Trayvon Martin Shooting - George Zimmerman

[Ryan Ruck]

Man Tells Police Group Yelled ‘Trayvon,' Then Beat Him

April 9, 2012

Police are investigating the “racially motivated” beating of a 27-year-old man who was walking home from midtown bars early Saturday when he said he was jumped by five to eight men who shouted “Trayvon” before the attack.

The exclamation was an apparent reference to Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old from Miami who was shot and killed in February walking back to his father’s girlfriend’s house in Sanford.

His shooter, George Zimmerman, has not been charged.

The case of Martin, an unarmed black teenager who was killed by Zimmerman, a Hispanic crime-watch volunteer, has stirred conversations across the country about race, crime and profiling.

Investigators believe that case was the catalyst for the beating Saturday in Gainesville.

“We do believe that the crime was racially motivated,” Gainesville Police Department spokeswoman Cpl. Angelina Valuri said.

The assailants were black, while the victim is white, Valuri said.

She said the victim had been drinking and could not provide a description of the attackers or their vehicle, only that it was a mid-size vehicle.

But Valuri said his injuries were consistent with being jumped by a group.

During what he told police was a five-minute beating, he sustained injuries to the left eye, abrasions to his palms and a cut on his right kneecap, and Valuri said he would likely have “permanent disfigurement to the left side of his face.”

He was taken to Shands at the University of Florida for treatment.

The attack occurred at about 2:45 a.m. in the 3200 block of Southwest 23rd Terrace.

The victim told police that a vehicle was coming east on Southwest 32nd Place when it stopped at 23rd Terrace.

A group of men got out and told him he was walking too slowly, the victim told police.

They then yelled “Trayvon,” according to a GPD report, and proceeded to beat him.

[American Patriot]

Wow... that's pretty weird Mal... wonder if someone is resetting it on purpose?

[American Patriot]

Man Tells Police Group Yelled ‘Trayvon,' Then Beat Him

Time to start packing heat, huh?

[American Patriot]

Attorney: Zimmerman defense fund website is real
By MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press – 2 hours ago
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — An attorney for George Zimmerman on Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of a new website that allows supporters to donate money for the neighborhood watch volunteer who has admitted to fatally shooting an unarmed black teen in Florida.
All the money raised from the site, therealgeorgezimmerman.com, will go to Zimmerman, said attorney Craig Sonner.
Zimmerman is at the center of an investigation over the shooting of Trayvon Martin, 17. Zimmerman says he shot Martin in self-defense after following him in a gated community in Sanford on Feb. 26.
Martin, who was unarmed, was black. Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is Hispanic. The lack of an arrest has inspired nationwide protests and some claims of racial profiling, which Zimmerman's supporters deny.
"I am the real George Zimmerman," the website said. "As a result of the incident and subsequent media coverage, I have been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer, my family and ultimately, my entire life. This website's sole purpose is to ensure my supporters they are receiving my full attention without any intermediaries."
The website described the shooting as "a life altering event" and said that any money raised will be used to pay for Zimmerman's living expenses and lawyers. A page on the site allows visitors to leave comments and make donations through Paypal or major credit cards.
A spokesman for Martin's parents said he considered it troubling that Zimmerman referred to the shooting as "a life altering event."
"For Trayvon Martin and his family, this was a 'life-ending event' that wiped out a bright future and a world of opportunity," said spokesman Ryan Julison.
The site adds that Zimmerman is unable to talk about the case in detail for now so that the investigation can move forward "unhindered."
Special prosecutor Angela Corey is investigating the fatal shooting. The Jacksonville prosecutor announced Monday that she wouldn't present the case to a grand jury, leaving any decision about whether Zimmerman will be charged solely up to her. That decision also eliminated the possibility that Zimmerman could be charged with first-degree murder since Florida law requires all first-degree murder cases to go before a grand jury.
Corey was appointed to investigate the case by Gov. Rick Scott after the prosecutor who normally handles cases out of Sanford recused himself.
"I am grateful to my friends that have come to my aid, whether publicly or personally, never questioning my integrity or actions," Zimmerman said on the site. "Once again, I thank you for your patience and I assure you, the facts will come to light."
A registry shows that the website was created last weekend.

[American Patriot]

Should George Zimmerman be prosecuted?

