Zimmerman verdict: Not Guilty.

[Red Celt]

Treyvon should have stopped when Zimmerman first hit the ground. But he didnt.

Only 2 people know who attacked who first. And one of them is dead. And yet you stated (as fact) that it was Trayvon who initiated it? Are you a theist? Are you a skeptic? I'm asking because I am curious about your psychic abilities.

Trayvon's friend heard what sounded like the phone hitting the ground as communication with him came to a halt. Earlier, during his phone call, Zimmerman said he was "sick of them getting away". This was one person that he was determined wouldn't get away. Not that he had any reason to get away, as he was just a teenager walking home from the store.

But fuck it. You zealots are determined that it is a crime to do that, and that a violent encounter was a just reward.

Can't walk home from the store if your skin is black and you're in a gated neighbourhood.

"Land of the Free" my hairy white arse.

[Rahul]

Funny that you don't include the most obvious choice:

4) Report this obviously unstable and uncivilized individual to the authorities for a terrorist threat.

Actually later in the post I do specifically mentioning that I could have called the cops because he threatened me.

But let me clue you in here. This happened around 1991. A) I would have had to leave the neighborhood anyway to go find a payphone (no cell phones) and B) "Terrorist" threat terminology didn't come into our legal banter until around the 911 attacks about a decade later.

It didn't matter that much to me. I really didn't give a fuck.

If everyone accepted your approach, we'd live in a terrible society where we simply allowed people to bully and harrass others simply because they didn't like something they were doing.

If I'm feeling like an asshole I can walk up to anyone in America, including you, and say whatever the fuck I want to you. And you can do the same to me.

It's always been that way.

You can kid yourself all you want, but you wouldn't like the society that you are suggesting that you are so okay with right now. In that society, anyone could approach you at any time and question what you are doing and why you are doing it.

That is our society. It's the way our society has always been. You've never noticed this? Where the fuck do you live?

And, if they don't like your answers, they could take aggressive action against you.

No they can't. Well, they can but later when the police get involved they're going to have problems. If they physically assault me they are breaking the law.

That's been the law as long as I've been alive.

Right now you live in a society where you only have to answer to the proper authorities. You can go wherever you want and do whatever you want as long those activities don't violate the rights of others.

I've had security guards ask me questions before. What's the huge difference between a security quard and a neighborhood watch?

What Florida's legal system allowed to go unpunished proposes a very different kind of society.

They didn't punish Zimmerman because he DIDN'T BREAK THE LAW.

Trayvon broke the fuck out of the law.

What YOU are proposing is that if anyone walks up to me and asks me any questions I can attack you and YOU get in trouble with the law for talking to me.

---

Let me tell you another little story about back home when I was growing up.

I was one time at this keg party. At this house where a guy named Chris lived. They had a craps table out and were playing dice for money. I'm chilling with a cup of beer and casually say "Hey, what's up?" to this one guy I'm standing next to. He turns to me and I notice that he's pretty well drunk. And by the expression on his face he didn't look like a happy drunk. He looked pissed off.

He asks me, "Do you have any money?" I raise my eyebrows and reply, "Uhm... no."

So he says to me, "You better get the fuck out of here right now."

So I go, "Alrighty, then." and then walk through the crowd to the other side of the table. Now so far he hasn't broken any laws even though the level of implied threat by the way he's talking to me is pretty high.

So he's still standing there looking pissed and drunk and he's glaring at me from across the way. I'm thinking, "Well this could turn really ugly really fast."

But then as luck would have it Chris walks up, grabs the guy around the neck, and asks him, "Hey (whatever his name was), you're not trying to start shit at my party are you?" The guy immediately looked like a whimpering puppy.

You know why? Because Chris was one of the craziest mother fuckers in the tri-county area. Chris and a friend of his once crashed a party where they didn't know anyone. Completely surrounded by strangers. One of the locals walked up to Chris and told him to leave. Chris attacked him and ended up biting one of his ears completely off and then spit it on him.

The guy's friends take him and his ear to the hospital. Chris stayed and partied.

That's the kind of world I grew up in.

[FlyingNarwhal]

The prosecution had no case, and self defense was apparent when there was a witness that saw Martin attacking Zimmerman.

[Isun]

I don't know if Martin was on top or on bottom It doesn't matter. Zimmerman created this situation. He initiated the life and death struggle. He is at the minimum guilty of manslaughter.

The fact that he may or may not have been in fear of his life after he created the situation, doesn't mitigate his responsibility in killing a child that was in no way a threat to society.

Based on this "stand your own ground" theory I could go out and pick a fight with you (what zimmerman did) and then pull a gun out when you respond to defend yourself and kill you. Self defense.

Sorry, but that is inexcusable that a law would allow that.

[A Theist]

Former NBA player, Charles Barkley, agrees with Zimmerman verdict, then blasts media for playing the race card. While I disagree with Charles Barkley's opinion that Zimmerman racially profiled Martin, I otherwise agree him that the not guilty verdict was correct and that the media and other blacks don't have clean hands on racial issues...If Zimmerman had actually profiled Martin, it wasn't because that he was racist, (FBI investigation revealed no evidence that Zimmerman was racist), it was because Trayvon fit the description of someone who was reported to the police for break-ins in that neighborhood...





