Zimmerman/Martin trial in FL

[Lotahp1]

come on people...facts are Martin was not a 4.0 student etc etc. His parents didnt do a good job or else he would have been in bed at the wee early morning hours he was shot in. From my point of view Zimmerman was tired of getting robbed etc and was patroling the area looking for ANYONE not where they should be. He saw someone not where they should be at those times and stepped up. Police wouldnt come as he hadnt done anything yet they knew of, just out past cerfew. If Martin would have calmly went to Zimmerman and told him "Hey man Im just a kid wanting some candy at 3am and my parents dont care if I go wondering the streets at this time" Im sure Zimmerman would not have shot him. Instead he acted like a punk and thought he had a right to be there at 3am in a place that has had alot of crime durring those hours and gave a nieghborhood watch guy a bad time. In return the neighborhood watch held his ground and stopped the violence by shooting the attacker. Why everytime a black gets shot etc it turns into a race issue is stupid. If the black race wants to stop being labeled in a negative light they need to step up. That starts with the parents. If indeed Zimmerman is cleared of any wrong doing and is justified in defending himself I STRONGLY recomend his parents be charged with something as at his age its there responcibility to keep him in at 3am and make sure hes not doing bad...drugs etc. I also believe the media is racist by acting like its only because hes black and Zimmerman is not. I look forward to hearing the TRUE facts of this case and hope the gun owner/shooter acted in a legal way...Yes he could have stayed at home, in his car or whatever. Thats not the point...Did he act in a LEGAL manner is the point. In the end it will either help gun owners or hurt us because if he did shoot a poor little candy eating inocent baby boy the media will think ALL gun people would do the same...If he is cleared and its found he shot an attacking person nothing will be said and the whole story will be forgotten by the media. Dont think for a second any of the Revs will say they were wrong or didnt seek all evidence before they declared there black brother inocent.

 

[Mr.357Sig]

Innocent little Trayvon was high on dope? No! Say it ain't so! That does not fit the drive-by media's narrative and will not be tolerated.

The way this case has been handled by the locals and feds is ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as the way the mass media tried and convicted Zim before he was even arrested.

Zimmerman should walk. But if he does, the LA riots will seem like a high school prom comparatively. All thanks to the drive-bys, our esteemed and open-minded president and his crooked justice department.

 

[Jefpainthorse]

and just the other day they were drawing up hate crime papers...<chirp>

 

[farmerbyron]

come on people...facts are Martin was not a 4.0 student etc etc. His parents didnt do a good job or else he would have been in bed at the wee early morning hours he was shot in. From my point of view Zimmerman was tired of getting robbed etc and was patroling the area looking for ANYONE not where they should be. He saw someone not where they should be at those times and stepped up. Police wouldnt come as he hadnt done anything yet they knew of, just out past cerfew. If Martin would have calmly went to Zimmerman and told him "Hey man Im just a kid wanting some candy at 3am and my parents dont care if I go wondering the streets at this time" Im sure Zimmerman would not have shot him. Instead he acted like a punk and thought he had a right to be there at 3am in a place that has had alot of crime durring those hours and gave a nieghborhood watch guy a bad time. In return the neighborhood watch held his ground and stopped the violence by shooting the attacker. Why everytime a black gets shot etc it turns into a race issue is stupid. If the black race wants to stop being labeled in a negative light they need to step up. That starts with the parents. If indeed Zimmerman is cleared of any wrong doing and is justified in defending himself I STRONGLY recomend his parents be charged with something as at his age its there responcibility to keep him in at 3am and make sure hes not doing bad...drugs etc. I also believe the media is racist by acting like its only because hes black and Zimmerman is not. I look forward to hearing the TRUE facts of this case and hope the gun owner/shooter acted in a legal way...Yes he could have stayed at home, in his car or whatever. Thats not the point...Did he act in a LEGAL manner is the point. In the end it will either help gun owners or hurt us because if he did shoot a poor little candy eating inocent baby boy the media will think ALL gun people would do the same...If he is cleared and its found he shot an attacking person nothing will be said and the whole story will be forgotten by the media. Dont think for a second any of the Revs will say they were wrong or didnt seek all evidence before they declared there black brother inocent.

