So, let me get this straight. A black rapes and kills a 85yo white great grandmother, and puts the husband into the hospital, it doesn't make the news. The moment any black is killed by a non black, the FBI gets involved because it's a hate crime? Ridiculous.
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
-- Theodore Roosevelt
By Staff Reports
Published: 4/8/2012 4:37 AM
Last Modified: 4/8/2012 8:39 AM
Two white men were arrested early today about 48 hours after shootings in north Tulsa that left three black residents dead and two injured, the Tulsa Police Department announced in a press release early Sunday.
Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32, were arrested at 1:47 a.m. on complaints of first-degree murder and shooting with intent to kill.
Several tips made Saturday through the Tulsa Crime Commission's anonymous Crime Stoppers tip line led to the arrests, according to arrest reports. Police would release more information at a 3 p.m. press conference Sunday, Officer Jason Willingham said.
The victims were identified as Dannaer Fields, 49, Bobby Clark, 54 and William Allen, 31. They died in north Tulsa early Friday after being shot in separate incidents. Two others were shot and have been hospitalized. All of the shooting victims were black.
The arrests came less than 12 hours after authorities formed a task force called Operation Random Shooter, which consisted of 30 investigators with several local and state agencies working to solve the shooting spree, Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said during a Saturday afternoon press conference.
Jordan called the attacks vicious and cowardly and said the Tulsa Police Department is going to do whatever it takes to apprehend anyone involved.
Police did not address speculation early Sunday about whether they believe Friday morning’s shootings were hate crimes. The two suspects are white.
Carl England, who is identified on Jake England’s Facebook page as his father, was shot and killed April 5, 2010, at Comanche Park Apartments, 3608 North Quaker Avenue, about a quarter mile east of where Allen’s body was found, according to the Tulsa World's archives.
The man arrested in the death, Pernell Demond Jefferson, was charged with pointing a firearm and is serving a prison sentence through October 2014, according to Department of Corrections records.
Jefferson is black.
Jake England makes several references to the two-year anniversary of his father’s death on his Facebook page, including a post 3:04 p.m. Thursday that says, “Today is two years that my dad has been gone shot by a f------ n----- it's hard not to go off between that and sheran I'm gone in the head.”
England’s Facebook page indicates that his girlfriend, Sheran Hart Wilde, recently died.
Fields, Clark and Allen were likely killed early Friday, police said. Fields’ body was discovered about 1 a.m. in the 1000 block of East 51st Place North. Clark’s body was found about 1:50 a.m. in the 300 block of West 63rd Street North and Allen’s body was found about 8:30 a.m. in the 800 block of East 36th Street North.
The two men who survived their wounds were found in the 1300 block of East 51st Place North three minutes after police found Fields’ body. They have not been identified.
Police have said they believe the victims were targeted randomly. Willingham said early Friday that he could not confirm whether revenge was a motive.
At 10:15 p.m. Friday, Jake England posted on Facebook, “Chilling at that house people talking s--- on me for some s--- I didn't do ... it just mite be the time to call it quits I I hate to say it like that but I'm done if something does happen tonite be ready for another funeral later.”
Alvin Watts, who is Jake England’s friend on Facebook, has made several posts to England’s Facebook page since January.
“Our sympathy goes out to the families of the victims and we hope that our efforts can bring some resolution and closure to these heinous acts,” Tulsa police said in the press release.
THIS STORY WILL BE UPDATED
Here is a story from this morning's print edition of the Tulsa World. Task force forms to catch shooter: FBI joins effort to solve spree
BY AMANDA BLAND World Staff Writer
As a Tulsa woman mourned the loss of her husband a week before his birthday, police and city leaders on Saturday announced the launch of a joint task force to investigate Friday morning's shootings that left three people dead and two others injured.
Operation Random Shooter consists of 30 investigators with several local and state agencies working to solve the shooting spree, Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan said during a Saturday afternoon press conference.
Tulsa police requested and are receiving assistance from the FBI, which brings additional resources to the table, Jordan said. The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Marshals are also part of the task force.
Jordan called the attacks, which were all on black individuals, vicious and cowardly and said the Tulsa Police Department is going to do whatever it takes to apprehend anyone involved.
"I want to say to the perpetrator and anybody who would attempt to aid or abet him - we're coming for you," Jordan said.
Meanwhile, the wife of one of the victims was trying to cope with the news of her husband's death on Saturday.
"Why? Why did this happen? What was the reason? What was the motive?" said Jeanette Allen, wife of William Allen, 31.
Though a victim described the shooter as a white man, Jordan stopped short of calling the shootings hate crimes. He said while it's a logical theory that the shootings could have been racially motivated, there was no evidence Saturday afternoon to indicate that was the case.
"Right now I'm worried more about three of my citizens being murdered," he said.
The shooter, whom Jordan described as a "lone wolf," was reportedly driving an older white pickup and used a small-caliber gun in the shootings, he said.
One of the victims told police the shooter stopped to ask for directions before opening fire.
Police are waiting on forensic evidence, but the timing, proximity and preliminary evidence lead police to believe the four incidents are connected.