By Eugene O'Donnell, Special to CNN
updated 7:49 AM EDT, Tue April 10, 2012


Trayvon Martin supporters gather for a rally in his honor in Miami, Florida, on April 1.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Eugene O'Donnell: Prosecutor needs to see if Zimmerman can be proven guilty
• O'Donnell: No American should ever be prosecuted for a crime because of demands of crowds
• He says prosecutors should vigorously pursue cases when justice demands it
• O'Donnell: Major challenge for prosecution would be disproving Zimmerman's story

Editor's note: Eugene O'Donnell, a former New York City police officer and prosecutor, is a professor of law and police studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
(CNN) -- George Zimmerman should only be prosecuted if, after an exhaustive investigation and an honest assessment of Florida's "stand your ground" law, special prosecutor Angela Corey concludes that there is a strong possibility of proving his guilt at trial for the killing of Trayvon Martin.
No American should ever be prosecuted for any crime as a consequence of the demands of a crowd, however large or vocal. This core principle of justice should stand regardless of the facts of a case or the radioactivity of a defendant. The justice system, fragile at best, is imperiled when prosecutorial decisions are tied to politics.
That said, good prosecutors should vigorously pursue cases when justice demands, even and maybe especially, when there are legal impediments. To do less, especially in a homicide case, is to create one of society's greatest miscarriages: the failure to hold accountable someone who acted culpably to take the life of another. The victim's life must be vindicated. Unfortunately, some prosecutors find themselves legally paralyzed by complex cases or shrink from pursuing matters that are not air tight.
Eugene O'Donnell


Unless there are clear legal red lights at the outset, successful prosecution frequently means stretching existing laws to achieve just ends. This means arguing at trial, and on appeal, that someone like Zimmerman can be brought to justice notwithstanding Florida's strong self defense law, or that the law should be construed less favorably to those who resort to deadly force.
In many self defense cases, the defendant can and does argue that the case should revolve around the uncertain moments of terror faced when he was confronted by an assailant, and that everyone in the court room is after-the-fact quarterbacking. The outcome of cases is determined by comparing the defendant's actions against state law. In no part of the country is a person threatened with death or serious physical injury required to suffer the first blow. A person can be found to have acted justifiably and reasonably for killing an unarmed person depending on the circumstances.
Opinion: Without protests, justice for Trayvon Martin can't be served
Florida authorizes deadly force "if the danger could be avoided only" by using it, but does not require a threatened person to try first to flee. In states with more restrictive self defense rules, deadly force is only an option if someone subjected to an attack can't escape with complete safety. In Florida and elsewhere, however, even if someone is an aggressor, he can regain the right to use self defense if he withdraws from the confrontation that he initiated.
Thus, a major challenge for the prosecution team in the Martin case may be the version of events that Zimmerman offers. In his account, the first face-to-face encounter with Trayvon Martin was occasioned when the teenager approached him and said, "You got a problem?" as Zimmerman was walking away.
It is imperative for the state to emphasize evidence that the defendant is not justified in his killing and discredit or explain all contradictory evidence. Witness statements will have to be parsed with great care, especially where they appear to support Zimmerman's version of events. The prosecution should also make sure that the defendant cannot introduce into the minds of the jurors something that is so off-putting that it gives rise to doubt about the propriety of the defendant's intentions and actions.
Even though the state has a lode of evidence, including vitally important 911 tapes that can offer a unique window into the motives of Zimmerman on that fateful night, it needs to be mindful of the narrative of fear that will be told by the defense counsel. (The Florida gated community has seen a number of crimes, Zimmerman was acting as a good citizen by being a neighborhood watch member, Martin is a powerfully built teenager, etc.) The defense will no doubt also exploit any lack of thoroughness in the police and forensic investigation as a bungled rush to judgment that can unsettle the minds of jurors who might otherwise be horrified by the shooting.
To convict Zimmerman, a jury would have to find that there is no reasonable view of the evidence that would justify his lethal actions. Of course, the state's star witness, Trayvon Martin, is unavailable to them.

[American Patriot]

Zimmerman Kin Accuses A.G. Holder of Racism



Tuesday, 10 Apr 2012 12:10 PM
By Martin Gould


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Attorney General Eric Holder has been accused of failing to charge members of a radical African American group that placed a $10,000 bounty on the head of Trayvon Martin’s shooter because of his race.

A letter sent from a member of George Zimmerman’s family to Holder — who is black — said, “I would surmise that, based on your own definition of a hate crime, you have chosen not to arrest these individuals based solely on your race. There is no other explanation.”

The letter was posted on Scribd.com but the author — who signed him or herself “A Concerned Zimmerman Family Member,” was not identified. The Daily Caller said it knew the identity but was not releasing it “out of concern for the family’s safety.”

The letter, dated Monday, claimed that “many in the black community have formed what many are calling a ‘lynch mob’ against George Zimmerman. The rhetoric from the black community has ranged from benign to incredibly violent.”

Martin, 17, was shot dead on Feb. 26 in the Orlando suburb of Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, has admitted he pulled the trigger but said it was because Martin attacked him, a claim Martin’s family has contested.

Special prosecutor Angela Corey has yet to decide whether Zimmerman, 28, should face charges.

In the letter, Zimmerman’s family member tells Holder, “There is the appearance of racism in every way this has been handled and it is not coming from the supporters of George Zimmerman."

The writer asks why Holder’s Department of Justice “is not arresting the New Black Panthers for hate crimes?” In the wake of Martin’s death the group’s leader Mikhail Muhammed offered a $10,000 bounty for Zimmerman’s capture. Posters put out by the group say “Child killer of Trayvon Martin wanted Dead or Alive.”

