The Death Of Travyon Martin; George Zimmerman Arrested

[Robynne]

See? That had to be Trayvon calling out. He was most likely running from some crazy gun wielding asshole. I would have been terrified.
They better find some way to charge that fucker.

[DamagedGoods]

Of course he's coming to check you out, you're fucking following him... *facepalm* you'd be weirding me out too.

[CbabyRKO]

Yeah coz you know a car following u as u walk home is something that happens everyday. I'd be weirded the fuck out as well. I don't see an argument for self defense here no matter what the cops say. Just becoz Florida has become a fucking cesspool doesn't mean that their laws should be so outlandishly vague as to protect an asshole who shoots an unarmed kid and then says its self defense. So what I wanna know is if I go down to Florida and get into a confrontation with this guy I can whip out my piece shoot him full of holes and then claim self defense once the cops arrive? Or does that only work if ur a neighborhood watch capt?

[Robynne]

So what I wanna know is if I go down to Florida and get into a confrontation with this guy I can whip out my piece shoot him full of holes and then claim self defense once the cops arrive? Or does that only work if ur a neighborhood watch capt?

Yeah, even if he has skittles and an iced tea. Oh, but wait, he's white/hispanic, not black. So you may be prosecuted then.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

After listening to the 911 call with the shot on it, I have little doubt that Zimmerman will be charged once all the pieces are calmly put together. Like many cases, things are not always what they initially appear to be.

Given all the pieces that need to be tied together on this one, I would rather they are sure of what they are doing. We see it time and time again where cops take their time and investigators gather the nails for the coffin... even when the armchair detectives and victim's family can see things seemingly more clearly. But eventually, charges are brought and a successful conviction follows.

If no arrest is made, then the people of Florida have no one to blame but their own law (one THEY wanted!). All that is needed under Florida law is for a reasonable person to believe they are in danger. I suspect that almost anyone on the street that night would be just as dead as Travyon because Zimmerman saw 'bad people" all over the place. While I don't think he's close to a "reasonable person", will the law see him as one?

[CelticMyth]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1355795.html

SANFORD, Fla. -- Austin McLendon hasn't been the same since that night three Sundays ago when Trayvon Martin was killed.

His mother says he's been arguing with his siblings more than usual. His 8th grade teachers have called home saying that he's become angry and lax in his schoolwork. He seems stressed out, distracted and consumed, they say.

Austin was standing less than 20 yards away from Martin when he was shot on the night of February 26. He didn't see much that night, but says he can't shake the screams for help that he heard or the thunderclap of gunfire that nearly shook him from his shoes.

The screams rattle around in his daydreams, so loud at night that sleep hasn't come easily. And he can't stop asking himself a thousand what-ifs: What if he could have stopped it? What if he had looked "suspicious" that night, and not Martin?

"I picture myself back over where I saw it, and it sticks in the back of my mind," McLendon told HuffPost Black Voices on Saturday afternoon at his family's home. "Sometimes I'll, like, not be listening to the teacher, and I'll daydream or just think off about it. I've been feeling bad for him and his family."

...

Austin's mother, Sheryl Brown, said that the trauma from the night has not been limited to what her son witnessed. It also includes the way she says that the police and some media have twisted his account of the night to fit a self-defense theory, to say that a 13-year-old witness has claimed Zimmerman, and not Martin, was screaming for help. Both Austin and his mother are adamant that the teen could not see who was screaming, but they believe now that it was Martin.

Brown said in hindsight she feels the police investigator on the case attempted to lead her son to provide information that he didn't have. The investigator, she said, would nod yes when asking if it was the man in the T-shirt, who turned out to be Zimmerman, and not the one in the hooded sweatshirt, Martin, who was screaming out for help. And while the police have said that they don't have any evidence to refute Zimmerman's claims of self-defense, the investigators had a different story when they visited her family about a week after the shooting, Brown said.

