Trayvon Martin: 'Shoot first' law under scrutiny

[johnnyjones]

Which one of us was there to see the behavior Zimmerman reported? I dare to say none of us. What is relevant is that you call in whatever behavior you deem odd. That is a fact, and the purpose of being a WATCHPERSON.

 

[L_piperatus]

Martin’s girlfriend, who was on the phone with him in his final moments, told ABC News that she has not been interviewed by police, despite Martin telling her he was being followed.

The 16-year-old girl, who is only being identified as DeeDee, recounted the final moments of her conversation with Martin before the line went dead.

“When he saw the man behind him again he said this man is going to do something to him. And then he said this man is still behind him and I said run,” she told ABC.

Phone records obtained by ABC News show that the girl called Martin at 7:12 p.m., five minutes before police arrived, and remained on the phone with Martin until moments before he was shot.

DeeDee said Martin turned around and asked Zimmerman why he was following him.

“The man said what are you doing around here?” DeeDee recalled Zimmerman saying.

She said she heard someone pushed into the grass before the call was dropped.

I hope the police will ask DeeDee to give her witness account, and will investigate the conflicting stories told by George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin’s girlfriend DeeDee.

 

[seekerz]

The suspicious behavior you are required to report as a community watch person. Whatever it may be. You’ve jumped into Zimmermans mind. If your not familiar with the nature of this work, as it appears, your comments only serve to enflame.

My comments serve to inflame whom? Zimmerman’s alive - no need to jump in his mind if he had what it takes to speak up. On the other hand, the kid who’s been slandered by strangers who take offense that he dared to walk a sidewalk, can’t.

 

[seekerz]

Which one of us was there to see the behavior Zimmerman reported? I dare to say none of us. What is relevant is that you call in whatever behavior you deem odd. That is a fact, and the purpose of being a WATCHPERSON.

Oh, he was a watchperson? How does one become a watchperson?

 

[seekerz]

I hope the police will ask DeeDee to give her witness account, and will investigate the conflicting stories told by George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin’s girlfriend DeeDee.

Oh, they’ll surely get round to it before her grandkids are born, now that there’s so much public outrage and all.

 

[johnnyjones]

What suspicious behavior? Obviously, I would fail the police entrance exams, 'cause I’m not dragging myself over to a neighborhood just to watch someone who’s strolling around looking at houses at 7pm when most people are home.

The suspicious behavior you werent there to see.

 

[Havard]

Oh-kay. Note to self: call the police whenever I see a stranger walking around looking at houses. Do not assume that they are:

a. lost
b. looking at real estate
c. appreciative of the architecture

Note to son: any of the above is liable to get you killed. Don’t get lost, but if you do, be sure to walk around with your eyes tightly closed.

That about it?

A teen going house-shopping, at night, in the rain? Admiring architecture? Come on…

The only one that is plausible is being lost.

 

[Faith1960]

I’m afraid I don’t understand what you’re trying to say here.

The point is that Martin apparently bragged about being involved in violence and others attributed violence to him, as well. This means, at the very least (if he didn’t actually get involved in any violence), that he valued having a reputation as a violent person. At the worst, it means he actually was a violent person. In either case we see a possible motivation for his attacking Zimmerman, an older fatter man he thought was probably harmless to him, a good opportunity to embellish his reputation as a violent person.

What I’m find so amusing is the characterization that Martin was a sweet, innocent child, yet some people are offended by any digging into his true behavior and character.

 

[incense]

FOX news is supposed to have an interview with Zimmerman’s father. I only heard bit of it.
One of the suspicious behaviors was walking close to the homes, in their yards, instead of on the sidewalk.

Isn’t all the people actively calling Zimmerman’s actions as due to racism violating hate crimes laws? There is no clear case yet, but they are condemning him, and causing harm, and based solely on Zimmerman’s race. There are death threats, a $5000 bounty, wrong addresses given in which the homeowners have had to flee in fear of their lives, relatives hiding in fear, unable to go to work, nationwide marches and slanderous words spoken. There are some potentially slanderous things written on this list.

Even if Zimmerman is found guilty at some point, he is not so now. There is no clear case, so prejudicial words and actions are solely due to hate and racism.

If a hate crimes suit is filed on behalf of Zimmerman at some point, could people on this list be named? Could their identities be sought by court order? We think we’re just having a discussion, but it’s very public.

 

[johnnyjones]

Oh, he was a watchperson? How does one become a watchperson?

Check with your local Police department. If your interested I can give you some tips. But, PM me please. Again lack of knowledge hurts when interjecting specdulation.

 

[Gift_from_God]

Well, the video has ben released of Zimmerman in the police station. His nose is not bleeding or broken and there’s no gash on the back of his head.

youtube.com/watch?v=6-_Qn9ZEj9Q

 

[maryjk]

Oh, they’ll surely get round to it before her grandkids are born, now that there’s so much public outrage and all.

They have asked all witnesses to come forward. She has chosen not to.

Wouldn’t anyone that was on the phone with someone when they died, automatically come forward? They wouldn’t have send me an invitation.

 

[seekerz]

Personally I think it is lost already. Unless this eyewitness can give an additional perception of what happened it’s either believe Zimmerman or those who believe he was “hunted down” and shot for no reason other than he was black and wearing a hoodie.

I’m sure it’s much easier to believe that a kid who’d been followed by a stranger in the dark, a kid who’d hurried away from said stranger, suddenly decided to turn around and make it that stranger’s last day on earth (or something to that effect, if Zimmerman senior is to be believed).

I’m certainly no hunter, but in this version of the story the stalker and attacker seem to be totally unrelated to each other, like characters in a jigsaw puzzle whose heads get switched…

 

[pnewton]

I also feel the same way. And if he’s found innocent I would hope everyone could accept that as The End.

There is not such thing as a finding of innocence. He can only be found non guilty criminally, then face the civil consequences of his actions. Either way, he is in for a long road. The lesson here is that even if it is deemed that there is not proof of criminal action, even our poor judgement can lead to bad consequences. As Trayvon Martin is dead, it is hard for me to be too sympathetic to Zimmerman. We need to be careful about exceeding authority.

 

[seekerz]

They have asked all witnesses to come forward. She has chosen not to.

Wouldn’t anyone that was on the phone with someone when they died, automatically come forward? They wouldn’t have send me an invitation.

Source?

 

[maryjk]

A teen going house-shopping, at night, in the rain? Admiring architecture? Come on…

The only one that is plausible is being lost.

Generally people that are lost, walk on the sidewalk.

 

[Bezant]

Of course not. We know very little about either man. We are all speculating.

But to be perfectly clear, he doesn’t actually have a juvenile record, and this is something beyond speculative evidence.

The state Department of Juvenile Justice confirmed Monday that Martin does not have a juvenile offender record. The information came after a public records request by The Associated Press.

(google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iQOYLP1Qq4gg0MaT_seQp-a9t7_g?docId=f8f08f0d0d8e4eee93ecc98c5c38fdd7)

 

[seekerz]

Check with your local Police department. If your interested I can give you some tips. But, PM me please. Again lack of knowledge hurts when interjecting specdulation.

Is asking a question speculation? And why should I PM you? You made a public statement that he was a watchperson, why wouldn’t you substantiate it publicly?

 

[seekerz]

A teen going house-shopping, at night, in the rain? Admiring architecture? Come on…

The only one that is plausible is being lost.

Ah, where is your sense of freedom? Now the right to freedom of movement needs to be validated?

 

[seekerz]

Generally people that are lost, walk on the sidewalk.

Wasn’t he on the sidewalk or have I missed a detail?