The letter writer tells Holder, “The Zimmerman family is in hiding because of the threats that have been made against us, yet the DOJ has maintained an eerie silence on this matter.”

“These threats are very public. If you haven’t been paying attention just do a Google search and you will find plenty. Since when can a group of people in the United States put a bounty on someone’s head, circulate Wanted posters publicly, and still be walking the streets?”

The writer then claims the reason is down to racism. “Again, we are not talking about racism on the side of George Zimmerman.”

The writer says that even if Zimmerman is not found guilty, he will never be able to live a normal life again. “He will live his life looking over his shoulder wondering when he will be attacked by the lynch mob.

“Based solely upon your office’s definition of a hate crime, which states, ‘Others may become frustrated and angry if they believe the local government and other groups in the community will not protect them’ is exactly the way we feel now.”

The writer says “the tragedy” of Martin’s death had no racial component, adding, many are using it as a way to make money and further their agenda. "The chasm between blacks and whites deepens every time these groups show up to further their own cause.

“Strangely enough this case has a lot of parallels to those of Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ George Zimmerman has been treated much like Tom Robinson was, chastised for not being the right [or wrong[ color and found guilty based on race factors.”

The letter then asks Holder to act like the book’s hero Atticus Finch and do the right thing, adding that Holder’s boss, President Barack Obama would “refer to this as a ‘teachable moment.’"

[American Patriot]

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/201...oops-military/

George Zimmerman Had More Legal Authority To Shoot And Kill Than Our Troops Do At War

By Guest Blogger on Apr 10, 2012 at 9:30 am
Our guest blogger is Jon Soltz, founder and chairman of VoteVets.org.
The Trayvon Martin case has gripped the nation, and forced the country to re-examine our gun laws. But the horrible affair has struck me in another way, because of my two tours in Iraq. One fact stands out in my mind: The “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida, which may let George Zimmerman off the hook for the killing of Martin, gives more leeway to shooters than our own military gives to soldiers in war.
VoteVets.org has more than 105,000 members who take a wide array of views on gun control and the 2nd Amendment, but the Trayvon Martin case is less about the right to bear arms than it is the “use of force.” It’s impossible to ignore the legal protection George Zimmerman enjoys in suburban Florida vs. the Rules of Engagement that outline when one of our troops can shoot while in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The U.S. military issues Rules of Engagement (ROE) for every conflict to guide servicemembers’ ability to protect themselves from deadly threats while responding only with the necessary and proportionate level of force in a dangerous situation. The Rules of Engagement for Operation Iraqi Freedom laid out a clear set of steps that U.S. forces must take, up to and including deadly force if necessary, when responding to a threat or hostile act.
A key component of the ROE used during the height of violence in Iraq in 2007 was the requirement to use “Graduated Force” when time and circumstances permit. Section 3.G.(1) states that if an individual “commit[s] a hostile act or demonstrat[es] hostile intent” — meaning he or she attacks U.S. or designated allied forces, nationals, or property, or threatens the imminent use of force against any of them — U.S. Force “may use force, up to and including deadly force, to eliminate the threat.” However, the rule also explicitly instructs forces, “when time and circumstances permit,” to use the following “graduated measures of force” when responding to hostile act or hostile intent:

3.G.(1)(A) (U) Shout verbal warnings to halt;
3.G.(1)(B) (U) Show your weapon and demonstrate intent to use it;
3.G.(1)(C) (U) Physically restrain, block access, or detain;
3.G.(1)(D) (U) Fire a warning shot (if authorized);
3.G.(1)(E) (U) Shoot to eliminate the threat.

This rule laid out a code of conduct that troops in Iraq adopted and employed in high-risk hostile situations. We were trained to respond to a threat by quickly assessing its level and urgency and, where time and circumstances permit, to “Shout – Show – Shove – Shoot.” As the shorthand makes clear, we approached threats with a clear set of steps to take before firing a weapon. The bottom line goal was always to minimize unnecessary deaths.
These rules are enforced: using deadly force after failing to follow this procedure leads you open to charges of manslaughter and a court-martial.
In fact, Richard Allen Smith, the vice chairman of VoteVets.org, recently told me a story he had heard during his time in Afghanistan, which illustrates this point.