"That investigator said flat out that we don't think it was self-defense," Brown said, recalling the day the police came to interview Austin, more than a week after the shooting. "Several times he said, 'I have kids, and I'm going to tell you something that I don't tell many people.' He looked at me and said, 'You have to read between the lines. There's some stereotyping going on.'"

She continued: "He stood here in my family room telling me that this guy [Zimmerman] is not right and it wasn't self-defense and that they have to prove that it wasn't. He was adamant about that. I don't know if that was to make me less uncomfortable or to make us feel that he was on our side."

In recent days, other witnesses have come forward to say that the police attempted to twist their testimony to support Zimmerman's claims of self-defense or ignored them entirely, including two witnesses who joined the Martin family during a press conference on Friday.

...

Austin comes on the line: "I saw a man laying on the ground that needed help, that was screaming and then I was going to go over there to try and help him, but my dog got off the leash, so I went and got my dog, and then I heard a loud sound and then the screaming stopped."

The dispatcher asks: "Did you see the person shot? Did you know the person that was shot, or see the person with the gun?"

"No, I just heard a loud sound and then the screaming stopped," Austin replied.

...

He said he grabbed the leash and the dog and headed out of the front door. As he started down the sidewalk, he heard yelling from behind the house. He said that he turned down the side-yard to see what was going on.

It was a rainy night, and the clouds hung low, muting the moonlight. For some reason, many of the neighbors had turned off their back porch lights. So he didn't see much, just someone lying on the ground and screaming.

On Saturday afternoon, Austin walked back to the spot just behind his house, pointing a dozen or so yards away from where Martin was killed. He bears a striking resemblance to the dead teenager: about the same height, give or take a few inches, and weighs about 15 to 20 pounds less.

"It's really hard to walk the dog by where it happened," he said. He wondered aloud what could have happened if he had been walking the dog just a little later, or behind the house instead of in front. But most of all he wondered what if he had been the one who piqued Zimmerman's interest. What if he looked suspicious?

"If I was like two years older, that could have happened to me," he said.

[CelticMyth]

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/1...-habitual.html

The people at the Retreat of 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.

......

“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.

....

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.”

....

“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.’?”

...

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.”

...

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,’?” 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.”

[DamagedGoods]

Holy flying mis-information batman!

"He walked the neighbourhood with his gun."
"No,he totally didn't."
"He was overzealous."
"He was a crimefighting semi-hero!"
"The kid screamed."
"The guy screamed"
"I told the cops the kid screamed"
"She told us the guy screamed!"

And on and on.

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.

I'm now picturing Zimmerman in some madcap Spy VS Spy cartoon, only there are a shitload more of the black ones.

“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.”

Umm... that's one crime. What happened with the other "crimes" he solved? No one arrested for them?

“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.”

Given an apparent propensity for over-reacting, you could say he potentially thwarted a burglary, but not that he thwarted a potential burglary.

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.

I'm FAR more interested in how many of these calls actually resulted in legal action, or were proven to be criminal incidences. His calling in on suspicious activity does NOT mean that any was actually occurring, nor does it mean that he thwarted any crimes.

But let's say that the pro-Zimmerman side is the accurate one. He shot a suspicious individual after getting in an altercation with him as a result of chasing him down. (He indicated in his call with 911 that Trayvon started running. And that he was following him. [Contrary to what Zimmerman's dad claims, who looks like an ass now?])

Anywho... here's the actual statute:


