Justice for Trayvon Vigil Saturday Morning

1. You definitely can’t forget facts you never knew. Try following the trial and examine the evidence. Not one witness had Zimmerman attacking Martin. They asked for a jury without white men and they got one. The women cast their vote on the verdict based on the facts.

2. I have three questions for the individuals that believe Zimmerman is guilty of murder. Number one, When Martin was punching George with his fists, and pounding his head on the pavement, does anyone know at what point in time Trayvon planned to stop his attack on Zimmerman. Second question. Lets just say that Zimmerman was killed during the assault. Would you say that it was a justified homicide on behalf of Martin for being racially profiled by Zimmerman as some people claim he was. 3rd What charges if any, do you suppose the young Trayvor would have be charged with if this was the case.

3. This sympathy for Martin has been ginned up by the media. All the reports that Martin was just “on his way home” are misleading. He did not live in that community. He was visiting a relative and was a stranger to the community. The fact is Zimmerman was the the victim of the assault. Whether you think Zimmerman was right or wrong in following Martin is irrelevant since it was Martin who initiated the physical confrontation.

4. Please show up and continue to your racism. This is nothing but pandering to the professional race baiters and continuing to constantly divide this nation by race. ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

5. Just a few of the most important facts have conveniently been left out of the twisted information presented by those who refuse to see that Trayvon, a young African American boy, was RACIALLY profiled by Zimmerman; that Zimmerman was ordered not to follow Trayvon, that Zimmerman was carrying a weapon and that Trayvon was only carrying Skittles, a bottled tea drink and a cell phone (hardly dangerous weapons), that Trayvon had done nothing “suspicious;” and that as a “visitor” Trayvon was invited within the gated community. Rationalizing racial behavior is what those who have racial bias do best. The Prosecution in this case failed to show that there was, in fact, racial motivation by Zimmerman that was anything but in the best of the community. Yes, we are divided and until people begin to have some historical empathy for others who are not exactly like them, understanding will not come about. Walk in Trayvon’s shoes with Skittles and a beverage, innocently walking back to your host’s house. Imagine someone beginning to follow you, when you have done NOTHING wrong. Perhaps also imagine being hassled by the big guy who is following you as you talk to your friend on the phone. What do you do? Defend yourself is the answer most young boys Trayvon’s age would give. Hate creates hate. Understanding is one step in dissolving it.

6. Zimone, what you and the rest of the lynch mob fail to recognize is the fact that there is no law that prohibits the actions taken by Zimmerman that nite. And where there is no law, there is no trangression. We must remember in this case to place the weight of the law of the land equally upon both ends of the scale without adding the weight of prejudice or emotions to off set the balance of justice.

7. This is over and in reality there never should have been a trial. Only those who seek to continue to benefit from the chaos to support their places of prominence are truly behind tis travesty. These “Race Pimps” have ruled long enough. We need to have a rally to end their reign of division and terror.

8. Very, very sad to see a young person die, at the age of 17. There are 17 year olds who are victims, and there are 17 year old who commit homicide/rape and are tried as an adult, and end up spending their lives in prison without learning to drive.

   Which one was Trayvon Martin?

   I totally understand the anger in black community. Suppose that Zimmerman was extra suspicious of Trayvon because he was black, perhaps if he was white he would have been less suspicious. What we do know is that Zimmerman said that TM looked like he was “on drugs.” Is this why he was profiled? I get that not everybody wearing a hoodie is a criminal, I wore one decades ago in elementary school, but criminals do sometimes wear hoodies to conceal their facial features, was this why Zimmerman was suspicious? There were reports of “blacks” breaking into houses in that neighborhood . . . did Zimmerman hear those reports?

   I’d *hate* to be on the jury. I was on a jury and wanted to get the defendant “off”, but I had to look at the facts, yes, I don’t like Zimmerman, but here seem to be the “facts” in the case:

   1. Trayvon had a legitimate right to be in that neighborhood.

   2. Zimmerman was told by 9-11 that he didn’t “have to” follow Trayvon, but he was also told to “keep an eye” on him, (as per the juror on AC360). I don’t think he was ordered not to follow Trayvon, and policy of 9-11 is not to tell people what to do. (All they can do is make suggestions). Yeah, annoying people “follow” me in the mall trying to sell me a phone, so it’s not illegal, per se. I know neighborhood watch folks who follow suspicious people in the neighborhood almost every other day, so its not illegal, per se. And if 9-11 did “suggest” that Zimmerman not follow Trayvon, Zimmerman probably interpreted it as out of concern for his own safety, and possibly he might have figured that with a gun he could protect himself. 9-11 may well have looked to avoid a confrontation and either party being injured, but like they said, it is their policy not to tell people what to do.

