17 yo Trayvon Martin Shot to Death by Neighborhood Watch Captain #35

[grammieto5]

And I hope you know I respect that you have your opinion as well, and also the respectful dialogue.

re the bbm~

I don't either. I just think that, in this situation, it would have made more sense for Trayvon to have done so and, imo, could possibly have defused the situation to the point where we wouldn't be here discussing his untimely death. jmo

So you're asking a barely 17 year old kid to be the adult in this situation? If GZ had acted like a 28 year old man, we wouldn't be here!

 

[katydid23]

In fact, if someone sells jewelry to be melted down for the gold or silver, the buyer must post pictures online in a program for police access for this very reason.

WHere does the law say that? I sold a whole lot of jewelry over the past 2 years, all of it high grade gold, and nobody ever took any pictures for the police. And I went to a very reputable jewelry store each time.

eta: I had to show my drivers license, and sign a paper. that was it.

 

[vlpate]

He was leaping all over the place like the Duracell bunny imo.
Looks like he's on drugs- leaping to possession and use of illegal narcotics.
just looking about- leaping to casing houses
he's coming to check me out, hand on waistband -thoughts leaping to the individual being a violent threat to George Zimmerman personally, and probably armed

We have no idea whether or not GZ was making a "leap" that TM was looking at houses or what he was doing to cause suspicion, we weren't there. Maybe he was in the grass, close to the houses, and not on the sidewalk, that would look suspicious to me.

 

[suzihawk]

I just don't get how this whole 'looking about' and 'looking at houses' translates into being suspicious. I walk in my neighborhood nearly every evening. I look around at all my surroundings. I enjoy the looking at the homes, lawns and gardens, the kids playing, etc. Am I to walk with my head to the ground as to not appear suspicious?

 

[Gin]

He was leaping all over the place like the Duracell bunny imo.
Looks like he's on drugs- leaping to possession and use of illegal narcotics.
just looking about- leaping to casing houses
he's coming to check me out, hand on waistband -thoughts leaping to the individual being a violent threat to George Zimmerman personally, and probably armed

JMO/IMO
Great list...But...
I think we should include the definitive marks of a master criminal...
They always carry Skittles and Iced tea. Bingo! He must be up to no good! :wink:

 

[grammieto5]

I never said he had to be respectful or polite. What I said was, I think he should have/might most logically have identified himself to avoid any escalation of the confrontation and to avoid being shot, if that was truly his fear in that moment. Not to be "polite," not because he was "obligated" to, just because, under all the circumstances I am aware of, it seems like it would have been the best thing to do. jmo

LOL well barely 17 year old kids don't always do the best things

 

[BiancaS]

IMO, it is not good judgment to ignore zero policy rules or write obscenities on property that doesn't belong to you - or to defy authority and refuse to answer questions about items that don't belong to you.

Sometimes it has nothing to do with how a child is raised, teens are a different breed and sometimes rebel against what they are taught.

JMO

According to teachers and adults that knew Trayvon well, he was not the rebellious type. The "no limit" name is from a rap group. And OMG, MARIJUANA, OMG, OMG, OMG. Wait, let me go get the police, I think pretty much everyone I know is going to have to go to jail.

Was he perfect, no. He just turned 17, his judgement is not always what it would be if he were older. Did he do anything on that day in Sanford that caused someone to shoot him? Not the way that the pieces are fitting together, IMO. Have you seen the pictures from his Mother's birthday, just before his death? He was wearing a Reese's shirt, he went horseback riding with his Mom and brother, and to dinner with the family. He's a decent, caring kid from everything that I have seen and heard about him. His parents should be proud. He comes from a middle class family, his mother worked for the Housing Authority in Miami-Dade County ever since she graduated college. She was in management when she left after her son was killed.

GZ, on the other hand, seems to have been making bad decisions throughout his life, and he is well into adulthood. People keep getting him out of trouble and he keeps falling back in. MOO.