The shootings all occurred in a three-mile area on the city's north side.
The other two dead victims were identified as Dannaer Fields, 49, and Bobby Clark, 54.
Fields was found wounded about 1 a.m. Friday, Clark was found in a street about an hour later, and Allen was discovered in the yard of a funeral home about 8:30 a.m., though investigators believe he was shot much earlier.
Minutes after Fields was found, police discovered two men with gunshot wounds in another yard two blocks away. They were taken to hospitals in critical condition but were expected to survive, police said. Their names have not been released.
Mayor Dewey Bartlett, City Councilor Jack Henderson and the Rev. Warren Blakney, NAACP Tulsa chapter president, as well as Jordan, implored anyone with information on the homicides to contact police.
"We need your help," Bartlett said. "This is not a game."
Henderson, who represents the area where the shootings occurred, acknowledged a hesitation among his constituents to contact police but encouraged people in his district and others in the city to cooperate with police. Blakney echoed his concerns.
"This is a matter of urgency for this community and this city," Henderson said.
Jeanette Allen said her husband was walking home from his brother's house when he was gunned down.
"He was sweet, caring ... my lover," she said. "He always tried to make people laugh."
Her husband was injured in a car wreck in recent years and couldn't work. He'd already escaped death once, she said.
The couple were making plans for Easter and William Allen's upcoming birthday on April 13 in the days before his death.
"He didn't deserve that," she said.
Neighborhood residents at a nearby hair salon, Charlie's Angels Forever Hair Style Shop near 46th Street North and Cincinnati Avenue, remained on edge Saturday morning.
"We're all nervous," said Renaldo Works, 52.
"I've got a 15-year-old, and I'm not going to let him out late. People are scared. We need facts."
Barber Charles Jones, 40, said the north side has had its share of crime trouble, but residents have never faced a series of random killings like these.
"It's pretty shocking," Jones said. "We've never had any serial-type stuff." Associated Press writer Justin Juozapavicius contributed to this report. The dead
Dannaer Fields, 49
Bobby Clark, 54
William Allen, 31 Crime Stoppers
Authorities are requesting citizens with information or possible information on the shooter to contact Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS (2677). Amanda Bland 918-581-8413 amanda.bland@tulsaworld.com
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So, let me get this straight. A black rapes and kills a 85yo white great grandmother, and puts the husband into the hospital, it doesn't make the news. The moment any black is killed by a non black, the FBI gets involved because it's a hate crime? Ridiculous.
You're talking about this disgusting story aren't you:
Home invasion: Bob and Nancy Strait were both attacked when burglars broke into their home in Tulsa. Mrs Strait died of her injuries
An 85-year-old woman was sexually assaulted and battered to death by a home invader who also shot her 90-year-old husband in the face with a BB gun.
Nancy and Bob Strait, who had celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in December, were discovered by their daughter at their home in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Both the pensioners were rushed to hospital where Mrs Strait, who was nearly blind, died from her injuries.
Mr Strait, who served in the 101st Airborne Division in World War II, suffered a broken jaw, broken ribs and severe bleeding. He is in a serious condition in hospital.
Police have arrested 20-year-old Tyrone Dale David Woodfork in connection with the case.
The Straits' distraught family today paid tribute to the pair, who grew up in poverty in rural Oklahoma during the Great Depression.
They met each other on a blind date on Thanksgiving 1946, married a month later and went on to have six children, 18 grandchildren and about 50 great and great-great grandchildren. They had recently welcomed a great-great-great grandchild.
Their daughters Lanora and Andra told Tulsa World that the couple were loving and generous people who would do anything for anyone.
'Dad never talked, and Mama never quit talking,' Lanora said.
'Whatever she did, it came from the heart,' Andra added.
The pair could be found sitting on their porch singing and playing the guitar during warmer summer evenings.
Mr Strait, who had worked for the oil derrick supply company Lee C. Moore before retirement, enjoyed woodwork while his wife loved making quilts and baking.
Suspect: Tyrone Dale David Woodfork, 20, was arrested a day after the attack on complaints of first-degree murder, burglary, assault with a dangerous weapon and two complaints of armed robbery
They had both been struggling with health problems before the attack. Mr Strait had been diagnosed with a terminal kidney illness but had outlived the doctor's prognosis.
'He was living because Mother was alive,' Andra told Tulsa World.
The couple had had food poisoning the week before the attack.
'There is no one else who has been through what he's been through who is still alive,' Lanora said of her father.
'We pray he doesn't remember.'
Tulsa police believe burglars broke into the Straits' home either late Tuesday or early Wednesday last week. They were not found until the Wednesday evening.
The home invaders made off with their Dodge Neon, a television and $200.
Woodfork was later found hiding in a nearby house after a witness spotted the stolen vehicle being driven down the road.
He is being held at Tulsa Jail without bail accused of first-degree murder, burglary, assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of armed robbery.
'This investigation is far from over,' Officer Jason Willingham of the Tulsa police department told Tulsa World. 'We've still got a lot of questions that we still need answered.'
Mrs Strait's funeral will be on Friday. The family has set up a fund the Nancy Strait and Bob Strait Support Trust to help pay for the service and her husband's medical care.
