensued.

Zimmerman’s attorney has said Zimmerman acted in self-defense. He has not been arrested.

“Justice will prevail. That’s what we all want. We want the know the facts and we want to know that justice happens,” Scott said in an interview with Reuters Insider in New York.

Florida law enforcement has been under fire for weeks as protests decrying inaction in the case have spread to cities across the country. Over the weekend, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter told MSNBC he considered the shooting to be “nothing short of an assassination.”

Protesters, many dressed in hoodies like the kind Martin wore at the time of his death, point to a 911 call Zimmerman made before the altercation began. Zimmerman told the dispatcher he was following Martin, who he described as appearing to be “up to no good.”

Martin reportedly had been returning from a convenience store carrying candy and a can of iced tea when he encountered Zimmerman.

Last Thursday, Scott said State Attorney Norman Wolfinger had agreed to remove himself from the investigation. Scott appointed another Florida prosecutor, Angela Corey, to handle the case.

Scott also created a task force to study crime prevention, and specifically the state’s controversial Stand Your Ground law, which allows people to use deadly force in self-defense.

Asked if the case rose to the level of a possible hate crime, Scott said such a judgment would be premature.

“Hopefully, it wasn’t anything like that, but we don’t know enough facts. I mean, my goal is, let’s get the facts and let’s make sure if somebody did something wrong, let’s hold them accountable,” he said.

And a the first link within that story, related to the story...

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/03/25 ... iend-says/

Trayvon Martin shooter ‘couldn’t stop crying’ after fatal attack, family friend says

Reuters

SANFORD, Fla. – George Zimmerman cried for days in remorse after shooting dead a black Florida teenager, a family friend of Zimmerman said on Sunday, offering a sympathetic portrayal of the man at the focal point of a national uproar.

Zimmerman, 28, a white Hispanic, shot Trayvon Martin, 17, in what he said was self defense during an altercation in the gated community Zimmerman was watching on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Florida. After barely going noticed for weeks, the case has since galvanized the country and renewed a national discussion about race.

“He couldn’t stop crying. He’s a caring human being,” Joe Oliver, 53, a former television news reporter and anchor in Orlando who has known Zimmerman for several years, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

“I mean, he took a man’s life and he has no idea what to do about it. He’s extremely remorseful about it,” Oliver said, relating stories told to him by Zimmerman’s mother-in-law, a close friend of Oliver’s wife.

Oliver’s account counters the withering criticism Zimmerman has sustained from demonstrators across the country who have demanded his arrest and accused him of racial bias in targeting Martin. Celebrities have taken up the cause of justice for Trayvon, and President Barack Obama said “all of us have to do some soul-searching” as a result of the tragedy.

“I’m a black male and all that I know is that George has never given me any reason whatsoever to believe he has anything against people of color,” Oliver said.

Sanford police did not arrest Zimmerman, saying the evidence could not disprove his account of self-defense, though the case is under review by a state special prosecutor and the U.S. Justice Department.

Zimmerman dropped out of public view shortly after the shooting and his whereabouts were unknown. The New Black Panther Party, an African American organization taking its name from the radical group of the 1960s, has placed a $10,000 bounty on Zimmerman.

“All these people who are threatening George, what makes them any better than the person they think he is?” Oliver said. “You’ve got all these people wanting to lynch the man and they don’t know the whole story. There are huge gaps that are being filled in and interpreted without evidence.”

Oliver tried to reach Zimmerman after the shooting but he had not spoken with him until Saturday in a conversation arranged by Zimmerman’s lawyer.

As a black man, he said he understands how minorities are often unfairly treated, but he believed Zimmerman was simply doing his job by growing suspicious over an unfamiliar person walking through a neighborhood that had suffered some break-ins. Martin lived in Miami but was with his father on a visit to his father’s fiancee’s home inside the gated community.

“I understand how they’re able to leap to the conclusion. You have a dead teenager. This guy is white so it must be a hate crime. There’s going to be evidence to come out that basically will justify George’s concern,” Oliver said.

“He (Zimmerman) confirmed for me that he was not the aggressor. But I did not go into details as to how it got to that aggressive point,” Oliver said.

At one point Oliver became choked up with emotion talking about his friend but said he was coming forward freely even though it may expose him to reprisals.

“I just have to do what’s right, not just for my friend but for everyone involved,” Oliver said. “His mother in law lost her job for this. He’s in hiding. His mother in law can’t see her own daughter because she fears for their lives.”

And finally, The Globe & Mail today... a paper often called "right wing" but often agreeing with the Star....

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/wor ... le2381271/

Man who shot black Florida teen fears for safety, supporters say
Daniel Trotta and Barbara Liston
SANFORD, Fla.— Reuters

The neighbouhood watch volunteer who sparked a national uproar by shooting an unarmed teenager to death has wept with remorse over the killing and now fears for his own life, a friend of the gunman and a legal adviser said.