Where are you getting this 3 AM info? Everything I have seen said it occurred around 10 PM give or take an hour.

 

[Rajder]

You guys crack me up. Why does it even matter if he had smoked some weed in the past? Many of the people on this forum obviously have smoked week before. Does that mean that they should be confronted by some random stranger for doing NOTHING ILLEGAL and it would be ok if they were shot. Heck, alot of you older guys have kids that have been smoking weed for a long time now and you just don't realize it. For the record I've never actually used an illegal drug but I understand that over half of young kids today have at least tried it. Does that make half the kids today thugs? I don't care even if he was a thug with a violent history (but it seems that GZ has a more violent history than TM does) he wasn't doing anything illegal at the time. Zimmerman should have stayed in the car because he didn't have the authority to just randomly go shake down a kid walking down the street. If you're worried about a pontentially dangerous individual what the heck are you doing confronting him!

If some of you guys would just put yourself in others shoes for a while and think about the situation you would probably have a different view on many issues. Imagine that your 17 year old son walked down the street to the store to pick up some skittles and a drink. And he never came back because he was shot by a man that thought he looked suspicious and confronted him with no reason or authority I think you would be pretty pissed about it and would have a different view. I wouldn't care that he was getting his butt kicked by my boy either. If you aren't ready to get into a fist fight then don't go around trying to shake down people that you have no business confronting. If it were my boy then I'd want that man in jail so I can't really fault his family for feeling that way.

Also, did anyone see the interview between the lawyers in this case on the Today show this morning? Matt Lauer brought up the fact that the police has Zimmerman's text messages from that night and they would be released soon. And when Zimmerman's lawyer was asked about it he seemed pretty nervous about it to me. His attitude made me think there was something in those messages that he didn't like. I don't know, but I'll be interested to see what is on those text messages.

 

[gregorius]

I wouldn't care that he was getting his butt kicked by my boy either. If you aren't ready to get into a fist fight then don't go around trying to shake down people that you have no business confronting. If it were my boy then I'd want that man in jail so I can't really fault his family for feeling that way.

This. Throughout all of this endless debate I have been thinking this same thing. It seems like nobody is disputing the fact that Zimmerman followed and confronted this kid. A fight broke out. My whole thing is that if you start a confrontation that turns into a fight, then fight. Pulling out a concealed weapon and shooting the boy because he was kicking your ass is not ok with me. It is a ***** move of the first order. Take your lumps like a man. If you bit off more than you could chew with a 17 year old, then that is on you. I just don't think you can be justified in pulling the gun and shooting when you started the whole damn thing with your wannabe cop act. Total B.S.

 

[Jefpainthorse]

You guys crack me up. Why does it even matter if he had smoked some weed in the past? Many of the people on this forum obviously have smoked week before. Does that mean that they should be confronted by some random stranger for doing NOTHING ILLEGAL and it would be ok if they were shot. Heck, alot of you older guys have kids that have been smoking weed for a long time now and you just don't realize it. For the record I've never actually used an illegal drug but I understand that over half of young kids today have at least tried it. Does that make half the kids today thugs? I don't care even if he was a thug with a violent history (but it seems that GZ has a more violent history than TM does) he wasn't doing anything illegal at the time. Zimmerman should have stayed in the car because he didn't have the authority to just randomly go shake down a kid walking down the street. If you're worried about a pontentially dangerous individual what the heck are you doing confronting him!

If some of you guys would just put yourself in others shoes for a while and think about the situation you would probably have a different view on many issues. Imagine that your 17 year old son walked down the street to the store to pick up some skittles and a drink. And he never came back because he was shot by a man that thought he looked suspicious and confronted him with no reason or authority I think you would be pretty pissed about it and would have a different view. I wouldn't care that he was getting his butt kicked by my boy either. If you aren't ready to get into a fist fight then don't go around trying to shake down people that you have no business confronting. If it were my boy then I'd want that man in jail so I can't really fault his family for feeling that way.