http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/...s/0776.013.htm

(1) A person is presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another when using defensive force that is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm to another if:
(a) The person against whom the defensive force was used was in the process of unlawfully and forcefully entering, or had unlawfully and forcibly entered, a dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle, or if that person had removed or was attempting to remove another against that person’s will from the dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle; and Not applicable.
(b) The person who uses defensive force knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry or unlawful and forcible act was occurring or had occurred. Also, not applicable
(2) The presumption set forth in subsection (1) does not apply if:
(a) The person against whom the defensive force is used has the right to be in or is a lawful resident of the dwelling, residence, or vehicle, such as an owner, lessee, or titleholder, and there is not an injunction for protection from domestic violence or a written pretrial supervision order of no contact against that person; or (This part isn't really relevant either way)
(b) The person or persons sought to be removed is a child or grandchild, or is otherwise in the lawful custody or under the lawful guardianship of, the person against whom the defensive force is used; or (Not relevant)
(c) The person who uses defensive force is engaged in an unlawful activity or is using the dwelling, residence, or occupied vehicle to further an unlawful activity; or (Probably not relevant.)
(d) The person against whom the defensive force is used is a law enforcement officer, as defined in s. 943.10(14), who enters or attempts to enter a dwelling, residence, or vehicle in the performance of his or her official duties and the officer identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law or the person using force knew or reasonably should have known that the person entering or attempting to enter was a law enforcement officer. (Not relevant)
(3) A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony. (This part reads to me that Trayvon in fact had more right to fight back than Zimmerman. By his own words, Zimmerman chased Trayvon. Trayvon had only momentarily approached Zimmerman who also by his own admission, was watching Trayvon first (Which would make him a "suspicious" character to me were I in Trayvon's shoes. Opting to chase him down makes Zimmerman the primary aggressor.

Further, while Zimmerman was also injured, nothing I've read remotely indicates he was in mortal danger from those wounds.)

I do NOT see how this statute could be interpreted to make Zimmerman innocent.

And the even if we ignore all the people claiming otherwise, the whole "We have no evidence to dispute his claim so we can't arrest" does NOT fly with me. EVERYONE they arrest is presumed innocent, they still arrest them.

[malq]

This stinks in both camps. Now that you and most of the rest of the media have convicted GZ, the PC and white guilt is wearing off a few details are emerging about our little angel that was perfect.

This kids credibility just went down a few notches.
Reports say Trayvon was staying with his father because he'd been suspended from his high school. Hardly the profile of a "clean-cut, preppy kid who couldn't harm a fly" that wanted to be a doctor. This always sounds real good when promoting the race angle. Also the photo of Trayvon in the paper appears to be of him at a younger age. He was a 17 year old man, not a child. It appears to me that the family and media has gone out of their way to make Zimmerman look as bad as possible.

And as to why a young black man walking in an overwhelmingly white gated community is viewed suspiciously, does anyone seriously doubt that they would likewise be suspicious under these circumstances. Just like a middle aged white man in a business suit strolling through an overwhelmingly black public housing project would be viewed suspiciously (not to mention he would almost certainly be physically assaulted, or at the least verbally challenged). no one has asked why he would walk 1.5 miles to the store and back just to get Skittles and an ice tea. Everyone is really repeating that fact to make him sound real innocent. The fact is, we do not know what he was doing on his way there or back.

The Miami Herald reported the suspension of Trayvon Martin as being for “10 days." however it has been softened to a week in other reports to lessen the negative support for his character.

Martin, who lived with his mother in Miami, was a junior at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School. He was in the middle of serving a one-week suspension from the school. Tracy Martin would not discuss his son’s suspension, but said he took Trayvon to the Central Florida town, best known as the auto train stop closest to Orlando, “to disconnect and get his priorities straight.”

http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/03/10...-sons-killing/

Edit to add that I have read reports that the 10 day suspension was for tardiness.
I find that untrue according to the schools official tardy policy. The worst that will happen if you have 20 or more is you will not be allowed to play sports

A student who has twenty (20) or more cumulative tardies will not be allowed to
participate in interscholastic sports, competitions, or performances for the remainder of
the school year.

My only question in this whole thing is why is race even a factor? It's pretty simple. An overzealous citizen packing a handgun in a waspy neighborhood kills a troubled black youth who attacked him and he is claiming self defense. The black camp is screaming racism and eliciting emotion from everyone else with withheld information and altered views of the victims character..

The fact is they haven't charged zimmerman because his story has been supported by the evidence. Even though he broke every rule in the book for neighborhood watch, I think the bloody face and grass stains on his back supports that he was attacked.

