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Soledad O'Brien Interview with Zimmerman neighbor Frank Taaffe

O'BRIEN: So it sounds to me it made sense to you that George Zimmerman would be fearful of young black men.

TAAFFE: No. It would be consistent that the perpetrators were all of the young black male I.D.

O'BRIEN: Say that one more time?

TAAFFE: That's a fact.

O'BRIEN: What do you mean? I don't understand what you're saying.

TAAFFE: All of the perpetrators of the burglaries, the prior burglaries, were young black males.

O'BRIEN: And so when he saw Trayvon Martin, in your mind it would make perfect sense to say he's a young black male. It's probably robbery -- is that what you're saying?

TAAFFE: There's an old saying if you plant corn, you get corn.

O'BRIEN: I don't know that saying. I'll have to ask you to tell me what that means. What does that mean in this case?

TAAFFE: It is what it is. It is what it is. I would go on record by stating that of the eight prior burglaries in the 15 months prior to the Trayvon Martin shooting, all of the perpetrators were young black males.

~~~~~~~

Follow up from Soledad Interview with Frank Taaffe: CNN Transcript, April 4, 2012

Soledad (O'Brien) did speak to a man named Frank Taaffe. He lives in the community. He's a former neighborhood watch block captain. And here's exactly what he said to Soledad about crime in the area. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK TAAFFE, FORMER NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH BLOCK CAPTAIN: We had eight burglaries in our neighborhood all perpetrated by young black males in the 15 months prior to Trayvon being shot. One of those -- it would have been nine, excuse me, there would have been nine, but George Zimmerman, through his efforts of being a neighborhood watch captain helped stop one in progress, documented in the 911 calls February 2nd. My house was being robbed, and George on his nightly rounds, watched this burglary in progress, called Sanford P.D., waited for them, and helped ensure that nothing bad happened to my house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Stopped one in progress. Is that true?

Well, CNN did some digging. According to Sanford police records -- and this is what we were talking about before. There were indeed eight robberies in that housing development in the 14 months prior to Trayvon's shooting. Four of them involved black male suspects. Another four had unidentified suspects.

Listen to this interesting detail, too. There's also a 911 call dated three weeks before Trayvon was killed. Police were called to an address that matches Frank Taaffe's address after the caller said they saw a black male at the home. When police got to the address, there was nobody there.
 
Trayvon Martin made his own 911 call before his death; FBI investigates

<snipped>


Chicago's ABC News 7 reports Monday that Trayvon Martin, the Florida teen who was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer, made his own call to 911 just moments before his death.

ABC News 7 reports the FBI is attempting to determine if 17-year-old Trayvon Martin’s 911 call captured his killer, 28-year-old George Zimmerman’s voice in the background, and if the audio can be enhanced to more clearly hear what was said.


More at link.
 
Trayvon Martin's Girlfriend Interviewed By Prosecutors (article from 4/3/12)

"Trayvon's girlfriend was interviewed by the two district attorneys that Special Prosecutor Angela Corey appointed to the case," a source tells RadarOnline.com. "She was interviewed last week and her mother was present throughout. She was very forthcoming and had pertinent information to the investigation because she was the last person that talked to Trayvon before George Zimmerman shot and killed him. It was extremely emotional for her and her mother wanted to make sure it wasn't too much for her. She would be a very compelling witness for the state of Florida if criminal charges are filed against George Zimmerman." The Florida State Attorney's Office has issued a subpoena for Trayvon's girlfriend to appear in front of the grand jury when it's impaneled on April 10.

More at link…

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2012/04/trayvon-martin-girlfriend-interviewed-prosecutors
 
Letter from Zimmerman Family Says George is Not a Racist
According to the letter that was also sent to the NAACP, Zimmerman publicly questioned the integrity of the Sanford police after seeing the video of an officer's son punching a homeless man so hard that he knocked him unconscious.
Justin Collison was not arrested for beating Sherman Ware in late 2010, until WFTV started asking questions.
The writer of the letter also said, "Do you know the individual that stepped up when no one else in the black community would? Do you know who waited for the church-goers to get out of church so that he could hand them fliers in an attempt to organize the black community against this horrible miscarriage of justice? That person was George Zimmerman."
 
Trayvon’s death was murder, Congressman Frederica Wilson says

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/0...#storylink=cpy

...........Wilson appeared on an online video program hosted by Miami Herald World Editor John Yearwood. In her appearance, Wilson described racial profiling as a pervasive force in this country, and said she fears for the safety of her black son and three black grandsons.

Of the Martin case, Wilson said, “Oh, definitely Mr. Zimmerman murdered Trayvon Martin ...you can tell from the 911 tapes, and from the girlfriend’s conversation. You can tell from Mr. Zimmerman’s past.”