   3. Zimmerman has physical evidence of having nose broken and lacerations to the back of his head. Did Zimmerman fake these injuries? I guess you’d have to ask this, it seems the police got there within a minute of Trayvon being shot.

   4. Trayvon only had the gunshot wound and the scraps on his fists. Was he threatened by George Zimmerman? Such as, did Zimmerman say, “I’m going to shoot you if you leave”, if so, Trayvon might have “stood his ground”, and legally fought off Zimmerman. Far fetched, but just trying to figure out why it appears that Trayvon did some serious bodily damage to Zimmerman.

   5. Zimmerman called 9-11, would he have done that if he was planning on killing Trayvon?

   6. Why did Zimmerman “not remember” learning about the Stand Your Ground law in some class he took? (Did he dream about being in such a scenario and perhaps this subconsciously motivated him to confront Trayvon, knowing he was packin’ heat to backup his words. Did he provoke Trayvon?)

   7. An eyewitness saw the person fitting Trayvon’s description beating up the person matching Zimmerman’s description, with his back on the ground.

   8. Trayvon’s personality and life. For somebody who is a household name, we seem to know little about Trayvon. Sadly, there were reports that he was suspended from school, stole from kids lockers, and beat people up. ??? It would have been nice to hear something positive about the kid. Just because he got in fights at school doesn’t necessarily mean that he’d assault a neighborhood watch “captain.”

   9. Trayvon was recently suspended before the altercation.

   10. Zimmerman’s brother seems to have a negative viewpoint of blacks as per his AC 360 interview.

   11. Zimmerman apparently mentored black kids, and advocated for a black homeless man who was beaten up by a son of (I think) a prosecutor. (Yeah, conflict of interest for the prosecution).

   I see two scenarios:

   A. Trayvon as pure victim: Zimmerman gets out of the car, asks Trayvon what he is doing, Trayvon tells him to leave him alone, realizing he’s not a cop. Zimmerman tells him not to move, or he’ll shoot (he’s tired of “punks” getting away), Trayvon has a “fight or flight response” and attacks Zimmerman. Zimmerman shoots him.

   B. Trayvon has an angry confrontation with a neighborhood watch captain. He is upset with how things are going in school, and he realizes Zimmerman is not a cop. He returns to beat up Zimmerman, thinking he is unarmed, and sucker punches him and then beats him up on the side walk and is shot in self-defense.

   I think that the prosecution portraying Zimmerman as the bumbling/overzealous neighborhood watch guy made the jury think that the guy doesn’t have the brains to mastermind a killing and/or quickly manufacture evidence of being assaulted (somehow punching his own nose and breaking it as the broken nose didn’t happen on the sidewalk per medical examiner, could be done I would guess though, like smacking it on a telephone pole).

   I think it is clear that the prosecution “tanked” the case (sabotaged it so that Zimmerman was acquitted), or else there simply wasn’t evidence to refute the hypothesis that Zimmerman was assaulted and it was plain and simple self-defense.

   I don’t think Zimmerman is stupid, the guy was relaxed and smiling before the verdict was read. He read the jury, and the facts of the case, and knew that he had a high-likelihood of being acquitted.

   In fact, Zimmerman’s family wanted to conceal the fact that he is Latino, and purposefully did not mention it. I was surprised when I first saw Zimmerman’s photo after hearing about a white neighborhood watch captain killing a black teen on the news. I couldn’t believe how “wrong” the media got the description of Zimmerman, and now it seems that this was deliberate on Zimmerman’s part. Amazingly, the guy and his family played the media perfectly. They even filed a lawsuit (legitimately) against MSNBC (NBC?) for altering his cell phone call.

   Zimmerman’s brother held his own against Piers Morgan, the guy is articulate and a quick thinker on his feet. He rolled his eyes when talking about the black on black murder rate in Chicago and how their city wasn’t like that, with a sort of subtext that blacks commit more violent crimes (technically true, though the causes are probably multi-factorial) and fortunately “we” don’t have that problem in our community here in Sandford Florida. Seems like a tip-off that the Zimmerman’s have some anti-black bias, if not overt racism, in their family. Who goes on national television and quips about the black murder rate being higher than the white murder rate and about the high black on black murder rate?