Life together: The couple went on to have six children, 18 grandchildren and about 50 great and great-great grandchildren all after marrying a month after meeting
Attack: One of the couple's daughters discovered her parents unresponsive in their Tulsa home with their car, a television and $200 among the items missing
On March 17th, three white men were leaving an Applebees restaurant after midnight in Seneca, South Carolina. One of the men, Terry Moore, 32, of Macon County, NC, went to the bathroom while his two friends went straight to their car. When Moore walked to the car alone, he encountered between 15 and 20 black men. The men allegedly yelled racial slurs at him like "tree honkey" and "cracker," then brutally attacked him.
Moore's friends say that he was zapped with a tazer and then stomped on after he fell to the crowd. The victim suffered several serious head injuries including a fractured eye socket and a dislocated jaw.
The attack ended when Moore's friends rushed to his aid. The victim is from out of town and did not know any of the attackers.
Seneca police, working with the county sheriff's department and SLED, has apprehended six of the suspects. They are facing state charges for assault and battery by a mob, which is also more commonly known as second degree lynching in South Carolina. The official name of the statute was changed in 2010 over complaints by black racial activists that the term "lynching" was offensive to black people. The statute was originally passed in 1951 at the request of the NAACP.
Two men have been arrested in connection with Friday's shooting spree in Tulsa, Okla., that left three pedestrians dead and two in critical condition, police said.
Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32 were arrested at a house north of Tulsa around 2 a.m. Sunday morning and are expected to be charged with three counts of murder and two counts of shooting with intent to kill, according to officials.
Early Friday morning, five black males were shot, three fatally, in four separate incidents during a span of less than two hours on the same side of town and not far from one another, police said.
Police identified those killed as Dannaer Fields, 49, Bobby Clark, 54, and William Allen, 31.
Two males were critically wounded in the shooting spree. All of the victims were targeted while they were out walking, and apparently did not know each other.
"We have not been able to find any commonality between the victims other than they were walking on the street," said Sgt. Dave Walker of the Tulsa Police Department.
One of the victims who survived described the shooter as a white male in a white pick-up truck, a detail which proved critical in finding and arresting the suspects.
Was This a Hate Crime?
Although the two men arrested are white, the crimes have yet to been deemed racially motivated. The task force's job will be to determine whether federal hate crime laws were violated, Tulsa World reported.
Police Chief Chuck Jordan said "logic would lead you to believe that" these were hate crimes, but the police haven't yet assessed all of the evidence to make that determination.
Tulsa Police Department via Tulsa World/AP Photo
Jacob England and Alvin Watts (R) are shown... View Full Size
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"At this point, we're not real sure [if the shootings were racially motivated]. Obviously we've just made the arrests. We need to conduct some more follow up interviews and things and hopefully some more of those details will come to light," said Willingham.
Dr. Warren Blakney, who heads the local chapter of the NAACP, believes the shooter did group his prey together.
"We feel like he's targeting African Americans in this part of town. And I think some parts of law enforcement feel the same way," Blakney said Saturday.
"I was NAACP president for seven years and I understand and I know hate crime when I see one," said City Councilor Jack Henderson.
Suspect's Father Murder Anniversary?
On England's Facebook page, his father, Carl England, was shot and killed April 5, 2010, almost exactly two years before Friday's shootings, according to the Tulsa World's archives.
A black man was charged and is serving a prison sentence for the crime.
On Thursday at 4:04 p.m., England wrote, "Today is two years that my dad has been gone shot by a f------ n----- it's hard not to go off between that and sheran I'm gone in the head." According to England's Facebook page, his girlfriend, Sheran Hart Wilde, recently died.
On Friday night, England posted on Facebook, "Chilling at that house people talking s--- on me for some s--- I didn't do ... it just mite be the time to call it quits I I hate to say it like that but I'm done if something does happen tonite be ready for another funeral later."
"Operation Random Shooter"
The Tulsa Police Department joined forces with the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Saturday in what they called "Operation Random Shooter" and asked those with any information relating to the case to come forward.
On Sunday, Mayor Dewey Bartlett thanked the public for their help in capturing the men.
"We had received a few tips about one of them and then it became apparent the two of the possibly acted together," said Bartlett.
Officials initially described the suspect as a "Lone Wolf."
"We assumed that there could be more obviously involved. But you know until we got further in to this case, it didn't reveal itself that there was two individuals involved," said Tulsa Police Officer Jason Willingham.
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video filmed by @CASHton_Kutcher, starring Aaron Jacob Parsons and a cast of cowards who beat, robbed, and stripped naked a man who was defenseless, drunk, alone, and clearly in over his head, was posted to worldstar and twitter.
The initiator of the physical violence is a thug from Baltimore, Maryland named Aaron Jacob Parsons. He is a self proclaimed 'club and party promoter'.
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(This story has been updated. See the additions posted at the end.)
Are radical fringe movements being allowed to hijack the Trayvon Martin case?
With parallel local and federal investigations of the Florida teen’s shooting underway, radical, race-focused groups from both extremes are gathering in Sanford, Fla., bringing additional tension to an already strained situation.