The Scout Platoon leader for Richard’s Battalion was in a situation in 2007 where they detained someone, but he managed to get out of their truck and flee. While he was running away, the Platoon Leader fired at him and caught him in the thigh. They called for a medevac, but he bled out before the bird could get there.
Under military law and rules of engagement, the Platoon Leader was clearly in the wrong: he pursued an unarmed guy who wasn’t posing a threat to U.S. Forces and shot him to death. He was charged (although he was never tried because he was injured a few days later when his truck was hit by an IED and he was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial).
Of course, comparing the Trayvon Martin case to a war situation is neither fair nor clean, and we still don’t know all of the facts surrounding Trayvon’s death. But insofar as what I’ve read about the case, it sounds to me that if Trayvon had been an Iraqi soldier, and George Zimmerman had been a U.S. Soldier, there would have been an immediate investigation, and most likely a manslaughter charge, and victim’s family financially compensated for wrongful death.
But Zimmerman is a civilian in Florida where, as the country now knows, a shooter is often immune from criminal prosecution and civil liability if he believed he had been threatened with deadly force. One of the striking components of Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law — or, more appropriately, “Shoot First” law — is that it eliminated the “duty to retreat” embedded in centuries of common law about self-defense. Traditionally, a person had the duty to retreat from dangerous situations if they could, and the use of deadly force was justifiable self-defense only if a person could not have otherwise safely gotten away.
In this way, the common law shared the underlying values of the Rules of Engagement: it is always preferable to de-escalate potentially violent situations before someone is killed. Florida’s “Shoot First” law — and the 24 other states that passed similar laws since 2005 — abandons that core de-escalation principle and allows an individual not only to “shoot first,” but to shoot faster than a member of the U.S. military would in a war zone.
If a soldier or marine faces an imminent threat, he or she must take the procedural steps of employing Graduated Force, and if they don’t, they may be criminally liable. By eliminating both the duty to retreat and by providing blanket immunity for a shooter who claims he felt reasonably threatened, Florida’s “Shoot First” law seems to me to be exponentially more lax than the law that guides our troops in a war.
In a war zone, troops are surrounded by potential threats, and it’s easy to misread a situation or jump to conclusions. But the military doesn’t let one of our troops just say, “I thought someone was threatening,” as an excuse for shooting someone to death outside of a firefight. The presumption remains that, if time and circumstances allowed, they should have taken preliminary steps to avoid a deadly confrontation. A deadly shooting still calls for an investigation, and if the evidence suggests that the shooter did not employ Graduated Force and that a reasonable person would not have resulted to deadly force, the shooter will be taken to a court martial. Even the presence of a weapon in many cases since AK47s are readily available isn’t enough alone to justify deadly force without the intent to use the weapon with hostile intent.
Even in a war zone, Americans operate according to rules that seek to minimize deadly violence, and Americans who seem to deviate from those rules are subject to fact-finding and accountability in our military justice system. Our troops are trained on the escalation of force but our contractors weren’t validated by our military training, causing huge legal issues for our country with the Iraqi government.
I was shocked to learn what goes for the military and half the states in America is no longer the case in Florida and the two dozen other states with new “Shoot First” laws. Zimmerman has so far avoided arrest by simply claiming that he felt threatened by Trayvon, regardless of whether that was an objectively reasonable response to the situation or if he took steps to avoid a deadly confrontation.
As an Iraq veteran watching this national story unfold, I am finding it hard not to conclude that Florida’s law gives people much more leeway to shoot someone than our own military gives to our troops in war. That is something worth thinking about as this case moves forward.

[American Patriot]

Shots fired at Sanford police car; Zimmerman seeks support on website



Sanford — Sanford police said shots were fired into an empty police cruiser on Tuesday morning in the neighborhood where George Zimmerman used to live and where Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. That news comes after sources told WFTV that Zimmerman could be arrested or turn himself in to police sometime this week.
Sanford police told WFTV shots were fired at a police cruiser on Retreat View Circle in The Retreat Twin Lakes subdivision.
A witness said she heard six gunshots ring out.
No one was in the cruiser at the time, according to police. The vehicle was taken to Sanford police headquarters. Officers are still investigating.
Meanwhile, WFTV also found out that Zimmerman is using a new website to talk about how 17-year-old Martin's killing has changed his life.
Zimmerman has been in hiding because of threats after he shot and killed Martin.
If Zimmerman is arrested or turns himself in, he will need money for his legal defense and he's asking for donations on his website. So many people have visited the site that it has crashed several times.
On the website,TheRealGeorgeZimmerman.com, he says "On Sunday February 26th I was involved in a life-altering event, which led me to become the subject of intense media coverage. As a result of the incident and subsequent media coverage, I have been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer, my family and ultimately, my entire life. This website's sole purpose is to ensure my supporters they are receiving my full attention without any intermediaries. "
Zimmerman said he shot the unarmed 17-year-old in self-defense. His attorneys plan to use Florida's controversial 'Stand Your Ground' law as his defense in what is sure to be a long and expensive legal battle.
Meanwhile, the special prosecutor in charge of the case has canceled Tuesday's Grand Jury. Instead, Jacksonville State Attorney Angela Corey will decide whether to charge Zimmerman herself.
Governor Rick Scott put Corey in charge of the case late last month amid concerns that State Attorney Norm Wolflinger wouldn't do a thorough and fair investigation.
"You've got to make sure justice prevails. I'm comfortable that the State Attorney Angela Corey will make that happen," Scott said.
In Florida, first-degree murder cases must be heard by a grand jury, which means Corey can only charge Zimmerman with third-degree murder, second-degree murder or manslaughter.
However, because Zimmerman fired his gun and Martin died, Zimmerman could still face life in prison without parole, WFTV found out.
Martin's family and its legal team are not getting their hopes up.
"We've thought from day one, we've always believed there was enough evidence there to simply arrest George Zimmerman. We are not asking that he be convicted, but just a simple arrest," said Martin's family attorney Benjamin Crump.
Natalie Jackson is one of the attorneys representing Martin's family and told WFTV she wasn't surprised by Corey's decision.
"We believe justice dictates that he will be charged," said Jackson. "If justice and the procedures were followed, then yes, all of this could've been avoided."
In a statement to WFTV, Corey said that her decision "should not be considered a factor in the final determination of the case. At this time, the investigation continues."
Corey's office wouldn't confirm if she's about to issue an arrest warrant.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Zimmerman said if he is not charged, he will speak out.
Both of Zimmerman's lawyers, Hal Uhrig and Craig Sooner, were on a national morning talk show on Monday.
The attorneys said they know and recognize the Martin family is going through a lot of pain and grief. Uhrig said both Sanford and state officials followed proper procedure on Florida's self-defense laws.
The attorneys said if Zimmerman is charged, he will remain quiet until everything is over.
The Sanford Police Department will be open to the public again on Tuesday after Martin supporters forced the interim chief to shut the building down.
The group "Dream Defenders" formed a human wall in front of the police department's door on Monday.
The acting chief and Sanford city manager met with the group. They agreed to hold a public forum next week to talk about making changes in the community.
The building opened back up Monday afternoon.
"I came here to shine light on a dark area within our justice system," said protester Justin Campbell.
The protesters want Police Chief Bill Lee and City Manager Norton Bonaparte to be fired.
Chief Lee has already temporarily stepped aside.