[CelticMyth]

Nobody said that Trayvon was perfect but fact of the matter is that he was INNOCENT in this instance. He was walking; armed with nothing more than a bag of Skittles and a can of Iced Tea. No matter what his past history he wasn't doing anything at that current time except walking in a neighborhood after dark. No matter what nefarious plots you are imagining he had going on in his head; he was in a neighborhood; he had a perfect right to be in since he was a guest of his father's fiance. And as mentioned in my above article...

Census figures show Retreat at Twin Lakes is 49 percent white, non-Hispanic, 23 percent Hispanic, 20 percent African-American and 5 percent Asian.

So black people were not some suspicious anomaly in this neighborhood since 20 percent of the population was black.

And honestly race is not a factor in this for me. I would think that GZ was wrong even if TM was white or asian. GZ never should have left his car. He never should have confronted Trayvon. He had called the police. They were on their way as evidenced by the fact that while people were on the phone to 911 to report the shooting; police were already on the scene. He should have waited and watched as the Watch in Neighborhood Watch implies but as he says in his calls "these Assholes always get away." I've seen his personality type before. Wannabe cops. Thinks of himself as the neighborhood superman. Getting off on taking down the bad guys. Wanting to impress the actual cops with his act of valor.

He does not say that the guy was approaching houses or testing out car handles; just that he was walking and LOOKING at the houses. That does not deserve an execution.

And this "troubled black youth" supposedly in your view "attacked" a man who was following him in his car and then followed him on foot with a gun. Whose to say who was acting in self defense?

[malq]

Nobody said that Trayvon was perfect but fact of the matter is that he was INNOCENT in this instance. He was walking; armed with nothing more than a bag of Skittles and a can of Iced Tea. No matter what his past history he wasn't doing anything at that current time except walking in a neighborhood after dark. No matter what nefarious plots you are imagining he had going on in his head; he was in a neighborhood; he had a perfect right to be in since he was a guest of his father's fiance. And as mentioned in my above article...



So black people were not some suspicious anomaly in this neighborhood since 20 percent of the population was black.

And honestly race is not a factor in this for me. I would think that GZ was wrong even if TM was white or asian. GZ never should have left his car. He never should have confronted Trayvon. He had called the police. They were on their way as evidenced by the fact that while people were on the phone to 911 to report the shooting; police were already on the scene. He should have waited and watched as the Watch in Neighborhood Watch implies but as he says in his calls "these Assholes always get away." I've seen his personality type before. Wannabe cops. Thinks of himself as the neighborhood superman. Getting off on taking down the bad guys. Wanting to impress the actual cops with his act of valor.

He does not say that the guy was approaching houses or testing out car handles; just that he was walking and LOOKING at the houses. That does not deserve an execution.

And this "troubled black youth" supposedly in your view "attacked" a man who was following him in his car and then followed him on foot with a gun. Whose to say who was acting in self defense?

All I am saying is no one considered everything. There is no doubt Zim did everything wrong. i am not defending him. There are two sides to every story. Frankly I am a bit disgusted by all the assumptions as to what really happened right before the shooting. Fact is, you don't know and neither do I.

And tell me how you attack in self defense?

[Rockin Ma]

He was a 17 year old man

He was a child still Malq.

My old neighborhood has a neighborhood watch. When I was younger I'd tease my mom and call it the Neighborhood Snitch Club, but really, that's not what it was. Many of the people who attended were older, lived their most their lives, remembered when it was so bad it could be unsafe to walk alone at night (way before my time). They held their meetings once a month. Usually a cop came and attended. They had an agenda, minutes all that stuff. They discussed blight, messy yards, turned vacant lots into community gardens, fixed up the parks, participated in community activities etc. When it came to crime or the youth running rampant, it was made clear, they keep their eyes open and call the police. That's all they are supposed to do. I had several stops by cops while hanging around the street with my friends based on someone calling them about suspicious activity, when really it was just walking through the neighborhood all day/night long.

Even in my clearly mixed race neighborhood, you could hear the power locks button hit when a car went by a black guy simply walking down the street.