Civil Rights attorney and Radio Talk host, Leo Terrell also agrees with Zimmerman verdict and blasts liberal Juan Williams and the media for fanning the racial fires....

[Red Celt]

Trayvon fit the description of someone who was reported to the police for break-ins in that neighborhood...

So, then. What was this description? Please expand.

[A Theist]

I don't know if Martin was on top or on bottom It doesn't matter. Zimmerman created this situation. He initiated the life and death struggle. He is at the minimum guilty of manslaughter.

The fact that he may or may not have been in fear of his life after he created the situation, doesn't mitigate his responsibility in killing a child that was in no way a threat to society.

Based on this "stand your own ground" theory I could go out and pick a fight with you (what zimmerman did) and then pull a gun out when you respond to defend yourself and kill you. Self defense.

Sorry, but that is inexcusable that a law would allow that.

He is at the minimum guilty of manslaughter.

The law disagrees with you and the verdict reflected that.

Based on this "stand your own ground" theory I could go out and pick a fight with you (what zimmerman did) and then pull a gun out when you respond to defend yourself and kill you. Self defense.

"Stand Your Ground" wasn't an issue in this case. Zimmerman's legal team argued for "Self Defense". Martin sucker punched Zimmerman breaking his nose and knocking him to the ground. Martin then got on top of Zimmerman, pinned him down and began punching him in the face and smashing his head on the sidewalk, (this was also verified by an eyewitness). Zimmerman was able to reach his gun and shot Trayvon in self defense. The jury got it right.

Sorry, but that is inexcusable that a law would allow that.

Again, "Stand Your Ground" didn't apply in this case. The Defense team argued for "Self Defense".

[Minimalist]

Take the example of the woman who was sentenced to 20 years for firing a "warning shot." She was black.

That's not quite what happened in that case. She had a fight with her husband, decided to leave, and went into the garage. Then she discovered she forgot her keys, and before entering the house again to get her keys she fired a shot into the wall in the direction of where her children were. If she were in fear of her safety, she could have left the house and not gone back in. Her husband was not pursuing her or fighting with her when she fired the shot.

She could have taken a 3 year plea bargain but fought it and got 20 years. Is 20 years too harsh? Probably. But the entire media picked up the story and ran with the idea that she is a helpless battered wife who was just firing a warning shot to keep her abusive husband away and wrongly got 20 years in prison for it.

Again, ask yourself...honestly... if a white woman in Florida would have gotten the same treatment. Be honest.

[Manowar]

Former NBA player, Charles Barkley, agrees with Zimmerman verdict, then blasts media for playing the race card. While I disagree with Charles Barkley's opinion that Zimmerman racially profiled Martin, I otherwise agree him that the not guilty verdict was correct and that the media and other blacks don't have clean hands on racial issues...If Zimmerman had actually profiled Martin, it wasn't because that he was racist, (FBI investigation revealed no evidence that Zimmerman was racist), it was because Trayvon fit the description of someone who was reported to the police for break-ins in that neighborhood...





Civil Rights attorney and Radio Talk host, Leo Terrell also agrees with Zimmerman verdict and blasts liberal Juan Williams and the media for fanning the racial fires....

Now that many have had time to vent other blacks have come out for Zimmerman One was a Rev that actually called Martin a "Thug"
I am not sure if calling him a thug is fair but it's pretty obvious who started the fight and who was on top. Zimmerman had to protect himself otherwise he would have been killed.

[wolf39us]

That's not quite what happened in that case. She had a fight with her husband, decided to leave, and went into the garage. Then she discovered she forgot her keys, and before entering the house again to get her keys she fired a shot into the wall in the direction of where her children were. If she were in fear of her safety, she could have left the house and not gone back in. Her husband was not pursuing her or fighting with her when she fired the shot.

She could have taken a 3 year plea bargain but fought it and got 20 years. Is 20 years too harsh? Probably. But the entire media picked up the story and ran with the idea that she is a helpless battered wife who was just firing a warning shot to keep her abusive husband away and wrongly got 20 years in prison for it.

Again, ask yourself...honestly... if a white woman in Florida would have gotten the same treatment. Be honest.

As it was said earlier in this thread, 99% of cases go un-televised and most don't even make it to the paper. Some people go free when they probably shouldn't have, and some get death sentences happen when they shouldn't have. Be they white, black, latino, asian (whatever)... these cases go unpublished.

But do you know what DOES get televised? Anything related to white vs black crime or anything that can be construed as a "hate" or racist crime.

In the case of George Zimmerman what happened? The media and general public assumed he was a white redneck looking to kill the next nigger he saw walking down the street. People looked at this case through the lens of assuming racism for everything related to "insert race here" to (non-white race).

We can't assume that everyone's motives are racially motivated. Evidence must be presented that suggests racist motives beyond a reasonable doubt.

You know what is racist though? Assuming that every non-black on black crime is somehow inherently racist.

Racist shit happens all the time, I get that... That doesn't justify slapping a label on everyone who commits a crime towards another of a different race!