The New Black Panther Party was in Sanford on Saturday to lead a “Self Defense and Survival Training.”
The group has been front and center in the Martin case nearly from the beginning. Representatives from the NBPP have appeared on cable news programs and in all forms of the media demanding “justice for Trayvon.”
They have also offered a $10,000 bounty for the “arrest” of George Zimmerman and been involved in several different rallies and marches related to the case. And, as reported earlier this week on The Blaze, NBPP is also pushing its National Day of Action & Absence.
(Note: Zimmerman has been placed in the crosshairs)
The National Socialist Movement (NSM) claims to have brought armed patrols to the area to protect the locals…specifically whites who they claim are “concerned for their safety.”
As reported by the Miami New Times, Commander Jeff Shoep, a leader of the NSM, said his group is not pushing violence or race riots.
“We are not advocating any type of violence or attacks on anybody, but we are prepared for it,” he says. “We are not the type of white people who are going to be walked all over.”
Mr. Shoep’s comments to the Miami New Times about “not advocating any type of violence”, seem to contradict the tone he takes on the NSM’s website. Just last month, in a statement on the Trayvon Martin killing, the “commander” posted the following:
As citizens and neighbors dissolve along Racial lines, the possibility of further Racial violence in the Melting Pot is brimming over like a powder keg ready to explode into the streets. The National Socialist Movement for many years has publicly called for Racial separation, the melting pot of forced integration in America is a massive failure, and this is just one more example of a Racial issue about to explode!
Is there a racial explosion about to happen in Sanford?
Perhaps the NSM’s armed response was triggered by reports like the one received earlier this week. A reader sent The Blaze a copy of a flyer reportedly posted in downtown Sanford. It called for the “execution” of George Zimmerman and a boycott of all “white businesses here in Sanford.”
(We requested an actual hard copy of the above flyer, but have been told that the offensive posters have been removed from the downtown area where they were spotted just days before.)
Both extremes have gathered in Sanford. Both groups are making very public displays of their displeasure about the actions taken or not taken in this case.
The NSM’s armed patrols with 10-20 “volunteers.”
The NBPP has their training sessions today and the day of “No School, No Work, and No Shopping” is slated to take place on Monday, one day before the Grand Jury releases its decision on the George Zimmerman investigation.
And yet, the mainstream media has virtually no coverage on the Black Panthers “training” or the National Socialists armed patrols. Why?
Weigh in below.
UPDATE:
A report from the Sanford Police Department is casting doubt on the story posted in the Miami New Times about the Neo-Nazis and the armed street patrols in Sanford. According to William Jacobson, Assistant Clinical Professor of Cornell Law School, there is no evidence that the Neo Nazis are in the Florida town:
Response from Sanford Joint Information Center: “At this time the City of Sanford has not confirmed the presence of Neo-Nazis groups.”
The professor asked for additional clarification and got it:
“You say “not confirmed.” Is there any indication of such patrols that the Department is aware of?”
Further Response from Sanford Joint Information Center:
“We have no indication of any such patrols at this point in Sanford. The only large gathering was the children and their parents at the Easter egg hunt.”
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The latest wildfire spreading through the media and blogosphere is that armed neo-Nazis are patrolling Sanford, FL, in anticipation of trouble if George Zimmerman is not charged in the killing of Trayvon Martin. In what has become a prime example of media malpractice, none of the major publications spreading the rumors bothered to check with local law enforcement. I did, and the Sanford Police deny any indication of neo-Nazi patrols.
Neo-Nazis are currently conducting heavily armed patrols in and around Sanford, Florida and are “prepared” for violence in the case of a race riot. The patrols are to protect “white citizens in the area who are concerned for their safety” in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting last month, says Commander Jeff Schoep of the National Socialist Movement.
“We are not advocating any type of violence or attacks on anybody, but we are prepared for it,” he says. “We are not the type of white people who are going to be walked all over.”
Because nothing diffuses racial tension like gun-toting racial separatists patrolling an already on-edge community….
The patrols are comprised of between 10 and 20 locals and “volunteers” from across the state, including some from Miami, he added. He couldn’t go into specifics on what kind of firepower, exactly, the patrols had with them.
The blog post quotes someone from a supposed neo-Nazi group in Detroit, and contains photos of armed patrols not in Sanford, but in Arizona. The author of the blog post provides no confirmation that such patrols actually are taking place.
The blog post already has generated over 1100 comments, and was picked up with reckless abandon by the usual suspects, including Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs:
You know all that rhetoric about “race war” that’s showing up at Breitbart.com and many other right wing sites these days?
It’s not just rhetoric. There are some people in Sanford, Florida right now who are taking it very seriously indeed
And the right wing said it wasn’t about race (on their side), didn’t they? Neo-Nazis have never been affiliated with the left; they’ve always been on the fringe anarchist/chaos/gov’t overthrow wing of the GOP, because there’s no way these white supremacists would vote Dem. After all, that party is polluted with black, brown…you know, the Mud People….
