**Official** Trayvon Martin thread

[MelissaWV]

A DA will only take this to a Grand Jury if they think they have a shot at making it to trial.

There is a grand jury convening on April 10th.

 

[azxd]

Exactly. For example, if Trayvon had been female nobody would even consider the fact that she should stay and verbally engage somebody who had been following her. John Wayne Gacy talked young men into his apartment on a regular basis.

Before the "Stand Your Ground" law was passed, a person in Trayvon's situation could have been prosecuted for not fleeing a potentially harmful situation, even if not the aggressor. How absolutely sad that he's now being villified for doing exactly that.

Vilified, or pre-judged ?

Trayvon Martin Police Report here It kind of paints a different picture than the media portrayal. 6 eyewitnesses, Zimmerman treated by medics, and said he was yelling for help but nobody came.

http://cnninsession.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/martinpolicreport.pdf

 

[eduardo89]

There is a grand jury convening on April 10th.

Well then, on the 10th this issue will probably be put to rest.

But showing by the fact that he hasn't been charged with anything, it's quite safe to say there is nothing but hearsay or circumstantial evidence against him.

 

[angelatc]

A DA will only take this to a Grand Jury if they think they have a shot at making it to trial.

The DA will only take it to the Grand Jury if they think they can win at trial. And I'm not even sure the DA actually even saw this. I am under the impression that the cops ruled on it, and it went no farther, but I could be wrong about that.

 

[azxd]

What the hell does that even mean, if Trayvon had been a women?!? Why? Totally irrelevant.

Because when racism isn't working ... Go for sexism

 

[coastie]

You are right, but that is not the point. Martin has a right to do whatever he wants, just like Zimmerman has a right to confront him in a non threatening, non violent way. The second Zimmerman started getting his ass beat, he had every right to shoot whoever was doing it. Unless a witness says that Zimmerman struck first or is a racist, remember, no one close to Zimmerman accuses him of being racist, and his father says that he has black family members, this case is closed.

No the FUCK HE DID NOT!!!!! DO you have a CCW? Do you even live in Florida? Well, I do. Zimmerman interjected himself into this situation-WITH A GUN, something the law in Florida CLEARLY states you CANNOT do. The fact he was carrying alone states he should've left when Martin ran, not got out to look for him. Martin was no longer a threat at that point.

 

[TheeJoeGlass]

Yeah, but coastie the CCW holder does know that he cannot go around looking for people at night, with a gun, in the manner Zimmerman appears to have done. When Martin ran, that was the end of it. Fat boy should've drove off, and let the police handle it from there. Exiting his truck will be what hangs him here, there was no reason for it.

What? he can't confront people as part of the neighborhood watch? As part of my neighborhood watch, I confront people all the time and yes, sometimes I have my pistol, and sometimes, the people I confront are black. Nobody has ever started running when I ask them why they are in the neighborhood. I have had people say that it was because they want to be here and it's none of my business. I tell them I understand and I am just trying to protect my friends and family at their request. Never had a problem.

 

[angelatc]

There is a grand jury convening on April 10th.

If they had done that to begin with, likely this would not be happening.

 

[TheeJoeGlass]

Because when racism isn't working ... Go for sexism

It really is sad.

 

[azxd]

Well, no, it wasn't irrelevant in the context of life experiences. And I am not wrong. If Martin had been a 17 year old girl who ran, we would all know she ran because she was afraid of being raped or worse. I see no reason that we should hold male children to a different standard, hence my John Wayne Gacy reference.

I have two kids - one of whom happens to be a 17 year old male. If a strange man was following him around the neighborhood, I hope he would do as he's been taught and run.

Kids are taught that from toddlerhood. Both boys and girls. Nobody is ever taught that if a stranger approaches you and asks you a question, you should immediately defer to him and answer all his questions.

Because we all know a 17 year old boy can't be raped

 

[angelatc]

What? he can't confront people as part of the neighborhood watch? As part of my neighborhood watch, I confront people all the time and yes, sometimes I have my pistol, and sometimes, the people I confront are black. Nobody has ever started running when I ask them why they are in the neighborhood. I have had people say that it was because they want to be here and it's none of my business. I tell them I understand and I am just trying to protect my friends and family at their request. Never had a problem.

