Zimmerman NOT guilty

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

I agree. But, once again, the poor choices of a 17 year old armed with fists, hardly measure up against the poor choices of a full grown man armed with a gun. The accounts of how incredibly violent Martin were hardly hold up against the pictures of Zimmerman (I've seen people who've had their heads slammed into pavement over, and over, and over again, and they look considerably worse off than he did after his brush with death). He made a bad choice and reacted with violence in the face of a threat to his safety. Zimmerman did the same. The sad truth is that when strapping a gun on, and choosing to play cop, you had damn well better ALSO take on the responsibility to be smarter, and more responsible, than a 17 year old kid who has no idea what you're up to.

Sorry I don't buy that. At 17 you have the capacity to understand right and wrong. I'm sure glad I'm not George Zimmerman, but if I were in his place under similar circumstances I would have done the same. It's always easy to arm chair quarterback something like this, but I think George Zimmerman was forced to make a life and death decision.

This debate, as highlighted in your post, is about a private citizen carrying a gun, not whether he deliberately killed Martin.

I gotta hit the road Karrie. I'll check back later for a response.

 

[Corduroy]

You'd be wrong.

 

[karrie]

Sorry I don't buy that. At 17 you have the capacity to understand right and wrong. I'm sure glad I'm not George Zimmerman, but if I were in his place under similar circumstances I would have done the same. It's always easy to arm chair quarterback something like this, but I think George Zimmerman was forced to make a life and death decision.

This debate, as highlighted in your post, is about a private citizen carrying a gun, not whether he deliberately killed Martin.

I gotta hit the road Karrie. I'll check back later for a response.

No one said he didn't understand right from wrong. And no, it's not just about a private citizen carrying a gun. It's about a private citizen carrying a gun AND looking to enforce the law. See, if you carry a gun, and go about your day, that's one thing. But if you grab your gun, and go out at night looking for criminals, that's a completely different issue. You are tuned into trouble, you are looking for it, which means you are bound to see it where it isn't necessarily. If you believe in your gut that Trayvon was a criminal at heart, like some have stated, then I guess you can applaud Zimmerman. But he didn't have the kid's id. He didn't have his twitter feed. He didn't know him from a hole in the ground. And still he decided that he was a criminal because he was 'looking at houses'.

I can absolutely, unequivocally state that never should neighbourhood watch be walking alone through the neighbourhood at night, unmarked, armed, and tracking people down for 'looking at houses'. Never. Not in their community, not in mine, not in yours, and I know for a fact that you're smart enough to have never put yourself and Martin in the precarious position Zimmerman put them both in that night. And if you did, here in Canada, you'd be in jail right now. There's no excuse for that kind of targeting. No reason to expect that a teenage boy should know he's being targeted as a criminal at 1:30 in the morning for walking home. No reason to expect that Zimmerman held any kind of credibility, or was anything but a threat, in the way he was following him.

The fact that people seem to miss that is terrifying to me. The fact that they will continue to think it's okay to grab a gun, and go out into the night alone, unidentified, untrained, and looking for bad guys, is a scary prospect unless you are dead certain that no one you love or care about could be mistaken for 'bad'.

 

[Locutus]

To each their own.

 

[captain morgan]

Someone follows you around and then tries to grab you and detain you, what do you do, kiss him?

I dunno - What's she look like?.. Is there a chance I might be charged with some form of sexual assault?

This is a trick question, isn't it?

Is the correct answer that I should over power them and smash their head repeatedly into a road?

Didn't you see the map and its analysis someone posted a while back?

That map would have been handy in court

Again, the issue could have been avoided if Zimmerman had followed the advice to stay put. He didn't and THAT makes him the initiator of the incident.

... Or.. Zimmerman should have resigned himself to that beating and having his head smashed against the road until he was dead....

It's about high time that Florida outlawed Neighbourhood Watch. The risk of losing even one more 17 year old toddler,.. er..., infant,... ummm..., I mean wee child is worth it

 

[JLM]

How hard is it to understand that no matter how the law defines it, Zimmerman's account alone is enough to see he caused the death of a teenage boy with his paranoia and vigilantism?