I thought the police department was there to protect all of Sanford’s citizens (when it’s not torpedoing its own bad police work/f’ing up cases involving black folks as victims), but as there’s nothing like having this paramilitary crowd with strong views on race stepping in to do the job. You know, like the KKK, it’s not intimidating at all.
A writer at Mediaite joined in [note: Mediaite has updated its post with a link here, and also has published a separate post on the Sanford denial]:
And just so we’re clear, the Neo-Nazis have no official position on the Martin case, because remember, George Zimmerman isn’t even white. But the Neo-Nazi commander is trying to assure everyone that they are trying to protect everyone, because “if something were to touch off a race riot, we’d already be in the area.”
Well said! Because whenever there’s a race riot, my first question is always, “Where are the armed racists when you need them? They’ll put a stop to all this violence!”
HuffPo and The Daily Beast are helping spread the story.
It even has spread to The NY Daily News [note: The NYDN story changed tonight. after I contacted the writer, and now acknowledges police denial; the following is from the original story] :
The Trayvon Martin case is getting even more heated as armed neo-Nazis are reportedly patrolling the streets of Sanford, Fla.-where the black, unarmed teen was shot and killed.
A representative for the Detroit-based National Socialist movement told the Miami New Times that his group of roughly 10 to 20 volunteers aren’t there to start trouble, but are prepared to protect the “white citizens in the area” in the event of race riots.
Is there any evidence that this is actually happening in Sanford?
Did anyone bother to contact the Sanford Police? I did, and the Sanford Police deny any indication of Neo-Nazi groups patrolling in Sanford. Here’s the e-mail exchange:
My initial e-mail (which included an embedded link to the Memeorandum thread):
“There are a number of reports in the media that Neo-Nazis are conducting armed patrols in Sanford. Can you confirm or deny whether this is true, and provide any information you have on the subject? If someone is able to get back to me as soon as possible (and before Monday) that would be appreciated, since such rumors are spreading.”
Response from Sanford Joint Information Center:
“At this time the City of Sanford has not confirmed the presence of Neo-Nazis groups.”
My follow up:
“You say “not confirmed.” Is there any indication of such patrols that the Department is aware of?”
Further Response from Sanford Joint Information Center:
“We have no indication of any such patrols at this point in Sanford. The only large gathering was the children and their parents at the Easter egg hunt.”
I can’t say this is the worst example of rumor mongering and irresponsible conduct by bloggers and the mainstream media I have ever seen, but it’s a contender.
For The Daily Beast, Huffington Post, Mediaite, and The Daily News to spread such thinly-sourced claims without verification at a time when racial tensions already are high is irresponsible in the extreme.
Update: It’s now at Fark, Gawker, The Blaze [now updated with link here] …. And now Drudge has it at the top of the page — I’ve alerted them let’s see if they update with a correction… and The NY Post too.
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On the organizing phone call for their Trayvon Martin April 9th National Day of action protest The New Black Panther Party engaged in violent, racist, hate filled speech.
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All sides await decision on charges in Trayvon Martin shooting
By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 7:39 AM EDT, Mon April 9, 2012
Zimmerman attorneys say media unfair
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A grand jury convening in Seminole County could take up the case as early as Tuesday
Special prosecutor Angela Corey says she has never used a grand jury in such a case
Robert Zimmerman's attorneys say he's available anytime to talk to the prosecutor
(CNN) -- As controversy over the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin swirls, all sides are anxiously awaiting a possible decision this week by a special prosecutor on whether to bring charges against the neighborhood watch volunteer who killed the teen.
The case could be taken up as early as Tuesday by a grand jury expected to convene in Seminole County, Florida.
But, like so many details of the case itself, it is unclear how the special prosecutor plans to handle possible legal proceedings.
Angela Corey, the special prosecutor, has to make one of three choices: File charges, drop the case or send it to a grand jury.
Two prosecutors are working to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to bring charges against 28-year-old George Zimmerman for the February 26 shooting in Sanford, Florida. Enhanced audio refutes Zimmerman slur Crump: Trayvon had right to defend self Swain: 'Hoodies feed into stereotype' Nugent: Trayvon case a tragedy
Corey said she has never used a grand jury to decide on charges in a justifiable homicide case.
"We do a thorough investigation. We make that decision ourselves," she said.
It is unknown whether prosecutors have interviewed Zimmerman. In late March, Corey told CNN sister network HLN that prosecutors had yet to speak to him, nor did her office know where he was.
Zimmerman's attorneys say he is available anytime to talk to the special prosecutor.
Prosecutors are trying to unravel what happened the night that Martin was killed. Witnesses and attorneys for both sides have offered conflicting accounts.
What is known is that Martin ventured out from his father's fiancee's home in Sanford to get a snack at a nearby convenience store. As he walked home with a bag of Skittles and an Arizona iced tea, he was shot and killed by Zimmerman.
Sanford police questioned Zimmerman and released him without charges.
From there, the case has evolved into opposing allegations from Zimmerman's supporters, Martin's family and authorities.
Zimmerman says he killed Martin in self-defense after the teen punched him and slammed his head on the sidewalk, according to an Orlando Sentinel report that was later confirmed by Sanford police.
