FL - 17-yo Teen Shot to Death by Neighborhood Watch Captain #3

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My son is black and went to go visit my mother last summer in Florida. While her community isn't gated, it might as well be. Definitely high-end homes. My son went for a walk, only to have a neighbor call the police because there was someone suspicious in the neighborhood. On the one hand, it's nice that they're looking out for one another, but on the other hand, he was doing nothing of a suspicious nature. He was simply going for a walk. He was guilty of being black, and that's it. The last few days since this horrible incident happened, I've been sitting here thinking how it could easily have been my son. My heart goes out to that boy's family and the family of the shooter, because hopeful justice will be done and he'll be held accountable for his actions.
 
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"Zimmerman provided a statement claiming he acted in self defense, which at the time was supported by physical evidence and testimony," Sanford City Manager Norton Bonaparte Jr. wrote in a letter released publicly Wednesday evening. "By Florida Statute, law enforcement was PROHIBITED from making an arrest based on the facts and circumstances they had at the time."

BBM

This is another thing that's bothering me. Whose testimony supported self defense? Are the witnesses giving this testimony or is it just GZ's word?

And the evidence at the time the cops arrived at the scene shows not only what I said earlier (unarmed, dead juvenile) but the police knew GZ was in pursuit without any lawful reason.

He had just been on the phone with their very own non-emergency line and was told to not pursue the suspicious looking person. When combined with the rest of the information they had, how can they say that evidence supported GZ's claim of self defense? It looks so much like vigilantism or revenge or human hunting, but it just doesn't look like self defense to me.

No evidence at the scene supported self defense. The statute does not "prohibit" an arrest. IMO, it looks like they are willing to distribute misinformation at the city government level. This is very, very dangerous and disturbing.
 
"Zimmerman provided a statement claiming he acted in self defense, which at the time was supported by physical evidence and testimony," Sanford City Manager Norton Bonaparte Jr. wrote in a letter released publicly Wednesday evening. "By Florida Statute, law enforcement was PROHIBITED from making an arrest based on the facts and circumstances they had at the time."

BBM

This is another thing that's bothering me. Whose testimony supported self defense? Are the witnesses giving this testimony or is it just GZ's word?

And the evidence at the time the cops arrived at the scene shows not only what I said earlier (unarmed, dead juvenile) but the police knew GZ was in pursuit without any lawful reason.

He had just been on the phone with their very own non-emergency line and was told to not pursue the suspicious looking person. When combined with the rest of the information they had, how can they say that evidence supported GZ's claim of self defense? It looks so much like vigilantism or revenge or human hunting, but it just doesn't look like self defense to me.

No evidence at the scene supported self defense. The statute does not "prohibit" an arrest. IMO, it looks like they are willing to distribute misinformation at the city government level. This is very, very dangerous and disturbing.

The police report said GZ had injuries on his nose and the back of his head. That indicates there was a fight of some kind. GZ didn't violate any laws by following Trayvon.
 
Did GZ call 911 or did he call the non-emergency line when reporting Trayvon? 911 dispatchers are not usually LE personnel, but the non-emergency number is either staffed by an officer or some type of clerk...

If the instructions not to follow came from a police officer, that is a lawful order...IMO
 
I want to know how one can reach into their waistband while holding a phone in one hand and a can of tea in the other?

It's simply ludicrous that you can follow someone, then shoot them dead on the pretext that "they" attacked you?

What kind of logic do the police use? GZ committed cold blooded murder. There is no other explanation for his actions.
 
"Zimmerman provided a statement claiming he acted in self defense, which at the time was supported by physical evidence and testimony," Sanford City Manager Norton Bonaparte Jr. wrote in a letter released publicly Wednesday evening. "By Florida Statute, law enforcement was PROHIBITED from making an arrest based on the facts and circumstances they had at the time."

BBM

This is another thing that's bothering me. Whose testimony supported self defense? Are the witnesses giving this testimony or is it just GZ's word?