[American Patriot]

I believe this was posted here (at least a version of this story):
Source: NBC producer fired over Zimmerman 911 call

Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/nation...#ixzz1rfZ0Ksff

NEW YORK - NBC News has fired a producer for editing a recording of George Zimmerman's call to police the night he shot Trayvon Martin, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said Saturday.
The person was not authorized to talk about the situation publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The identity of the producer was not disclosed.
An NBC spokeswoman declined to comment.
The producer's dismissal followed an internal investigation that led to NBC apologizing for having aired the misleading audio.
NBC's "Today" show first aired the edited version of Zimmerman's call on March 27. The recording viewers heard was trimmed to suggest that Zimmerman volunteered to police, with no prompting, that Martin was black: "This guy looks like he's up to no good. He looks black."
But the portion of the tape that was deleted had the 911 dispatcher asking Zimmerman if the person who had raised his suspicion was "black, white or Hispanic," to which Zimmerman responded, "He looks black."
Later that night of Feb. 26, the 17-year-old Martin was fatally shot by Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla. Though Martin was unarmed, Zimmerman told police he fired in self-defense after Martin attacked him.
Questions subsequently have arisen over whether Zimmerman was racially profiling the teen, a theory the edited version of the tape seemed to support.
On Tuesday, NBC said its investigation turned up "an error made in the production process that we deeply regret." It promised that "necessary steps" would be taken "to prevent this from happening in the future" and apologized to viewers.

Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/nation...#ixzz1rfYxNOCa

[American Patriot]

Trayvon Martin: Sanford 'a kindling box' as prosecutor weighs charges

Police car shot as racial tensions rise ahead of Angela Corey's decision on whether George Zimmerman will be charged

• Richard Luscombe in Miami
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 10 April 2012 15.28 EDT

Several peaceful protests have taken place in Sanford, but the mood in the town has darkened in recent weeks. Photograph: Joe Raedle/Getty Images



Officials have warned of rising racial tensions in Sanford, Florida, as a special prosecutor prepares to announce her decision over whether to charge neighbourhood watch captain George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin.


Early Tuesday, several bullets were fired and at least two struck the windscreen and side mirror of a police car in the Florida town where the unarmed black teenager was shot and killed on February 26.


The police cruiser was unoccupied at the time and the damage was minimal but the incident is a further sign of growing acrimony on both sides of the controversy.


It came a day after state attorney Angela Corey announced that she would not convene a grand jury to examine the case and Zimmerman, who admitted shooting Martin but who was not arrested because he claimed self-defence, launched his own fundraising website.


"Are we a kindling box? Sure", Sanford mayor Jeff Triplett said in an interview Tuesday morning with ABC News.


"But we're working down a path, and so far it's been perfectly peaceful."


Another anonymous city official earlier revealed to ABC that there were fears of a violent backlash if Corey decided against charging Zimmerman. Her decision is expected any day.


The official said that three surrounding counties had activated emergency operations centres to a level usually only seen during hurricanes, while thousands of national guard troops would be available at the discretion of Florida governor Rick Scott.