One of the responding officers saw a wound on the back of Zimmerman's head and a bloody nose, and noted that his back was wet -- indicating he had been lying in the grass, according to the police report.
An enhanced copy of a surveillance video showing him in police custody after the shooting appears to show a bump, mark or injury on his head.
Martin's family and supporters have dismissed the video.
They say Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, racially profiled the teen, who was black, and ignored a police dispatcher's directive not to follow him.
Zimmerman's attorneys interpret the call differently, and say the operator did not order Zimmerman not to follow Martin.
A recording of a 911 call made the night of the shooting captured someone pleading for help. Zimmerman has said he was yelling for help, according to his family members and his account to authorities.
Martin's relatives have said they are certain the voice calling for help on the 911 call is Martin's.
Audio experts Tom Owen and Ed Primeau, who analyzed the recordings for the Orlando Sentinel using different techniques, said they don't believe the voice is Zimmerman's.
They compared the screams with Zimmerman's voice, as recorded in a 911 call he made minutes earlier describing a "suspicious" black male.
The debate was further muddied when a witness, who declined to be identified by CNN, said she saw and heard the incident through her window.
When pressed on whether she could determine who was yelling, the witness said, "It was the younger, youthful voice (rather) that it was the deep voice I heard when they were arguing."
Zimmerman's attorneys have questioned the account, saying it was dark at the time of the shooting.
Until now, only friends and relatives of Zimmerman's have come forward to speak on his behalf. Zimmerman's attorneys have said he wants to share his story but can't because of threats to his safety and the possibility of charges.
Martin's family has said a Sanford police detective filed an affidavit saying he did not find Zimmerman's statements after the shooting credible -- but that Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee and State Attorney Norm Wolfinger met the night of the shooting and disregarded the detective's advice.
Neither Sanford police nor prosecutors have confirmed the existence of such an affidavit. And Wolfinger has vehemently denied that such a meeting occurred.
The two sides have also debated what Zimmerman whispered under his breath during his 911 call.
Martin's supporters said he uttered a racial slur; Zimmerman's lawyer said he told them he whispered "punks."
"We don't know" whether a grand jury will choose to indict, said Zimmerman's attorney, Craig Sonner.
Gov. Rick Scott appointed Corey as a special prosecutor as calls for "Justice for Trayvon" grew in the days following the shooting.
The Martin case has triggered a nationwide debate about Florida's "stand your ground" law -- which allows people to use deadly force anywhere they feel a reasonable threat of death or serious injury -- and race in America.
Authorities have said Zimmerman was not immediately charged because there were no grounds, at the outset, to disprove his account that he'd acted to protect himself.
The governor has formed a task force to review the law.
Thousands have converged on Sanford to join in protests calling for Zimmerman's arrest and criticize the police department's handling of the case.
The protests have been peaceful, and Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett hopes they remain that way -- whether or not Zimmerman is charged.
"The message that they wanted to get out, they got it out," he said Friday. "So my expectation (is) that that would continue if one way or another, you know, whatever the decision is."
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Fox News Toledo 'This is for Trayvon. Kill that white': Six youths 'beat man, 78, in alleged racial revenge attack'
By Damien Gayle, The Daily Mail
PUBLISHED: 04:49 EST, 6 April 2012 | UPDATED: 05:42 EST, 6 April 2012
A 78-year-old white man says he was savagely beaten by a gang of six youths shouting: 'This is for Trayvon. Kill that white.'
Six youngsters aged between 11 and 17, both white and black, allegedly launched a merciless attack on Dallas Watts in East Toledo, Ohio.
The frail pensioner says he was on the way home from the shops on Saturday after buying treats for his dogs when the boys approached him and one said: 'Take him down.'
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Defending the hoodie: Garment no reason to stereotype, students say
By Denisa R. Superville
The Record (Hackensack N.J.)
Monday, April 9, 2012
Photo by Photographs by Wade Spees/staffKumar Goodwine-Kennedy, 17, participated in the NAACP rally April 3 in Marion Square where Trayvon Martin’s shooting was the focus. Kumar Goodwine-Kennedy, 17, is accustomed to hearing his parents’ warning: “Everyone gets three strikes,” they tell him. “And you’ve already got two against you.”
That’s because he’s black and male.
Nevertheless, the Beaufort (S.C.) High School student continues to wear his hoodies, even in the aftermath of the Feb. 26 shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Florida teenager killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.
Because of Martin’s killing, the hoodie has assumed a symbolic meaning that draws attention to social prejudice and discrimination. Supporters of Martin have taken to staging “hoodie marches,” calling for the arrest of Zimmerman.
Television personality Geraldo Rivera triggered a firestorm recently when he said Martin’s hoodie was as much responsible for his death as Zimmerman, 28. Rivera’s subsequent apology, posted on Twitter, has not quelled the controversy. Hoodies at issue
Goodwine-Kennedy said he hasn’t been harassed because of the hoodies he regularly wears, but they have occasionally sparked a reaction. Sometimes he’s been asked to remove the hood by store clerks who fear he might be up to no good.