Paranoia might be a valid defense! The age of the victim has little to do with it.

Only legally. But if we're talking about actual guilt, then obviously you can still be guilty of something no one can prove.

Yep, probably happens thousands of times every year.

 

[karrie]

It's about high time that Florida outlawed Neighbourhood Watch.

The civil suits that can and likely will arise from Zimmerman's actions will be enough to stop communities from allowing neighbourhood watch to occur without proper training/vests/badging/placards/partners/etc.

The idea of lone strangers tracking people through their neighbourhoods at night and expecting them to submit to them is such an incredible breech of citizens' rights as to be ridiculous.

Paranoia might be a valid defense! The age of the victim has little to do with it.

Paranoia is exactly why you DON'T grab a gun and go look for criminals.

 

[JLM]

What if I told you that not finding him guilty of second degree murder doesn't change my opinion about his responsibility in the shoddy way he went about executing his 'neighbourhood watch' duties?

I would tell you that that is just one of probably 100 million opinions on the matter.

 

[karrie]

I would tell you that that is just one of probably 100 million opinions on the matter.

Of course, but, if you want paranoid folks with guns on your streets, keep them in your neighbourhood please.

 

[JLM]

Sorry I don't buy that. At 17 you have the capacity to understand right and wrong. I'm sure glad I'm not George Zimmerman, but if I were in his place under similar circumstances I would have done the same. It's always easy to arm chair quarterback something like this, but I think George Zimmerman was forced to make a life and death decision.

Well, that's right R.C.S.- A 17 year old man can be about as physically threatening as it's possible to be. A school mate of mine was 6'7" and weighed 200 lbs. at age 17.

 

[karrie]

Well, that's right R.C.S.- A 17 year old man can be about as physically threatening as it's possible to be. A school mate of mine was 6'7" and weighed 200 lbs. at age 17.

My gawd. I hope someone put him down if he ever got violent.

 

[JLM]

My gawd. I hope someone put him down if he ever got violent.

He was a "gentle giant"...........................and basketball player.

Paranoia is exactly why you DON'T grab a gun and go look for criminals.

He likely wasn't paranoid when he set out.

 

[captain morgan]

The civil suits that can and likely will arise from Zimmerman's actions will be enough to stop communities from allowing neighbourhood watch to occur without proper training/vests/badging/placards/partners/etc.

Those civil suits need to be successful first and in all likelihood, a guy like Martin that had that kind of rage to be able to smash some guys head into the road repeatedly wouldn't be swayed because he saw a shirt or badge that said Neighbourhood Watch.

The idea of lone strangers tracking people through their neighbourhoods at night and expecting them to submit to them is such an incredible breech of citizens' rights as to be ridiculous.

When you refer to lone strangers, do you mean the Trayvons that skulk through the gated communities sporting the latest gansta-cold-blooded-killa fashions?

You obviously can't be talking about GZ as he was a part of that community body

My gawd. I hope someone put him down if he ever got violent.

How can you say that about a poor, defenseless, 6'11", 200 lb child?... That's heartless!

 

[L Gilbert]

You can read can you not?????

"Generally it consists of repeated conduct that is carried out over a period of time and which causes you to reasonably fear for your safety."

The Florida Penal Code defines it as "willfully, maliciously and repeatedly follows"

Lemme see, Zimmerman followed Martin in his truck, stopped and parked, phoned 911, and then started following again. Sounds like "repeated" to me. What is a period of time? 10 seconds? 140 years? A minute?

Sigh

I agree. Some folks will go to weird lengths to justify a kill.

If GZ touched Martin, that is assault, and would remove any claim he had to self defense.

Yep. Apparently the Jeantel testimony wasn't good enough for that, though.

However, there is absolutely NO CREDIBLE EVIDENCE GZ did any such thing.

You're calling the Jeantel woman a liar then. I see.