Also, did anyone see the interview between the lawyers in this case on the Today show this morning? Matt Lauer brought up the fact that the police has Zimmerman's text messages from that night and they would be released soon. And when Zimmerman's lawyer was asked about it he seemed pretty nervous about it to me. His attitude made me think there was something in those messages that he didn't like. I don't know, but I'll be interested to see what is on those text messages.

My son is smart enough to keep on walking. And If he did end up face to face I doubt he'd be cracking somebody in the nose unless there was a good reson to defend himself.

Of course he is smart enough not to get in that situation and has had a CPL since he turned 21.. and learned to run a pistol way before that.

Some of you folks mus not deal with todays crop of young people. I have had... and have observed more that a few kids "throw" down at the least provocation against people they percieve as an annoyance. Us older folks were raised to respect authority... even if we were thinking "f- you" we took the grilling and left under our own steam.

There are two sides to this story... sadly lab data will tell most of one of the versions and those basic scientific facts lend some support to the surviors version of events.

 

[Clay]

What I've said here is just an opinion based on what I have heard thus far and I may be completely wrong. I will readily admit that if it turns out I am.
We don't know all the facts and I am curious to see the trial play out.

 

[farmerbyron]

You guys crack me up. Why does it even matter if he had smoked some weed in the past? Many of the people on this forum obviously have smoked week before. Does that mean that they should be confronted by some random stranger for doing NOTHING ILLEGAL and it would be ok if they were shot. Heck, alot of you older guys have kids that have been smoking weed for a long time now and you just don't realize it. For the record I've never actually used an illegal drug but I understand that over half of young kids today have at least tried it. Does that make half the kids today thugs? I don't care even if he was a thug with a violent history (but it seems that GZ has a more violent history than TM does) he wasn't doing anything illegal at the time. Zimmerman should have stayed in the car because he didn't have the authority to just randomly go shake down a kid walking down the street. If you're worried about a pontentially dangerous individual what the heck are you doing confronting him!

If some of you guys would just put yourself in others shoes for a while and think about the situation you would probably have a different view on many issues. Imagine that your 17 year old son walked down the street to the store to pick up some skittles and a drink. And he never came back because he was shot by a man that thought he looked suspicious and confronted him with no reason or authority I think you would be pretty pissed about it and would have a different view. I wouldn't care that he was getting his butt kicked by my boy either. If you aren't ready to get into a fist fight then don't go around trying to shake down people that you have no business confronting. If it were my boy then I'd want that man in jail so I can't really fault his family for feeling that way.

Also, did anyone see the interview between the lawyers in this case on the Today show this morning? Matt Lauer brought up the fact that the police has Zimmerman's text messages from that night and they would be released soon. And when Zimmerman's lawyer was asked about it he seemed pretty nervous about it to me. His attitude made me think there was something in those messages that he didn't like. I don't know, but I'll be interested to see what is on those text messages.

So in your world it is ok to assault someone for following you?

The only way TM would have been justified is if GZ physically grabbed/detained TM. The evidence released so far seems to indicate that TM got the drop on GZ and he proceeded to assault GZ and was shot during the commission of the assault.

Could GZ have avoided the whole thing by staying in his car? Of course but following a person that seems out of place does not mean you deserve severe bodily harm or death.

 

[Clay]

So in your world it is ok to assault someone for following you?

The only way TM would have been justified is if GZ physically grabbed/detained TM. The evidence released so far seems to indicate that TM got the drop on GZ and he proceeded to assault GZ and was shot during the commission of the assault.

Could GZ have avoided the whole thing by staying in his car? Of course but following a person that seems out of place does not mean you deserve severe bodily harm or death.

This is my take as well. I guess what we dont know is who started the throw down? Did GZ grab TM? If so hes in the wrong. Did GZ simply ask him who he was and what he was doing there and TM said FU and proceed to jack GZs jaw? This is the deciding detail I need to know.