Supporters of the boy and his family staged more protest rallies and prayer vigils across the country, many dressed in “hoodies,” or hooded sweatshirts, like the one Trayvon Martin, 17, was wearing when he was gunned down last month.

His admitted assailant, George Zimmerman, 28, remained in seclusion after receiving death threats and learning of a $10,000 bounty offered by a group called the New Black Panther Party, said lawyer Craig Sonner, who added he would represent Mr. Zimmerman if charges were filed.

Mr. Zimmerman, a white Hispanic, has said he acted in self-defence when he shot Mr. Martin, who was black, in a gated community in Sanford, Florida, near Orlando, despite an apparent lack of evidence the teenager posed any threat.

The boy’s Feb. 26 death, which drew little attention at first, has grown into a rallying cry for African-Americans pointing to his shooting and the decision by authorities not to prosecute Mr. Zimmerman as a blatant case of racial injustice.

The shooting also has provoked a heated debate over “Stand Your Ground” laws enacted in Florida and other states and cited by Sanford police as the reason Mr. Zimmerman has not been arrested. Florida’s law allows people to use deadly force in self-defence.

President Barack Obama weighed in on the situation on Friday, calling the shooting a “tragedy” and saying, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

A longtime friend of Mr. Zimmerman, Joe Oliver, 53, a former television news reporter who is himself black, came to Mr. Zimmerman’s defence on Sunday, denying his friend was a racist and saying Mr. Zimmerman cried for days over the shooting.

“He’s a caring human being,” Mr. Oliver told Reuters in a telephone interview. “I mean, he took a man’s life and he has no idea what to do about it. He’s extremely remorseful about it.”

He also suggested there was more to the story than had yet been disclosed.

“What makes all these people who are threatening George any better than the person they think he is?” Mr. Oliver said. “You’ve got all these people wanting to lynch the man, and they don’t know the whole story.

“There are huge gaps that are being filled in and interpreted without evidence,” he said.

Late on Sunday afternoon in Sanford, about 100 people held a prayer vigil at the gate to the subdivision where the shooting occurred, quietly singing the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome.”

Carolyn Skene, 52, a Canadian artist who has been renting a home in the neighbourhood where Mr. Martin was shot and who attended the vigil, said someone like Mr. Zimmerman would have been arrested in her country. “We just can’t believe your laws,” she said.

Civil rights leader and former presidential candidate Jesse Jackson was expected to attend a larger rally planned for Monday in Sanford before the city commission meets to discuss the case.

Earlier in the day at Middle Collegiate Church in New York, the minister and members of the congregation wore hoodies, pulling their hoods over their heads during prayers at a crowded service that made repeated reference to the shooting as a symptom of the discrimination felt by young black Americans.

Jacqui Lewis, the church’s senior minister, gave a sermon in which she said people were “fed up with centuries of race-related hatred and fear in this country.”

She asked congregants to mail packets of Skittles candy to the Sanford Police Department and post pictures of themselves on the Internet wearing their hoodies and holding signs saying: “I am not dangerous. Racism is.”

Mr. Martin was carrying a bag of Skittles and an iced tea when he was confronted by Mr. Zimmerman, a neighbourhood watch captain who later told police he believed the youth looked suspicious.

In Seattle, hundreds packed the Greater Mount Baker Baptist Church in a “Rally for Trayvon.” Many of the protesters, some wearing hooded sweatshirts, carried bags of Skittles and cans of iced tea as they later marched a mile to a city park named for slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer called on Sunday for a Justice Department investigation into “Stand Your Ground” laws, adopted first by Florida in 2005 and by at least 16 other states since, to determine if they had led to a rise in gun violence or had hindered prosecutions.

“They’re all new. They’ve been passed very, very quickly and I think the states who passed them, if they find out the real facts, they may decide to repeal them,” Mr. Schumer said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum called the shooting “a heinous act” during an appearance on “Face the Nation.”

“We need to focus on being there to be supportive and for the family that’s going through this tragedy,” he said.

Mr. Sonner said Mr. Zimmerman feared he was in danger. He cited a document circulating that bears Zimmerman’s photo with the words “Wanted Dead or Alive.”

Mr. Sonner has also said Mr. Zimmerman suffered a broken nose, a gash to his head and had grass stains on his shirt after the confrontation with Mr. Martin.

So there you go, some level of contrast from just the paper media up here. Make of it what you will.

[Jackofhearts]

The problem with Zimmerman playing victim is, none of this probably would have happened if he had carried his ass home and let the authorities deal with this as they initially told him.

[Herald]

The whole thing sounds fishy to me. Was Trayvon really supposed to be attacking this guy while carrying a can of soda and a bag of Skittles??

"TASTE THE @#$%-ing RAINBOW!!!"
*throws candy at Mr. Neighborhood Watch*

No. If he was there to start trouble, he'd have been packing, too.