George Zimmerman makes initial court appearance in Trayvon Martin shooting, will plead not guilty

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SwizzleStick

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Quoted from the last thread:
Trayvon Martin: Before the world heard the cries
forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=9174666&postcount=1075
SwizzleStick said:
"Priest’s perspective on Trayvon Martin case
By Matt C. Abbott

I asked Father Angel Sotelo, a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Fresno, for his perspective on the Trayvon Martin tragedy.

Father Sotelo’s comments are as follows:

[Regarding] the Trayvon Martin case, I would step back from the racial tension and look at how this started. Basically, the 911 dispatcher was right to ask in so many words, ‘Are you, George Zimmerman, a private citizen, not a police officer, walking around that neighborhood with a loaded firearm, following an African-American youth who has not harmed you or even threatened to harm you?’ When Zimmerman responded yes, he should have heeded the advice that followed, ‘You don’t need to be doing that.’"…

Blue excerpt from: renewamerica.com/columns/abbott/120328
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vz71:
I believe the priest is seriously out of line.
He is placing words and ideas into the mouth of the dispatcher that may or may not have been there.
He is also implying a number of things that may not have been and have very little evidence one way or the other.
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I wish I had noted the date of the article before I posted it. It was pretty early in this whole cycle of events. But, even with more information–Zimmerman’s account of things, the release of an unedited 911 tape, the release of enhanced video to show Zimmerman was actually injured, etc.–we still don’t know what happened. I can say with 20/20 hindsight that Zimmerman should have stayed in his truck and he would probably agree with me knowing what he knows now, but at the time of the events, there was no way to know how things would go so very badly.
 
As I said in the last thread on this issue (how many have there been??):
The last thing anyone of us needs or wants is more untruth spread around.

If the priest had said these things early on, I would cut him a break that not all the facts are in, and based on early reports what he was saying was mostly accurate.

We now know otherwise.

Let us hope this was the case.

EDIT: Based on the dates of the article, it is likely the priest was simply commenting based upon whart the media was reporting at the time.
 
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pnewton:
…Could not have Martin been acting in self-defense even as Zimmerman was? After all, Martin was initially the one doing nothing but walking home.
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That is my thought. I expressed similar ideas in one of these threads. forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=9158044&postcount=145
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SwizzleStick:
I would like to know for sure what happened. I do not. I sure would like to know how those who are absolutely certain they know what happened came to this certainty and how they know with certainty that one of the two men in the situation was a villian. Some of you know that Martin was a thug. Others know that Zimmerman murdered Martin just because.

On the one hand, how can some of you “know” Martin was a thug, a hoodlum?

On the other hand, how can some of you “know” that Zimmerman is a racist who just shot the young man for no real reason?

I keep thinking that tragic misunderstanding led to the shooting. I think it possible that Zimmerman was trying to do his duties as a neighborhood watchman. He saw an unknown teen in the area and was vigilant and wary and followed the kid because it was raining and not a nice night for someone to be out walking AND because there had been several burglaries in the neighborhood. Martin decided to confront this unknown stranger who in his mind may have been just some guy who followed him. Zimmerman wasn’t wearing a uniform or anything to identify himself as someone with legitimate reason to be particularly watchful. I can see how Martin may have been alarmed by this guy following him and may have gotten mouthy in response to being afraid, may have wanted to appear tough to try to intimidate the stranger into leaving him alone so he could continue on home. Then during the confrontation, maybe when Zimmerman went for his phone, Martin thought he was instead going for his weapon. Then, due to misunderstanding, Martin felt he was in a fight for his life and defended his life by attacking Zimmerman with deadly force. After being hit and having his head hit on the ground, Zimmerman too felt he was in a fight for his life and so defended himself, he too with deadly force.