 

[Donjeta]

He'd been there often. It was a straight shot. How does one "case" a house without "looking" at it.

He knew where the 7-11 was and he had been to the community often enough that the kids there looked forward to his visits, according to this article. http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article1221799.ece


"Trayvon Martin lived with his dad, who resides in the Miami area, and had visited his dad's girlfriend at the Retreat several times before. The kids in the neighborhood always looked forward to playing football with him."

Well, imagine that. He had been there often and other people knew him but GZ didn't recognize him.

I wonder how many other people there are in the retreat that GZ doesn't recognize... Would he have recognized Tracy Martin's girlfriend and her son?

Somehow this man who doesn't know every frequent visitor to the community thought that no one he doesn't know has the right to be there.

 

[suzihawk]

IMO, it is not good judgment to ignore zero policy rules or write obscenities on property that doesn't belong to you - or to defy authority and refuse to answer questions about items that don't belong to you.

Sometimes it has nothing to do with how a child is raised, teens are a different breed and sometimes rebel against what they are taught.

JMO

Did he refuse to answer that question? I thought he said it belonged to a friend?

Sometimes teenagers are just teenagers. I've yet to meet a perfect one.

JMO

 

[LambChop]

Why are we making a leap that GZ didn't? His school suspensions have nothing to do with his suspicious behavior that night. GZ described exactly what he thought was suspicious (walking about, walking toward me, staring, etc.) He never once mentions casing houses or any type of behavior that would be associated with stealing or burglary.

If we use the school suspensions, then let's use GZ's run ins with LE and his domestic violence history to show that he was violent and had a knack for picking on people more vulnerable than himself.

:moo::twocents:

GZ had no information on TM that evening and never asked when he had the chance. To me it's too late once you have followed someone with your car and then you get out on foot to pursue them further. I would think GZ was up to no good and a threat. TM was walking home, had the right to do so without being stopped. No where on that front gate does it say "NWP - be prepared to stopped, questioned and possibly searched while on this property. FYI. Some of our members are armed and dangerous." TM had the presumption that he was safe because he was within a gated community. If GZ intent was to follow TM and he called TM in as suspicious, which he did and GZ decided to ignore what LE was asking him to do then he should have identified himself as a member of the NWP. He never claimed to do that from what we have heard so far. GZ had the advantage because he knew what he was after, TM did not. jmo

 

[BiancaS]

I just don't get how this whole 'looking about' and 'looking at houses' translates into being suspicious. I walk in my neighborhood nearly every evening. I look around at all my surroundings. I enjoy the looking at the homes, lawns and gardens, the kids playing, etc. Am I to walk with my head to the ground as to not appear suspicious?

And...what GZ didn't realize is that Trayvon had a bluetooth earpiece in and was on the phone. All the more reason to be strolling along slowly, just taking in the sights!! No rush to get home where he would lose his privacy for the phone call!!

 

[LynnM]

We have no idea whether or not GZ was making a "leap" that TM was looking at houses or what he was doing to cause suspicion, we weren't there. Maybe he was in the grass, close to the houses, and not on the sidewalk, that would look suspicious to me.

IMO GZ would have said so. He was certainly specific about what Trayvon was wearing including mentioning a button on his sweatshirt and he was insistent that he was suspicious and looking like he was up to no good and that he looked like he was on drugs. If Trayvon was off the path and close to houses, peeking in windows, trying doors to houses or cars, or anything objectively suspicious, it doesn't make sense that he wouldn't have just said so. This was a non-emergency line which he called because he didn't see a crime in progress. He didn't want this *advertiser censored**hole to get away and it would certainly have gotten LE out more quickly if he had a specific action like trespassing or trying doors to report.

As another poster said, I also walk in my neighborhood (and have been known to get caught in the rain) and I look at houses and gardens. Why not?

 

[grammieto5]

I just don't get how this whole 'looking about' and 'looking at houses' translates into being suspicious. I walk in my neighborhood nearly every evening. I look around at all my surroundings. I enjoy the looking at the homes, lawns and gardens, the kids playing, etc. Am I to walk with my head to the ground as to not appear suspicious?