[CelticMyth]

Malq, I didn't say troubled black youth or attack; you did in your earlier post before you edited hence my quotation marks around those words. I don't think Trayvon did attack. The blood and grass stains imply that there was a fight it doesn't mean GZ didn't initiate that fight by trying to detain TM afraid that the asshole would get away before cops arrived. That shows his mentality in that moment; the assholes always get away. Frustration. He had convicted TM for doing nothing more than walking after dark and looking at houses. He was tired of "these assholes" always getting away. And to be fair; I think that had phrase meant criminals not blacks. But the truth is he had already decided that TM was a criminal from the get go.

This guy was told by the police volunteer coordinator not to approach "suspicious" people and not to act as a vigilante policeman. He was told by 911 not to pursue the guy and yet he did anyway. There would have been no need for anybody to defend themselves if he had done what he was supposed to. Cop wannabes can be a dangerous beast in my experience.

And yes I'm making some assumptions. We all do when we read stories on here.

Here's an article that says his suspension was 5 days. This comes from his English teacher and she too says it was for tardiness.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/o...,3347110.story

"He was extremely creative," said Michelle Kypriss, Trayvon's English teacher at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School in Miami. "He just loved building things. He really was intrigued by how things worked."

...

Trayvon was under a five-day suspension when he was shot that Sunday night, but Kypriss said it was due to tardiness and not misbehavior.

"Trayvon was not a violent or dangerous child. He was not known for misbehaving," the teacher said. "He was suspended because he was late too many times."

I wonder if they will be able to analyze the 911 calls that contain the screams in the background. Would there be anyway to do a voice analysis to tell if it is GZ or TM or even to just tell what's being said? I know the technology isn't quite as easy as CSI makes it seem but surely those tapes can be used in some way.

[malq]

He was a child still Malq.


Even in my clearly mixed race neighborhood, you could hear the power locks button hit when a car went by a black guy simply walking down the street.

Sso what if he was only 17 what does that have to do with it? And whats with the race angle again? Everyone wants to make it about how picked on the blacks are and use this as an example. We don't know that yet. In fact, reports are saying he is Hispanic and knows the feeling of being a minority. He also says he has many black friends. Although, that is normally a white guilt term, he may be using it too. I don't know.

[Rockin Ma]

The reports keep describing "gated community" over and over. I also saw the quote "race is the 600 lb elephant in the room"

I'm reading between the lines.

What does race have to do with it? Maybe not you Malq, but some people are intimidated by black people. Why? That I don't know, but it's true.

[Rockin Ma]

Sso what if he was only 17 what does that have to do with it?

He was an unarmed KID walking down the street armed with skittles and an iced tea!

[DamagedGoods]

Who gives a shit about the race angle? I don't. I'm sure it's there but it's irrelevant to how this should have played out regardless of what colour everybody was. The race stuff is just so much more unneeded info stuffing up the story.

IF this had been a white, asian, latino or fucking martian kid or adult for that matter, my opinion would be the same. The guy should have been arrested. Period. Guilty or not, with the the facts given, THAT should have happened. The shooter's race is just as irrelevant to me.

[malq]

Who gives a shit about the race angle? I don't. I'm sure it's there but it's irrelevant to how this should have played out regardless of what colour everybody was. The race stuff is just so much more unneeded info stuffing up the story.

IF this had been a white, asian, latino or fucking martian kid or adult for that matter, my opinion would be the same. The guy should have been arrested. Period. Guilty or not, with the the facts given, THAT should have happened. The shooter's race is just as irrelevant to me.

I can see how you might feel he should be arrested, but again, it was initially determined to be self defense. Murder never goes away. They have twenty years to arrest him if that's what it takes to complete the investigation. If I had to kill someone because I felt threatened, I would hope they would make sure what happened before they arrest me.

[Rockin Ma]

I can see how you might feel he should be arrested, but again, it was initially determined to be self defense. Murder never goes away. They have twenty years to arrest him if that's what it takes to complete the investigation. If I had to kill someone because I felt threatened, I would hope they would make sure what happened before they arrest me.