“He murdered Trayvon,” Wilson repeated. “He hunted him down like you hunt a rabbit.”
 
Zimmerman's lawyer: Cub Scout leader, martial-arts expert, one-man law firm

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/loc...283,full.story

Craig Sonner has never defended a client accused in a homicide, but he now represents George Zimmerman, the man at the center of one of the nation's most racially divisive shootings in years.

And Sonner predicts he'll have no problem clearing Zimmerman.

"I believed his story of how he was defending himself," said 47-year-old Sonner, a one-man Altamonte Springs law firm. "I've already got a number of experts lined up to take this one … I don't think we're going to have a problem exonerating George Zimmerman."
-------

Sonner said the night he walked off the [O'Donnell] set that the "only reason I'm talking now is that this case has spun so out of control," he said. Zimmerman "is not a racist. This was a case of self-defense."

And Sonner is no longer Zimmerman's lone defender.

Late Tuesday, veteran Orlando-area criminal-defense attorney Hal Uhrig, who often works on cases with Sonner, announced that he was joining the defense team.

He is confident of their client's self-defense claim, Uhrig told WOFL, in part because Zimmerman has already passed a voice-stress test, something similar to a lie-detector test, administered by Sanford police.

Both lawyers said they never have met Zimmerman face to face.

"Because of the danger he faces, we communicate only by phone," Sonner said.
-------

As of Tuesday morning, neither Sonner nor Zimmerman had talked with anyone in the office of Special Prosecutor Angela Corey, the state attorney appointed by Gov. Rick Scott to take over the investigation and decide whether to charge Zimmerman.

If she convenes a grand jury, Zimmerman will be there, Sonner said. If she calls, saying she's going to file charges, Zimmerman will surrender.

"It's still true that we're cooperating fully with law enforcement," Sonner said.

The basis of his defense: Florida's stand-your-ground law, which allows a person who reasonably fears imminent death or great bodily harm to use lethal force.
 
Video of Zimmerman's Attorneys on Sean Hannity, Fox News 4/4/2012

[ame="http://video.foxnews.com/v/1547723597001/zimmerman-father-attorneys-on-investigation-/?playlist_id=86856"]http://video.foxnews.com/v/1547723597001/zimmerman-father-attorneys-on-investigation-/?playlist_id=86856[/ame]
 
MSNBC: Where Do We Go From Here
Angela Corey, the special prosecutor who was appointed by Florida's Gov. Rick Scott to investigate the case, has many options.
Corey can decide whether to file charges in the case herself or send the case to a grand jury. She has the latitude to convene that closed-door process here in Seminole County or someplace else. And, of course, she can decide that the Sanford police decision not to arrest Zimmerman, based on his claim of self-defense, is justified.
Trayvon Martin's family and their advocates are demanding an arrest – nothing less.

Congress Moves to Repeal NRA's Stand Your Ground Laws Nationwide
“Florida’s misguided ‘Stand Your Ground’ law does not make our streets safer, rather it turns our streets into a showdown at the OK Corral,” Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), a sponsor of the resolution, said in a statement. “But this is not the Wild West. We are supposed to be a civilized society. Let Trayvon’s death not be for naught. Let us honor his life by righting this wrong, and seeing that justice is served for Trayvon and his family. George Zimmerman must be prosecuted for his admitted shooting of Trayvon Martin and the ‘Stand Your Ground’ law must be repealed.”

CNN: What Was Zimmerman's Epithet on 911 Tape
Zimmerman attorneys Hal Ulrig and Craig Sonner told CNN their client told them that he said, "F---ing punks."
Forensic audio expert Tom Owen, who analyzed 911 recordings, agreed the garbled word that raised controversy was "punks," not the racial slur some people said they heard.
When Owen, chairman emeritus of the American Board of Recorded Evidence, used a computer application to remove cell phone interference, the word became clearer, he said. After discussions with linguists, he said he became convinced that Zimmerman said "punks." He provided CNN with a copy of the newly processed audio.
CNN also enhanced the sound of the 911 call, and several members of CNN's editorial staff repeatedly reviewed the tape but could reach no consensus on whether Zimmerman used a slur.
 
Trayvon Martin Shooter Zimmerman’s Audio Tapes Show Calm

April 6, 2012 12:21 p.m.

SANFORD, Fla. — New analysis of calls to police made by George Zimmerman, who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, show a man who never offered up race as a descriptor of suspicious people in the neighborhood watch area until being prompted by a dispatcher. On the calls he made to Sanford, Fla., police he seems reluctant to take initiative in pursuing one suspicious man.

full article at link .............. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/04/trayvon-martin-shooter-zimmermans-911-audio-tapes/
 
"Shaken Baby Syndrome" used in defense of Trayvon Martin's killer

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nat...,1690924.story

SANFORD, Florida (Reuters) - "Shaken Baby Syndrome" was cited on Friday in the defense of George Zimmerman, the Sanford, Florida, man who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, in a case that has sparked a widespread public outcry.