Several peaceful protests have taken place in Sanford, with civil rights leaders Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson and members of Martin's family among those calling for Zimmerman's arrest.


But the mood in the town has darkened in recent weeks, with activist group the New Black Panthers offering a $10,000 reward for Zimmerman's capture and right-wing extremists planning demonstrations on his behalf.


The Sanford police department, meanwhile, said it was investigating Tuesday's's early hours attack on the marked car, which had been parked as a deterrent at an elementary school close to the Retreat at Twin Lakes, where Martin was shot. A police spokesman said tour buses had been using the school's car park.


Zimmerman, 28, is still in hiding as he awaits Corey's decision. His new website, which went online Monday night, contains his first public comments since the shooting.


"As a result of the incident and subsequent media coverage, I have been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer, my family and ultimately, my entire life," he wrote.


"This website's sole purpose is to ensure my supporters they are receiving my full attention without any intermediaries."


The site, which had recorded fewer than 200 views by 2pm Tuesday, contains a link to a Paypal page set up by Zimmerman to raise money "in lieu of my forced inability to maintain employment". But a photograph of graffiti sprayed on the wall at an Ohio university, saying "Long Live Zimmerman", was removed from the site this morning. Ohio detectives announced they would investigate the vandalism as a hate crime.


Benjamin Crump, a lawyer for Martin's parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, denounced the Zimmerman website.


"He says that he experienced a life-altering event. Well, Trayvon Martin experienced a life-ending event. And George Zimmerman is trying to have us believe that his life is so terrible now," Crump said on ABC's Good Morning America.


He said Martin's parents were not surprised by Corey's decision not to call a grand jury, which means that Zimmerman cannot be charged with first-degree murder, only a lesser charge.


"We are hopeful that a decision will be reached very soon to arrest George Zimmerman and give Trayvon Martin's family the simple justice they have been seeking all along," he said.


Hal Uhrig, an attorney for Zimmerman, said only that he thought Corey's move was "courageous".


In a statement, Corey, who was appointed by Scott to take over the case last month, said that her choice not to call a grand jury "should not be considered a factor" in whether Zimmerman will be prosecuted.


But legal analysts are divided over the significance of the move.


Jeremy Lasnetski, a Jacksonville lawyer and a former colleague, described Corey as "a pit bull" prosecutor, telling the Orlando Sentinel that she was not afraid to tackle controversial cases on her own.


Another lawyer told the newspaper she had done the right thing by going it alone, while a third insisted that the uncertain facts of what happened on the night of February 26 made it exactly the kind of case a grand jury should be investigating.

[American Patriot]

Going after the guns, again:

Trayvon and Tulsa: Gun Policy Hurts Blacks

• By: Jenée Desmond-Harris | Posted: April 10, 2012

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Tulsa Police Department

In February, black Florida teen Trayvon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman in a shooting widely suspected to have been motivated by racial bias. This week, two men in a white pickup truck shot five people in one of Tulsa's predominantly black neighborhoods in a possible act of retaliation for the murder of one of their fathers by a black man.
Reflecting upon these two cases, Slate's Emily Bazelon talked to an expert who says that gun laws like "Stand your ground" encourage vigilantism in a way that constitutes a "racial tax":
You can think, then, of legislation like Florida’s Stand Your Ground law -- which makes it all too easy to escape a murder conviction, or even charge, with a claim of self-defense -- as imposing what [Stanford Law Professor Richard Thomas] Ford calls a “racial tax.” He says, “We can predict that the vigilantes these laws encourage are more likely to be reckless, incompetent, and frankly, racist, than the police.”
Oklahoma has a Stand Your Ground law as well, passed in 2006. Mediaite speculates that it’s because of that law that Pernell Jefferson wasn’t charged with shooting Carl England. I’m not sure that’s right, but it seems plausible—and it suggests that what we’re seeing in Tulsa is how Stand Your Ground laws not only get vigilantes off the hook but fuel the anger that drives them to begin with.
One of the fears in the wake of Martin’s death has been that people in Sanford will take justice into their own hands to avenge the teenager’s killing. Now in Oklahoma, in the person of Jacob England, we could be seeing just such an avenger. It’s scary enough to know that there are vigilantes in our midst. It’s scarier still to think that our public policy encourages them.

[vector7]

UN Human Rights Chief Calls For Trayvon Investigation

---

by William Bigelow 15 hours ago 332 post a comment

UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay has called for an "immediate investigation" into the death of Trayvon Martin.

Leaving aside the matter of the despicable record of the UN on human rights, what kind of record does Pillay herself have on human rights, and does she have any moral leg to stand on when interfering in the domestic affaris of the United States? According to Freedom House, between September 2008, when she became the Human Rights Chief, and June 2010, Pillay made no comment whatsoever on the victims in 34 countries rated “Not Free.” Some of the countries not criticized were: Algeria, Angola, Bahrain, Belarus, Cuba, North Korea, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Vietnam.