You do neighborhood watch? That's scarier than not having Neighborhood Watch.

You have a right to talk to people. They do not have any responsibility or obligation to engage with you. They have a right to run away from you. You do not have the right to hunt them down because they did.

 

[Iceclops]

Your picture has nothing to do with the fact that Zimmerman was advised not to follow after the kid. The whole situation could've easily been avoided if he had just had some common sense about it and let cops do their job. Whether the kid was "troubled" or not shouldn't have mattered when it comes to life. He was only 17, he might have become a great man for all you know. You can't judge this situation based on other events like the school suspension because it doesn't correlate, the night on question he wasn't up to trouble, he was unarmed and talking on the phone with his girlfriend, so you're basically advocating death as punishment for getting suspended from school. Zimmerman's mistakes are what caused Trayvon to react the way he did that night, and we don't really know how the confrontation happened or who initiated the violence. All we know is that Zimmerman confronted someone who was not committing any crimes, and confronted him against the advise of dispatchers and police.

I don't understand how you can be on this forum as a Paul supporter and justify senseless deaths when this whole situation is similar to Paul's view on Iran. America keeps confronting Iran over and over, antagonizing and backing them into a corner until they are going to lash out like Trayvon did. Once they lash out from repeated antagonizing and harassment, the American populace will use it as justification to invade, just like Zimmerman used it as justification to shoot Trayvon. It's just asking for trouble when both situations are easily avoidable. Who has more power to to prevent it from getting out of hand, the antagonizor or the one being antagonized?

 

[angelatc]

Because we all know a 17 year old boy can't be raped

And even if he could, homosexual rapist / murderers are never cruising around in cars in gated communities. And they never pick black kids, either.

 

[angelatc]

Well then, on the 10th this issue will probably be put to rest.

But showing by the fact that he hasn't been charged with anything, it's quite safe to say there is nothing but hearsay or circumstantial evidence against him.

Most murder cases are won on circumstantial evidence. Despite what we see on TV, the proverbial smoking gun is relatively rare.

 

[eduardo89]

And even if he could, homosexual rapist / murderers are never cruising around in cars in gated communities. And they never pick black kids, either.

You know a lot about homosexual rapists...

 

[angelatc]

It really is sad.

So you didn't teach your kids not to talk to strange men who follow them around at night in cars? Or did you only teach your daughters not to do that?

 

[eduardo89]

Most murder cases are won on circumstantial evidence. Despite what we see on TV, the proverbial smoking gun is relatively rare.

Yes, but enough circumstantial evidence is needed to prove something "beyond reasonable doubt". Nothing I've read in this thread is even close to that.

 

[coastie]

What? he can't confront people as part of the neighborhood watch? As part of my neighborhood watch, I confront people all the time and yes, sometimes I have my pistol, and sometimes, the people I confront are black. Nobody has ever started running when I ask them why they are in the neighborhood. I have had people say that it was because they want to be here and it's none of my business. I tell them I understand and I am just trying to protect my friends and family at their request. Never had a problem.

You apparently didn't comprehend my post. I never said anything about him confronting him. That's fine. When Martin ran though-that's where Zimmerman's part is done here. By him exiting his vehicle, he is now escalating the situation. Martin fled the scene.

You're cherry picking here, because as is known and I've stated several times here already-Martin was afraid of the weirdo following him, he said this to his girlfriend while on the phone with her as said weirdo was following him. Him running wasn't unusual in this case, and just because it's never happened to you does not mean it doesn't happen anywhere.

 

[AuH20]

Here come the CNN public opinion polls:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/26/justice/florida-teen-shooting-poll/

 

[angelatc]

You know a lot about homosexual rapists...

It's America. Homosexual rapists / murderers get lots of attention. John Wayne Gacy and Wayne Williams come to mind. They serve to remind all of us that we all need to be very afraid of each other.