   The more I think about it, the more I feel sorry for the Martin family.

   Zimmerman . . . unemployed and an armed neighborhood watch captain, his family skillfully manipulated the media. Ironically, they choose to hide Zimmerman’s latino heritage, yet race is what the trial is all about, at least according to the media.

   I think that I, like most people, wish that Zimmerman never got out of the car . . . the only person who knows exactly what happend is George Zimmerman. And while 85% of the evidence seems to backup Zimmerman’s story, it is that 15% that is a heartbreak for the Martin family and the country, because we’ll never 100% know what happened (that would require a video tape of the incident). Often times, the survivor of a self-defense killing is the only witness (the ‘attacker’ is dead) . . . I’m sure some people use the law to get off of murder charges, but also folks have a legitimate right to use deadly force to defend themselves against either an attack on their lives or to prevent somebody from committing a violent felonious crime upon their person, such as felony assault.

   Photogenic looking 17 year old, Skittles or no Skittles, if he assaulted Zimmerman, Zimmerman had a right to defend himself with deadly force. Skull injuries can be fatal, due to bleeding in the brain. Not saying that was what happened, but 17 year olds commit homicides and felony assault and battery and end up going to prisons for years, decades . . .

   Really feel sorry for the parents.

   I think this case’s publicity/activism should be more about concealed weapons permits versus “stand you ground.” Stand your ground doesn’t seem to apply as it is straight self-defense. If Trayvon, unfortunately, was looking for a fight/angry because of a personal issue, if *saw* the gun that Zimmerman had, he might have avoid a confrontation (whether it was his fault or not).

   Really for sorry for blacks. People of all colors should realize that this seems to have been, in part, a freak accident/tragedy, and doesn’t have a bearing on their personal life. Nobody’s saying Trayvon’s life didn’t have any worth, just that this specific jury didn’t find the high burden of proof needed for 2nd degree murder, and the prosecution didn’t explain manslaughter, though manslaughter also carried a “beyond a reasonable doubt” criteria.

9. I’d also add that, though I am not black, I too feel “less of a human” because of this tragedy. A 17 year old lost his life. If George Zimmerman hadn’t gotten out of the car, the kid wouldn’t have died. Human life seems so cheap sometimes.

10. If Martin was the innocent little kid that the media wants everyone to believe then he should not have been out that time of night without a parent. Martin was not the innocent little kid though he was a 17 year old grown up. He had been kicked out of school, he had been busted with stolen property a week or so earlier and he drew attention to himself by walking up by the houses. I really don’t think the hoodie was a big deal because it was raining, Martin didn’t have to do what he did so don’t go throwing all the blame on Zimmerman.

11. It is hard not to be upset that a 17 year old lost their life. The anguish is that Trayvon may not have been doing anything wrong *before* he met Zimmerman, things may have changed if Trayvon was beating up Zimmerman, then Zimmerman had a right to defend himself against the threat of death, or a felony assault.

    So, yes, it is possible that both made poor decisions, though if Trayvon decided to assault somebody . . . that’s a worse decision than just following somebody and questioning them, which is legal to do, but you can see why the police are trained to handle stuff like this because it can get out of hand. Zimmerman made the first bad judgement call, that is why folks are upset with him, sort of thinking that he started the chain of events in motion.

    However, if Trayvon was prone to beating people up, stealing things, pot . . . he might wound up assaulting somebody else in a couple weeks. Or maybe his parents could have turned his life around. We’ll never know.

    There is new info with Jenteal, Trayvon’s friend, and the perception that Jenteal thought that Zimmerman was a gay rapist. Zimmerman said that Trayvon jumped out of the bushes saying, “Hey Homie” or something like that, what if he used a slur for gay people? Maybe Trayvon thought that he was beating up a gay man. Jenteal was hinting that Zimmerman was a gay rapist who might go after his younger brother or something . . .

12. Shocking comments. When did the readers of the AZ Daily Independent start trolling over here?

13. dont be a black thug that attacks someone with a gun, or you will be the next travon!

14. CNN reported that Zimmerman and somebody else got a family of 4 out of a crashed SUV about a minute before it caught fire, and it was “smoking” while Zimmerman helped with the rescue.

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