When Iranian demonstrators were abused violently by the Iranian government’s forces following the June 2009 presidential elections, Pillay refrained for three months from commenting even though video existed of demonstrators being killed; she only mentioned the matter as part of her traditional opening speech at the UN Human Rights Council session in September 2009. She did not give any statement dealing directly with the matter. And when she did speak, it was only in an “unprecedented effort to engage” with the Muslim world. While she did raise some human rights concerns, she praised Iran’s progress instead of naming violence that had been recorded or current violations.

The pattern of do-nothingness continued. In July 2010, two renowned human rights lawyers, Haytham al-Maleh and Muhanad al-Hasani were jailed for criticizing the Syrian authorities on human rights grounds. In March 2010, the Syrian military detained Kurdish leader Abdel Hafez Abdel and journalists, bloggers and writers for exposing Syria’s corruption. But Pillay did not respond at all. In addition, Pillay was a staunch defender of the falsified Goldstone Report which ripped Israel and also questioned whether the United States had the legal right to kill Osama Bin Laden.

In 2011, the United States, Canada, Israel, the Czech Republic, Italy and the Netherlands announced a boycott of Durban III, the UN meeting to commemorate the 10^th anniversary of the first Durban conference, where Israel was targeted for vilification. Pillay tried to block further countries boycotting the event, and claimed that the boycotts were a “political distraction.”

Of the Trayvon Martin case, Pillay said, “I will be awaiting an investigation and prosecution and trial and of course reparations for the victims concerned.”

Perhaps Martin’s family deserves reparations. But it’s none of her damn business either way -- at least based on her record.

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Zimmerman's lawyers withdraw from shooting case

Published April 10, 2012
| Associated Press


George Zimmerman, seen at left in a prior booking photo, says he shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old, in self defense.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Attorneys for a Florida neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot an unarmed black teen have withdrawn as his counsel, saying they have lost contact with him.

Attorney Craig Sonner said Tuesday in a news conference they haven't heard from George Zimmerman since Sunday. They said that against their advice, Zimmerman contacted the special prosecutor who will decide if he should face charges.

Attorney Hal Uhrig said that his legal team is still concerned about Zimmerman, who he said is "not doing well emotionally" and may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Sonner said he has never talked to Zimmerman face-to-face and that the 28-year-old man has gone into hiding, but he believes Zimmerman is still in the U.S.

Zimmerman is at the center of an investigation over the shooting of Trayvon Martin, 17. Zimmerman says he shot Martin in self-defense after following him in a gated community in Sanford on Feb. 26.

Martin, who was unarmed, was black. Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is Hispanic. The lack of an arrest has inspired nationwide protests and some claims of racial profiling, which Zimmerman's supporters deny.

Sonner urged the media and public to not jump to conclusions about this case. "Put the evidence together and you can see it's a self-defense case," Sonner said.

Uhrig went further to explain that Zimmerman has never been a racist. He said according to Zimmerman, Martin attacked him and caused a head injury, which would lead Zimmerman to act in self defense.

Zimmerman is currently in hiding, although Sonner and Uhrig said they did not know where exactly he is. They said Zimmerman is in the U.S.
Both attorneys said they'd be willing to represent him again if he asks.

Ben Crump, an attorney for Martin's family, said they're concerned that Zimmerman could be a flight risk if he is charged with a crime since his now-former attorneys don't know how to contact him.

"At this point, we're just concerned that nobody knows where he is at. Nobody knows how to get to him," Crump said.

Zimmerman set up a website therealgeorgezimmerman.com to collect money from his supporters, but the attorneys didn't know about it until they started getting questions from the media, Sonner said.

"I am the real George Zimmerman," the website said. "As a result of the incident and subsequent media coverage, I have been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer, my family and ultimately, my entire life."

That portrait of his life since the shooting was confirmed by his attorneys.

Sonner said that he stands behind his statements that Zimmerman did act in self-defense, however, "I just can't proceed to represent a client who doesn't stay in contact with me."

[vector7]

George Zimmerman's lawyers step down from case

Zimmerman shot, killed Trayvon Martin, 17, in Sanford

George Zimmerman's lawyers step down from case

Zimmerman shot, killed Trayvon Martin, 17, in Sanford

Published On: Apr 10 2012 03:58:06 PM EDT Updated On: Apr 10 2012 06:24:08 PM EDT

SANFORD, Fla. -

VIDEO

Lawyers for George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, announced on Tuesday that they are stepping down from the case because they've lost contact with Zimmerman, who is hiding somewhere in the United States.

Zimmerman's lawyers, Hal Uhrig and Craig Sonner, say they have not spoken to Zimmerman since Sunday through text messages. Zimmerman has not been arrested or charged in the Feb. 26 shooting death, and a special prosecutor is reviewing the case.

"He has gone on his own. I'm not sure what he's doing or who he's talking to," Sonner said. "If he wants us to come back as counsel, he will contact us."