“I guess they might have suspected that since I came in with a hoodie I was going to rob the place,” he said.
Hoodie-wearers, a group that transcends race and age, interviewed in Teaneck and Paterson, N.J., said they wear the garments because they are warm, comfortable and lighter than bulky winter jackets. They also are relatively cheap: $20 at Target, for example, or $59.50 at Aeropostale.
Hoodies are like uniforms to her peers, said Kary Rivera, 15. “If you go into my closet, all you would see are hoodies, in every color.”
Sean O’Reilly was 16 when his mother gave him the talk that most black parents give their teenage sons.
“Don’t put your hands in your pocket a lot. People will think you have a gun,” O’Reilly, now 17 and a senior at Teaneck High School in northern New Jersey, remembered his mother telling him. “Don’t walk around with stuff in your pockets. People will think you stole something.”
Isaac Rappoport, 17, a Teaneck High School student who wears hoodies “almost every day,” said Geraldo Rivera’s comments amounted to profiling.
“Somebody’s style is completely unrelated to their character,” Rappoport said. “It’s a very common piece of clothing for young people, and to just stereotype every single young person who wears a hoodie is basically stereotyping every single young person as a hoodlum, and it’s just not true.”
Destiny Hernandez, 15, a student at Eastside High School, said a hoodie says one thing about its wearer. “It says that they are cold,” she said. Race relations
Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, who teaches courses in constitutional law, and race and the law at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, said the entire discussion of what Martin was wearing is irrational and shameful and that the discussion was a way to avoid confronting the country’s chronic problem with race relations.
“This young man is gone, and I think it’s horrible, absolutely horrible, to blame a hoodie — a hoodie put on his head because it’s raining — as the reason why someone could be excused for killing him,” she said. “Have we lost our minds? It’s irrational to me. It’s completely irrational.”
Randolph Scipio, a member of Delivery Victory Praise Church in Hollywood and a street preacher in North Charleston, said the shooting of Martin only strengthened his resolve to minister to young black men whom society deems “unprofitable.” He has donned a hoodie to draw attention to Martin’s unresolved case.
“I’m wearing one now, and I intend to keep it on every day until there is justice,” Scipio said. “Hopefully, people will ask why.” He wants to engage them in conversation.
Scipio was first called to action when he heard the 911 tapes and a cry for help, he said. “I thought about the millions of young African-American men who make similar cries.” Too many black men already endure stereotypes, prejudice and economic hardship, Scipio said. “Now there is this added fear: When I’m in this condition, people are going to kill me.” Stigmas
Zimmerman, through his lawyer, has said Martin attacked him and that he shot the teenager in self-defense.
Addressing Martin’s death on “Fox and Friends,” Rivera described Zimmerman as “overzealous” and said he should be prosecuted.
He added: “You have to recognize that this whole stylizing yourself as a gangsta, you’re going to be a gangsta-wannabe, well people are going to perceive you as a menace.”
Many hoodie wearers criticized Rivera for stereotyping them, but some acknowledged that a stigma exists.
Keion Jones, 18, who graduated from Eastside High School in New Jersey last year, said pedestrians grow apprehensive when they are approached by someone wearing a hooded sweat shirt.
“You don’t know what to expect,” Jones said. “You think you’re going to be robbed. It’s not a racial thing. Anybody could wear a hoodie, but as long as it’s dark outside and you are wearing a hoodie, anybody would think that you are a suspect. It’s not fair, but that’s just what happens.”
Jimmy Javier, 22, of Paterson, N.J., said he should not be branded a suspect based on his clothing.
“I don’t think there is a reason for me to get shot at all because of what I am wearing,” said Javier, who was wearing a black hooded sweat shirt with an Adidas logo on the chest. “I wear a hoodie all the time, so am I putting myself in the same position that that kid was in?”
Adam Parker of The Post and Courier staff contributed to this story.
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Teenager who moved to Indiana for new life killed allegedly after spat over sneakers
Published April 07, 2012
| FoxNews.com
myFOXchicago
April 8, 2012: This photo shows Sergio Pinex.
GARY, Ind. – A Chicago man who recently moved to Indiana to try to turn his life around was killed after refusing to hand over his sneakers to an armed robber, MyFoxChicago reports.
Sergio Pinex, 18, was returning from a store with a friend Thursday morning in Gary, Ind., when two vehicles pulled up next to them and stopped. A man with a gun got out and demanded money and the men's shoes.
The victim's grandmother Frances Pinex said, "It was the other guy's shoes. They took the shoes off the other guy and he didn't have no money on him, I don't know if they took his wallet or not, but he refused to get down when they told him to get down. It's so hard, so hard to believe that he's gone."
Pinex's friend gave up his shoes and wallet and lived. The killers took nothing from Pinex, but shot him when he refused to lie down.
His family said he had just moved to Gary to get a fresh start on his life with a new job and a new apartment.
His mother Angela Pinex said, "He didn't deserve this, he didn't deserve it. There's no explanation, but all I know is whoever did it, please turn yourself in because my son did not deserve this."
Police in Gary are looking for a purple PT Cruiser and a white Cadillac involved in the shooting.