And the evidence at the time the cops arrived at the scene shows not only what I said earlier (unarmed, dead juvenile) but the police knew GZ was in pursuit without any lawful reason.

He had just been on the phone with their very own non-emergency line and was told to not pursue the suspicious looking person. When combined with the rest of the information they had, how can they say that evidence supported GZ's claim of self defense? It looks so much like vigilantism or revenge or human hunting, but it just doesn't look like self defense to me.

No evidence at the scene supported self defense. The statute does not "prohibit" an arrest. IMO, it looks like they are willing to distribute misinformation at the city government level. This is very, very dangerous and disturbing.


my bolding

I agree. The only evidence at the scene that supported GZ's claim of self defense was GZ's word. That and after police corrected witness statements who said it was Tray who was yelling for help and not GZ.

JMHO
 
The police report said GZ had injuries on his nose and the back of his head. That indicates there was a fight of some kind. GZ didn't violate any laws by following Trayvon.

I would like to see pictures of his injuries and know why they were not listed in the preliminary report of a HOMICIDE.
 
The petition is up to 1,000,000.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/...ission-votes-no-confidence.html#storylink=cpy

• As evidence that the incident was not a case of racial profiling, Lee told The Miami Herald that when the police dispatch operator asked Zimmerman the race of the suspicious person he saw, the Hispanic neighborhood watch captain did not know. Yet when the recording of that conversation was made public, Zimmerman clearly says, “he looks black.”

• Initial police reports never mentioned that Zimmerman had a bloody nose or a wet shirt that showed evidence of a struggle. Attorneys for the dead teen’s family believe the information was added in a second report to justify the lack of an arrest.

• Police said witness statements supported Zimmerman’s account. But several of the witnesses expressed surprise, telling The Herald that they reported hearing someone crying for help just before a shot ended the cries. The 911 tapes of witness calls bolstered their claims.

• One of the witnesses who heard the crying said she called a detective repeatedly, but said he was not interested because her account differed from Zimmerman’s.

• For nearly a month, police never noticed a profanity Zimmerman mumbled under his breath when he called police, which some people believe was accompanied by a muffled racial slur.

• Even though investigators have the dead boy’s cell phone, it was Trayvon’s father who combed through the phone records to discover that his son was talking to a girlfriend in the moments that led up to his death. Police never contacted the girl, who told lawyers that Trayvon was alarmed because he was being followed.
 
We are planning vacation for later this summer and have rented a very nice house in a gated community in Florida. We will have 8 of our children with us and as many of you know, our children are all African American. Honestly, I'm scared and seriously considering cancelling a wonderful family vacation because of what happened to Trayvon. It could just as easily be one of my kiddo's.
 
Nope. He had every legal right to follow him. They both were within their legal rights to be where they were. It's not illegal to follow someone.

You are right. But GZ did not just follow, he engaged TM and then pulled his gun and fired. If GZ was a member of the Neighborhood Watch Program as he claims he violated their rules. He violated the police department's instructions when they asked him to stay right there, wait for police he did not need to follow TM. At that point, GZ took the law into his own hands and created a situation that he believed required deadly force. GZ was the one with the gun, GZ was the adult, GZ knew better but chose to ignore what those in authority were telling him. GZ is responsible for the death of a child because he is irresponsible. There is no other way to look at it. TM never approached GZ, it was all GZ.
 
You are right. But GZ did not just follow, he engaged TM and then pulled his gun and fired. If GZ was a member of the Neighborhood Watch Program as he claims he violated their rules. He violated the police department's instructions when they asked him to stay right there, wait for police he did not need to follow TM. At that point, GZ took the law into his own hands and created a situation that he believed required deadly force. GZ was the one with the gun, GZ was the adult, GZ knew better but chose to ignore what those in authority were telling him. GZ is responsible for the death of a child because he is irresponsible. There is no other way to look at it. TM never approached GZ, it was all GZ.