It was initially determined, and there's been an outcry at the obvious injustice. Apparently they are initially mistaken. What of these reports of the investigators leading with their questions? I think two different witnesses have claimed it already. I hope they do take their time and make a detailed report and issue a statement as to the facts, including if need be admitting negligence or wrongdoing on their part in their initial handling of the situation.

[malq]

[QUOTE=CelticMyth;606380]

Malq, I didn't say troubled black youth or attack; you did in your earlier post before you edited hence my quotation marks around those words.

Hey now, I didn't edit out anything I said. I added below,( where it says ETA). Editing a post to change the context after someone comments, to make yourself look better, is unethical IMO. I do not do that, never have.
The troubled black youth comment you reference is still there and always has been.

911 not to pursue the guy and yet he did anyway. There would have been no need for anybody to defend themselves if he had done what he was supposed to.

No doubt he broke all the rules. No argument there. No one knows what happened once the confrontation began. That's where the rub is. If you are an idiot and follow someone only to find yourself on the short end of the stick, self defense may be used to save your life if you feel threatened. Does it seem plausible in this case with the weight difference and the psuedocop having a gun? Not on the surface. but I do not know more than the prosecutors and they decided not.

I wonder if they will be able to analyze the 911 calls that contain the screams in the background. Would there be anyway to do a voice analysis to tell if t is GZ or TM or even to just tell what's being said? I know the technology isn't quite as easy as CSI makes it seem but surely those tapes can be used in some way.

That would be interesting to know if they can do that, but I think in the end it would end up being a high priced opinion. What is going to be most valuable and what we have not heard, is the witness statements. From what I have read it all sides with Zimmermans account.

[CbabyRKO]

Race aside I feel like this would have never happened had George stayed his ass in his vehicle and waited on the cops to show. He had no obvious reason to get out and confront this kid and his statement saying "these assholes always get away" irks the hell out of me. If it was self defense then to me that's up to a court of law to decide by that's just me. Idk why I'm still up its 4:35 a.m. But this shit is really getting to me not gonna lie. I hope the real truth comes out about this situation coz speculation is getting us no where fast.

[malq]

The leader of a self-described black militia group says members will go to Sanford next week to attempt a citizen's arrest on George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch leader who admitted to fatally shooting unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin.

Najee Muhammad, a member of the New Black Liberation Militia, announced Thursday that members of the group plan to take the 28-year-old Zimmerman to federal authorities since local police haven't acted.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_1...rayvon-martin/


here is why they didn't charge him.

Lee Jr., the case's lead detective, Investigator Chris Serino, and other department managers sat down for an exclusive interview with the Orlando Sentinel today.


They have worked closely with prosecutors, Serino said, and have not arrested Zimmerman because prosecutors have consistently told them they do not have enough evidence to win a manslaughter conviction.


That's because Zimmerman says he was defending himself, something he's allowed to do under Florida law.


The best account of what happened came from Zimmerman, Serino said. Other witnesses who saw or heard parts of what happened corroborate his version of events, the investigator said.


Zimmerman told police he got out of his SUV to follow Trayvon on foot, and the 17-year-old came toward him.


The two got into a fight, and Zimmerman wound up on the ground, he told police. Trayvon hit him in the face, and Zimmerman yelled for help.
Several witnesses heard the fight, including a 13-year-old boy out walking his dog, but there have been different accounts of who was crying for help.


It was Zimmerman, Serino said. He said he is certain of that because he played a recording of that voice for Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, and the Miami man said the voice was not his son's.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...ot-man-reports

[TheMorningStar]

What was he defending himself from?

[Pete Bondurant]

What was he defending himself from?

High fructose corn syrup

[TheMorningStar]

Zimmerman wasn't arrested at the time, and ABC News has learned he was not given a drug or alcohol test that night -- standard in most homicide investigations.