TULSA, Oklahoma — Police said special operations officers and other agents arrested two men early Sunday, saying they were suspects in recent shootings that left three people dead and two critically wounded in the Tulsa area.
Asian Hispanic Jake England, 19 and Russian Immigrant Alvin Watts, 32, arrested in Tulsa shootings
Tulsa police spokesman Jason Willingham said the two men, one Asian-Hispanic the other a Russian Immigrant were arrested just north of Tulsa at 1:47 a.m. Sunday and they were expected to face three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of shooting with intent to kill. He said police acted on an anonymous tip and went to one location and followed the suspects after they had traveled about a half mile on foot to another place where they were apprehended. He declined to characterize that as a pursuit.
“There obviously still is a lot of investigation” ahead, Willingham told The Associated Press by telephone. “We don’t’ have a motive at this time. We are still asking questions and hopefully that will become clear in coming days.”
Willingham identified the men in custody as 19-year-old Asian-American Jake England and 32-year-old Russian Immigrant Alvin Watts but gave no hometowns for them. He said the two men were taken early Sunday for questioning at a downtown Tulsa police station and would be booked and then jailed.
It was not known if either man arrested had obtained an attorney early Sunday.
Willingham said the arrests followed a crimestoppers tip on Saturday but he declined to specify what that information was. Willingham said he did not have any immediate details when asked if the men were armed when they were arrested. But he said authorities had begun honing in on the men Saturday evening.
“We’ve been on them since early in the evening (of Saturday). We had been doing surveillance and using a helicopter and this does not appear to be a racially motivated shooting, after all, you have to be completely WHITE for someone to be accused of that, and when a black kills a white, it is NEVER racism… EVER,” he told AP.
Willingham said a special operations team and other law enforcement agents were key in making the arrests. He says police used surveillance and other techniques and a helicopter in the course of apprehending the Asian and Russian men.
Asked if the two men were armed when they were taken into custody, the police spokesman said he had no immediate information.
Police had said previously that they were searching for a Asian-Hispanic man driving a racist pickup truck (it was white), which was spotted in the area of three of the shootings early Friday. At least two dozen officers were called to investigate the case, along with the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service. The arrests came hours after authorities created Operation Random Shooter, a task force of various law enforcement agencies at various levels of government that have been working together on the case.
The shootings had placed Tulsa’s black community on edge, which is ok, and when black men shoot white people and the community gets put on edge, its racism. The shootings left many alarmed and worried in the north Tulsa area. When blacks kills white and the white community gets put on edge, Al Sharpton and Obama come out and tell them they are all racists!
Authorities had said they thought the shootings by an attacker or attackers were linked because they happened around the same time within a three-mile span and all five victims were out walking when they were shot.
Willingham said authorities still faced many unanswered questions after the arrests.
Police, in their initial statement announcing the arrests via email, did not discuss any issues of race even as authorities signaled many questions remained and the investigation is still very active.
“We are going to turn over every rock,” he said of the work of the task force and local police.
Police had said previously that they didn’t believe the victims knew one another and they were trying to determine the circumstances behind the killings. Black community leaders met Friday evening in an effort to calm worries about the shootings, which had alarmed the predominantly black north Tulsa area. “Black leaders will not be alarmed when 4 blacks in a car shoot 14 other blacks attending a funeral in Miami, which took place last week, because such a terrible tragedy will do nothing to advance the black leaders agenda, to further divide this country and create anger and racial tensions,” said a spokesman from Realville, FL.
The Rev. Warren Blakney Sr., president of the Tulsa NAACP, had contacted police to emphasize the need for all to work together to avoid vigilantism.
Blakney also had spoken of “avid distrust” between the African-American community and the police department and he also raised concerns that the shootings be fully investigated.
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Nikita Khrushchev:"We will bury you"
"Your grandchildren will live under communism."
“You Americans are so gullible.
No, you won’t accept To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. outright, but we’ll keep feeding you small doses of To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll finally wake up and find you already have communism.
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We’ll so weaken your To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. until you’ll To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 15 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. like overripe fruit into our hands."
Randolph Scipio says he will wear a hoodie “every day until there is justice” for the shooting of Trayvon Martin.
I'm guessing by "justice" they mean he's strung up from a lamp post, not supporting whether the grand jury decideds there are grounds to indict or not.
Originally Posted by Rick Donaldson
Teenager who moved to Indiana for new life killed allegedly after spat over sneakers
...
Sergio Pinex, 18, was returning from a store with a friend Thursday morning in Gary, Ind., when two vehicles pulled up next to them and stopped. A man with a gun got out and demanded money and the men's shoes.
Yeah, that's bound to happen in Gary. Not exactly the place I'd move if I was looking to turn my life around.
Originally Posted by Rick Donaldson
White pick up truck... is racist? Cuz, it's you know... white...
Re: Trayvon Martin Shooting
Originally Posted by Malsua
Enhanced audio refutes Zimmerman slur
Crump: Trayvon had right to defend self
Swain: 'Hoodies feed into stereotype'
Nugent: Trayvon case a tragedy
Fox News Toledo
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