Shouldn't we get the whole story on GZ's injuries before we make all of these sweeping assumptions? There was clearly an altercation and even if GZ was in the wrong to begin with, IF Trayvon got the better of him in a fight, it would certainly shed a different light on this. Of course, GZ is all but convicted with 100% certainty in the media so whatever he or anyone else says probably won't matter much. The public has decided they want GZ's head and they will probably get it one way or another.
 
Nope. He had every legal right to follow him. They both were within their legal rights to be where they were. It's not illegal to follow someone.

True. But I think that blows the self-defense angle. One doesn't usually have to pursue an attacker. GZ did not merely "stand his ground," he had to cover ground to confront TM. Even the senator (Peaden) who wrote the "stand your ground" legislation says that GZ should be arrested.

But Peaden and Baxley said that 911 tapes showing that Zimmerman followed Martin despite a dispatcher's request to stay away appeared to show that the 28-year-old crime watch volunteer was the aggressor.

"The guy lost his defense right then," Peaden told the Herald. "When he said, 'I'm following him,' he lost his defense."


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...rman-arrested-article-1.1048164#ixzz1psCIydOH
 
My son is black and went to go visit my mother last summer in Florida. While her community isn't gated, it might as well be. Definitely high-end homes. My son went for a walk, only to have a neighbor call the police because there was someone suspicious in the neighborhood. On the one hand, it's nice that they're looking out for one another, but on the other hand, he was doing nothing of a suspicious nature. He was simply going for a walk. He was guilty of being black, and that's it. The last few days since this horrible incident happened, I've been sitting here thinking how it could easily have been my son. My heart goes out to that boy's family and the family of the shooter, because hopeful justice will be done and he'll be held accountable for his actions.
eh, I'm gonna give the neighbor a pass on this one. The kid doesn't live there - most people know the going on's on their neighborhood. I would have been suspicious as well...not due to his color, but because I know who normally walks around the nighborhood, and we don't live in a gated community but we do live in a area with no other entrance or exit.

Nope. He had every legal right to follow him. They both were within their legal rights to be where they were. It's not illegal to follow someone.

I have to agree...I don't see any evidence of "stalking".
 
IMO Part of the reason the police were not able to contact his dad was because they were just visitors to the dads girlfriends condo,which I assume would be listed in her name not the last name of Martin.
 
As far as I'm concerned it wouldn't shed a new light on anything even if Trayvon got the better of him.

It certainly doesn't change the facts, it doesn't change the fact that GZ was the aggressor and what his intent was in pursuing Tray. It certainly doesn't change GZ's own words while he was in pursuit, showing his intent. It doesn't change that 911 told him to stop and he didn't, showing his intent.

It's like saying if someone was being mugged and the victim got a few punches in then the mugger is the victim and claims self defense.

I'm not about to fall for anyone saying that people are just out for GZ's head either. the facts spoke for themselves.

JMHO
 
Shouldn't we get the whole story on GZ's injuries before we make all of these sweeping assumptions? There was clearly an altercation and even if GZ was in the wrong to begin with, IF Trayvon got the better of him in a fight, it would certainly shed a different light on this. Of course, GZ is all but convicted with 100% certainty in the media so whatever he or anyone else says probably won't matter much. The public has decided they want GZ's head and they will probably get it one way or another.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout...artin-killer-had-brushes-prior-153033731.html

I think this is a pretty good look at Mr. Z and his background information. Have his injuries ever been confirmed? If TM were shot and fell towards GZ taking him down IMO GZ got some injuries when he landed on the ground. The only way to determine that would be how close GZ was when he shot TM. If he were three foot away there was no altercation. What will tell the story as to how close was the gun to TM's chest and the trajectory of that bullet. Wouldn't that have been important information LE would have released to the public to clear GZ?? Not saying GZ meant to shot TM but he did and comparing the two backgrounds it's not looking too good for Mr. Z. jmo
 
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