Law enforcement expert Rod Wheeler, who listened to the tapes, told ABC News that Zimmerman, not Martin, sounded intoxicated in the police recordings of the 911 calls.
"When I listened to the 911 tape, the first thing that came to my mind is this guy sounds intoxicated. Notice how he's slurring his words. We as trained law enforcement officers, we know how to listen for that right away, and I think that's going to be an important element of this entire investigation," Wheeler said.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/neighborhoo...5#.T2fCiNUuF19

[malq]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/neighborhoo...5#.T2fCiNUuF19

I spent some time trying to find a policy that says a Drug and Alcohol test is standard in investigations. You know what come up exclusively? This case, screaming there was no alcohol test and saying that it is standard. Really? I have never heard of the initial interview going straight to the ol' drug and alcohol test. Seems to me they would be more interested in the facts.

I am not an expert but he didn't sound drunk to me or slurring his words.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

In the last moments of his life Trayvon Martin was being hounded by a strange man on a cell phone who ran after him, cornered him, and confronted him, according to the teenage girl whose call logs show she was on the phone with the 17-year-old boy in the moments before neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman shot him dead.

Martin's death on Feb. 26 has stirred national outrage and protests, partly prompting the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the FBI to open an investigation into the case.

ABC News was there exclusively as the 16-year-old girl told Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump about the last terrifying moments of the doe-eyed teenager's life.

"He said this man was watching him, so he put his hoodie on. He said he lost the man," Martin's friend said. "I asked Trayvon to run, and he said he was going to walk fast. I told him to run but he said he was not going to run."

Eventually he would run, said the girl, thinking that he'd managed to escape. But suddenly the strange man was back, cornering Martin.

"Trayvon said 'what are you following me for,' and the man said 'what are you doing here.' Next thing I hear is somebody pushing, and somebody pushed Trayvon because the head set just fell. I called him again and he didn't answer the phone."

The line went dead. Besides screams heard on 911 calls that night as Martin and Zimmerman scuffled, those were the last words he said.

Trayvon's phone logs, also obtained exclusively by ABC News, show the conversation occurred five minutes before police first arrived on scene. The young woman's parents asked that we not use her name, and that only an attorney could ask her questions.

Martin's father Tracey Martin and mother Sybrina Fulton listened to the call along with ABC News, ashen-faced.

"He knew he was being followed and tried to get away from the guy, and the guy still caught up with him," Tracey Martin said. "And that's the most disturbing part. He thought he had got away from the guy and the guy back-tracked for him."
[...]

"When George Zimmerman is arrested, tried and convicted I will get a little rest," Tracey Martin said.

According to a statement by the Justice Department, "The department will conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence and take appropriate action and the conclusion of the investigation … The government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person acted intentionally and with the specific intent to do something which the law forbids. Negligence, recklessness, mistakes and accidents are not prosecutable under the federal criminal civil rights laws."

Nearly half a million people have signed an online petition on change.org urging law enforcement officials to step in and arrest Zimmerman. Protest have played out in the Florida town all week with a large gathering expected Thursday.

Zimmerman blatantly violated major principles of the Neighborhood Watch manual, ABC News has learned. The manual from the Neighborhood Watch program states: "It should be emphasized to members that they do not possess police powers. And they shall not carry weapons or pursue vehicles."

According to Chris Tutko, the director of the National Neighborhood Watch program, there are about 22,000 registered watch groups nationwide, and Zimmerman was not part of a registered group, another fact the police were not aware of at the time of the incident.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayvon-mar...7#.T2hXlNXkaSo

[TheMorningStar]

A grand jury will investigate the death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old shot to death in a gated community in Florida on Feb. 26, state attorney Norm Wolfinger announced Tuesday.

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/20...rney-announces

[Aena]

About time something is being done about this guy. I feel so bad for the family. I bet Trayvon was freaking the fuck out when he seen some dude casing his ass while he was walking back from the store, I would have been fighting also.

[AngelFire]

The leader of a self-described black militia group says members will go to Sanford next week to attempt a citizen's arrest on George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch leader who admitted to fatally shooting unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin.

Oh this is going to help soooo much now. *Ends sarcasm and hides under a rock*