The TM supporters want GZ lynched purely on the basis of their imaginations, no actual evidence required.

Whatever. I'm not one of them anyway. I just don't like people getting killed when it's unwarranted. Apparently a few of you aren't that discerning. Sad.

I think there is one (and only one) lesson here..................if a man can't be proven guilty then he's NOT GUILTY! How hard is that to understand?

Not necessarily. Not guilty because there wasn't enough evidence to show Zimmerman was not defending himself does not mean he didn't kill Martin. He was declared not guilty of 2nd degree.

Not following advice is not a crime.

Nope. It's just plain stupid and in some cases, that SHOULD be a crime; like when it gets someone else killed.

Sorry I don't buy that. At 17 you have the capacity to understand right and wrong. I'm sure glad I'm not George Zimmerman, but if I were in his place under similar circumstances I would have done the same. It's always easy to arm chair quarterback something like this, but I think George Zimmerman was forced to make a life and death decision.

So you would have pursued Martin against the advice from more experienced personal, too? That's sad.

That would be hearsay.

 

[DaSleeper]

Those civil suits need to be successful first and in all likelihood, a guy like Martin that had that kind of rage to be able to smash some guys head into the road repeatedly wouldn't be swayed because he saw a shirt or badge that said Neighbourhood Watch.



When you refer to lone strangers, do you mean the Trayvons that skulk through the gated communities sporting the latest gansta-cold-blooded-killa fashions?

You obviously can't be talking about GZ as he was a part of that community body




How can you say that about a poor, defenseless, 6'11", 200 lb child?... That's heartless!

Typo alert 5'11";-)

 

[Mowich]

Pedomorphism at its best.

That one sent me running for my dictionary, LG...........great word - good use of the term.

 

[captain morgan]

Typo alert 5'11";-)

Thanks bud; I'd hate to have the court's ruling over turned because of my mistake... But on that note, seeing how he was less than 6' tall, maybe that does qualify him as a child?

 

[JLM]

Paranoia is exactly why you DON'T grab a gun and go look for criminals.

He likely wasn't paranoid when he set out.

 

[L Gilbert]

I dunno - What's she look like?.. Is there a chance I might be charged with some form of sexual assault?

This is a trick question, isn't it?

Is the correct answer that I should over power them and smash their head repeatedly into a road?

Silly sarcasm works on me yup. Asking questions to reply to a question is pretty lame. Was Martin a "she"? Did I ask if you would kiss "her"? Nope, I asked if you'd kiss "him".
No, I didn't ask a trick question. I asked because I didn't know what your answer would be, so I have no idea whether it's the correct procedure or not.

That map would have been handy in court

I doubt it. It's a map made from best guesses as to the routes of each person. Guesses don't go over in courts too well.

... Or.. Zimmerman should have resigned himself to that beating and having his head smashed against the road until he was dead....

..or he could have overpowered Martin and held him. Zimmerman said he thought the kid was drunk. The intelligent thing to do would have been to call 911 and stay at the truck. The cops might have sent a cruiser to check things out, but what would they have charged Martin with? Looking suspicious on the word of Zimmerman? Probably being drunk underage and being drunk in a public place.

It's about high time that Florida outlawed Neighbourhood Watch. The risk of losing even one more 17 year old toddler,.. er..., infant,... ummm..., I mean wee child is worth it

Back to the silly sarcasm, huh?

The National Neighborhood Watch Program manual that Lincoln Co. Neighborhood Watch follows states, "It should be emphasized to members that they do not possess police powers, and they shall not carry weapons or pursue vehicles. They should also be cautioned to alert police or deputies when encountering strange activity. Members should never confront suspicious persons who could be armed and dangerous."

Martin didn't have to die but for the negligent stupidity of Zimmerman.

 

[Mowich]

Martin Luther King III suggests Fla. orange juice boycott to protest "Stand Your Ground" law

Martin Luther King III suggests Fla. orange juice boycott to protest "Stand Your Ground" law - CBS News

Well we have the nuts and now we have the fruits. LOL! Too funny.