Granted, I don’t know what happened. But, the scenario above doesn’t seem so out there to me and it seems more charitable then some others I’ve read. Is it possible that something like that happened rather than having one of the two men be a villian? We have Zimmerman’s account. Martin can no longer tell us his side. Is it possible neither man is a villian?
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vz71 said:
As I said in the last thread on this issue (how many have there been??):
The last thing anyone of us needs or wants is more untruth spread around.

If the priest had said these things early on, I would cut him a break that not all the facts are in, and based on early reports what he was saying was mostly accurate.

We now know otherwise.

Let us hope this was the case.

EDIT: Based on the dates of the article, it is likely the priest was simply commenting based upon whart the media was reporting at the time.
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I think that is so, that the priest commented early on and did not have all the info available. Again, I wish I had noted the date before I posted his comments.
 
qui_est_ce said:
He looks like he lost a lot of weight.
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He does appear to have lost quite a bit of weight when comparing the current pic of him to the mug shot of him in the orange jumpsuit from several years ago. When compared to the pic of him smiling and in a suit, the weight loss is less dramatic, but still apparent.
 
vz71 said:
If we are to believe the people that have seen him since the incident, this whole thing is weighing heavily upon him.

He may not be eating as he should.
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Sounds like alot of remorse for a man who “hunted Trayvon down and shot him like a dog in teh street”.
 
SwizzleStick said:
Quoted from the last thread:
Trayvon Martin: Before the world heard the cries
forums.catholic-questions.org/showpost.php?p=9174666&postcount=1075

I wish I had noted the date of the article before I posted it. It was pretty early in this whole cycle of events. But, even with more information–Zimmerman’s account of things, the release of an unedited 911 tape, the release of enhanced video to show Zimmerman was actually injured, etc.–we still don’t know what happened. I can say with 20/20 hindsight that Zimmerman should have stayed in his truck and he would probably agree with me knowing what he knows now, but at the time of the events, there was no way to know how things would go so very badly.
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Yes, I am feeling very sad for everyone, even the killer. A family friend was a new police officer when he shot and killed a crook (justified), and he was in therapy for years over the incident, the idea of being a killer, the shock. I give Zimmerman the benefit of the doubt that he at the very least truly wishes he had stayed in the car, and at most he might be feeling truly stricken over what he has done.
 
Scott_Lafrance said:
Sounds like alot of remorse for a man who “hunted Trayvon down and shot him like a dog in teh street”.
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Those that are making that argument are slick.
He feels that way because it was his first…the first always weighs heavily.

Let’s not let evidence get in the way of a good story.
 
vz71 said:
The ‘What if’ game can be a horrible one.

I hope he gets the help he will surely need when this is all over.
He has my prayers.
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As I’ve said over and over for four threads,
Trayvon and Zimmerman and both families need our prayers.
 
Jerry_Miah said:
Yes, I am feeling very sad for everyone, even the killer. A family friend was a new police officer when he shot and killed a crook (justified), and he was in therapy for years over the incident, the idea of being a killer, the shock. I give Zimmerman the benefit of the doubt that he at the very least truly wishes he had stayed in the car, and at most he might be feeling truly stricken over what he has done.
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I agree. Drivers who have killed people who popped out in front of their cars carry the weight with them the rest of their lives.
 
I just watched Piers Morgan tonight and there was a hard talk between Piers Morgan and Robert Zimmerman Jr., the brother of George Zimmerman. After listening to the arguments from both sides, one just has to wait for the courts to decide.
 
qui_est_ce said:
He looks like he lost a lot of weight.
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I thought so at first, but then I remembered that the first picture of him circulating around is very old (5 years or so), and more recent pictures show a thinner man.

No doubt though this taken a heavy psychological toll on him – sorrow, distress, and extreme fear for his life.

I hate every second of this. I have no doubt in my mind Zimmerman will probably not get a fair trial in any event, and that the deliberately inflamed racial tensions, already playing out in revenge attacks, will explode if this is handled with anything less than Zimmerman’s lifelong imprisonment.
 
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