Hal Uhrig, a lawyer and formerGainesville, Florida, police officer who recently joined Zimmerman's defense team, cited in a TV interview the brain damage that can seriously injure or kill an infant.

His point, which has been made before, was that Zimmerman contends he shot Martin in self defense and feared for his life after the 17-year-old attacked him and began pounding his head into the concrete pavement of a gated community on a rainy evening in Sanford on February 26.
 
7-11 Spokesperson Makes a Statement
A corporate spokeswoman for 7-Eleven said on Thursday they have a video secured at corporate headquarters showing Martin the night he was killed.
An executive with 7-Eleven viewed the tape and can confirm: "he observed an African American male in a hoodie purchase Skittles and an iced tea between 6 and 6:30 that evening."

Grand Jury to meet Tuesday in Sanford
It's not known when Corey, Jacksonville's top prosecutor who was appointed as the special prosecutor by Gov. Rick Scott, will make a ruling.
If she finds probable cause, Corey could direct-file the charges anytime or present evidence to a Seminole County grand jury, which was tentatively scheduled to meet on Tuesday. The grand jury could indict, ask to hear more evidence, or decline to indict.
 
Supporters launch effort to bring back Sanford police Chief Bill Lee
11:53 a.m. EST, April 6, 2012

People who back Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee Jr. are handing out blue and black wristbands that say "I support Chief Billy Lee" and have begun a campaign to return him to office.
<snip>
An online petition, calling for Lee's return had 725 signatures Friday morning. It read, in part, "Show our support for Chief Lee and Sanford Police Department. Not only do we want to KEEP CHIEF LEE, but we want him back ASAP!!!!"

More at link

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-04-06/news/os-trayvon-martin-lee-petition-20120406_1_wristbands-online-petition-confidence-vote


Zimmerman's new attorney: My client is a victim
4:08 p.m. EST, April 6, 2012

George Zimmerman's new attorney, Hal Uhrig, has come out swinging. Less than 72 hours after announcing he was on the defense team, he's done interviews on CBS, NBC, CNN and the Fox network, and he's aggressively pushing this message: George Zimmerman is a victim.

More at link

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-04-06/news/os-george-zimmerman-uhrig-interviews-20120405_1_new-attorney-defense-team-zimmerman-shot
 
Trayvon Martin killed in state where 1 in 17 adults legally can carry concealed weapon
9:48 p.m. EST, April 5, 2012

SANFORD — The night Trayvon Martin was shot to death, George Zimmerman was one of 1,903 residents in his Sanford ZIP code with permits to carry concealed handguns, state records show.

<snip>

Taking guns to work, church and play in Florida has become so widespread in the past 25 years that the state likely leads the U.S. in the number of residents legally carrying guns. With nearly 920,000 active concealed-weapons permits, the Sunshine State is home to almost as many gun dealers as its 2,300 citrus farms, according to state and federal records.

More at link

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-04-05/news/os-trayvon-martin-gunshine-state-culture-20120405_1_concealed-weapons-law-gun-dealers-gun-lobby
 
A Conversation With Trayvon Martin's Mother...

My dear friend Kathryn Milofsky arranged for me to speak with Trayvon Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, and her attorney Benjamin Crump, today just before Passover. We had invited Trayvon's parents to our Passover seder, but as that could not be worked out I was grateful to speak to Ms. Fulton and offer her whatever words of comfort and healing I could muster.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-shmuley-boteach/sybrina-fulton-trayvon-martin_b_1409832.html?
 
NBC Fires Producer For Editing 911 Call
NBC News executives interviewed more than half a dozen employees during their investigation of the network's editing of the tape of the 911 call placed by George Zimmerman before he shot the unarmed Florida teenager, sources at the network had said on Thursday.
The edit made it appear as though Zimmerman told police that Martin was black without being prompted, when, in fact, the full tape reveals that the neighborhood watch captain only did so when responding to a question asked by the dispatcher.
The clip aired on the network's flagship"Today" morning show last week.

Bill Cosby Comments on Martin Case
&#8220;We&#8217;ve got to get the gun out of the hands of people who are supposed to be on neighborhood watch,&#8221; said Mr. Cosby, whose remarks were the first he has made publicly about the case.
&#8220;Without a gun, I don&#8217;t see Mr. Zimmerman approaching Trayvon by himself,&#8221; Mr. Cosby explained. &#8220;The power-of-the-gun mentality had him unafraid to confront someone. Even police call for backup in similar situations.
&#8220;When you carry a gun, you mean to harm somebody, kill somebody,&#8221; he said.
 
Trayvon Martin march goes across 40 miles, protesters call for arrest of George Zimmerman

Sanford, Florida - College students from across Florida are marching to Sanford this weekend as part of a movement titled the "The Dream Defenders." They started marching on Friday from Daytona. They plan to arrive in Sanford this Easter Sunday to protest the handling of the Trayvon Martin case.

http://www.wtsp.com/news/topstories/article/249495/250/40-mile-Trayvon-Martin-march-underway
 
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