I do the same thing, only in the morning. Thankfully I no longer have to wear my pink hoody, but when I do wear it, I wear it up, and I do walk in the rain.

 

[LambChop]

Well, imagine that. He had been there often and other people knew him but GZ didn't recognize him.

I wonder how many other people there are in the retreat that GZ doesn't recognize... Would he have recognized Tracy Martin's girlfriend and her son?

Somehow this man who doesn't know every frequent visitor to the community thought that no one he doesn't know has the right to be there.

You know I was thinking the same thing about visitors that GZ did not know. Could they have been the ones that "got away"?

 

[BiancaS]

WHere does the law say that? I sold a whole lot of jewelry over the past 2 years, all of it high grade gold, and nobody ever took any pictures for the police. And I went to a very reputable jewelry store each time.

eta: I had to show my drivers license, and sign a paper. that was it.

It is done behind the scenes (after they buy it from you) by the jewelry store. I sell special cameras that some of them are using and have seen the software. They are required to hold it after they buy it and have it posted for a specific amount of time. It is a National database, divided by area. You would not be aware of that (but that is why they have your identification, in case something came up after the sale).

 

[rotterdam]

Unless a person is in a consistently threatened position (such as a police officer) imo there is no need to carry a concealed weapon.

Well, that depends on the environment. I know many shopkeepers that do carry a concealed weapon and for a good reason. And many criminals often stay away from such an establishment if it is a well known fact.

 

[Elley Mae]

It is done behind the scenes (after they buy it from you) by the jewelry store. I sell special cameras that some of them are using and have seen the software. They are required to hold it after they buy it and have it posted for a specific amount of time. It is a National database, divided by area. You would not be aware of that (but that is why they have your identification, in case something came up after the sale).

That is why in the county I live in they(jewelry thieves) ride the bus from the city to the county to pawn.

 

[grammieto5]

Did he refuse to answer that question? I thought he said it belonged to a friend?

Sometimes teenagers are just teenagers. I've yet to meet a perfect one.

JMO

Me eiother, thank God. If they were perfect they wouldn't be human, they would be marble statues

 

[Gaia713]

We have no idea whether or not GZ was making a "leap" that TM was looking at houses or what he was doing to cause suspicion, we weren't there. Maybe he was in the grass, close to the houses, and not on the sidewalk, that would look suspicious to me.

But he doesn't say he's looking in windows or knocking at doors where houses are dark. And if he's walking close to the houses, how does Zimmerman back up him claim that Martin was pounding his head into the concrete. Did Martin pick him up and move him so he could do that? Zimmerman does leap around a lot and all of it to make himself the victim.
Victims don't kill other people. jmo

 

[BiancaS]

IMO GZ would have said so. He was certainly specific about what Trayvon was wearing including mentioning a button on his sweatshirt and he was insistent that he was suspicious and looking like he was up to no good and that he looked like he was on drugs. If Trayvon was off the path and close to houses, peeking in windows, trying doors to houses or cars, or anything objectively suspicious, it doesn't make sense that he wouldn't have just said so. This was a non-emergency line which he called because he didn't see a crime in progress. He didn't want this *advertiser censored**hole to get away and it would certainly have gotten LE out more quickly if he had a specific action like trespassing or trying doors to report.

As another poster said, I also walk in my neighborhood (and have been known to get caught in the rain) and I look at houses and gardens. Why not?

The button on his sweatshirt was in memory of a relative that died. Little did he know...

This is a kid that visited a paralyzed relative and spoon fed him. Made Easy Bake Oven cakes with his little cousin. Just a teenager with a big heart that was not embarrassed to be photographed kissing his father, shortly before his death. So incredibly sad that he had to die the way he did, that his life was cut short by a wannabe cop that will never amount to anything. And especially sad that I feel obligated to defend his honor. I cannot wait until the evidence comes out. MOO.