They said a series of events contributed to their stepping down, the most recent one being Zimmerman trying to call special prosecutor Angela Corey earlier Tuesday to offer to come in for questioning. Uhrig and Sonner said they would not have advised him to do that. Corey didn't talk to Zimmerman and he was told by an employee at Corey's office she couldn't talk to him without his attorneys.

Uhrig and Sonner said they would represent Zimmerman if he contacted them, but they are mainly concerned for Zimmerman's safety and his emotional well-being.

"There's a bounty out on his head," said Uhrig, who added that Zimmerman is basically confined to a residence because of threats. "He's emotionally crippled by this case."

Uhrig said that they believe Zimmerman is suffering from "post traumatic stress syndrome" and that they think he "may not be in complete control of what's going on."

The attorneys said they believe Zimmerman will still turn himself in if he's asked, because they say he's volunteering to talk to Corey.

"If he was anticipating an arrest they wouldn’t have to run very far to catch him," Uhrig said.

Sonner and Uhrig wouldn't disclose where Zimmerman is in hiding but said he is not currently in Florida.

"He's in the United States," Sonner said. He would not elaborate on where exactly Zimmerman is.

Sonner said they also stand by every comment they've made in the case thus far, including how he thinks Zimmerman was acting in "self-defense" and that this case was not a "racial issue."

"I still believe he was acting in self-defense that night," Sonner said.

The attorneys also said they were supposed to set up Zimmerman's website, TheRealGeorgeZimmerman.com and they even set up a PayPal account for their version of Zimmerman's site to go to an account controlled by his father. Instead, Zimmerman set up the site on his own, and it's not clear where the PayPal account on Zimmerman's site he made is going.

Although Zimmerman wouldn't talk to his attorneys, he posted an update on his site at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, reading:

"I am attempting to respond to each and everyone of my supporters personally. The support has been overwhelming in volume and strength. I thank you all and ask that you permit me the time to respond to each one of you personally. Once again thank you.
Sincerely,

George Zimmerman."

Zimmerman also called Fox News and talked to Sean Hannity- something Uhrig and Sonner wouldn't have recommended, they said. Fox News Channel confirmed Hannity will discuss his conversation with Zimmerman on Tuesday's episode.

Martin was shot and killed by Zimmerman, a 28-year-old neighborhood watch leader who reported to police that a suspicious man was walking through his Sanford community.

Zimmerman claims the shooting was in self-defense after Martin attacked him and slammed his head against the sidewalk, according to police.
"We hope for the best for George Zimmerman and we hope for the best for the Martin family," Uhrig said.

Martin's death has triggered a nationwide debate about race in America and Florida's "stand your ground" law, which allows people to use deadly force anywhere they feel a reasonable threat of death or serious injury.

On the night of the shooting, Sanford police questioned Zimmerman and released him without charges. Authorities 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.

Thousands have converged on Sanford to join in protests calling for Zimmerman's arrest and criticizing the police department's handling of the case.

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George Zimmerman's Legal Team Calls It Quits

BY ENJOLI FRANCIS and MATT GUTMAN (@mattgutmanABC)
SANFORD, Fla. April 10, 2012


Trayvon Martin, 17, was fatally shot by neighborhood watch leader George Zimmerman. (ABC News; Orange County Jail)

In a hastily convened news conference, George Zimmerman's legal team said today they would no longer represent the man who fatally shot unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.

Zimmerman's lawyers said they are withdrawing from the case because they have lost contact with Zimmerman, who is refusing to answer their calls, texts and emails.

Zimmerman, 28, a white Hispanic neighborhood watch captain, shot and killed the black, unarmed Miami teenager Feb. 26 after following him for several minutes.

The lawyers said they had not spoken to him since Sunday, after they set up a website with his father for his legal defense. The following day, Zimmerman announced a separate website that surprised the lawyers.

Craig Sonner, one of the lawyers, said there were "lots of things going on that I don't know about," including Zimmerman speaking to Fox TV's Sean Hannity off the record and calling the special prosecutor who is investigating the shooting.

"We were a bit astonished," one of the lawyers said referring to the call to the special prosecutor. He said the prosecutor's office declined to speak to Zimmerman without his lawyers, but Zimmerman replied that they were merely his legal advisers, the attorney said.

The two lawyers said they were concerned about Zimmerman, who they described as isolated.

"He can't go out to a 7/11 to buy a Diet Coke. There's a bounty out there," one of his lawyers said and suggested Zimmerman was probably suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Perhaps the pressure has pushed him over the edge," the lawyer said. The attorney suggested Zimmerman may not be handling the pressure and has lost weight.

He also said that Zimmerman was not in Florida, saying, "You can stop looking for him in Florida. Look much further than that."

Both lawyers said they still stood by their belief that Zimmerman had shot Martin in self-defense.

"We frankly believe that the correct decision would be not to charge him," Sonner said.

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April 10, 2012
Police to White Victim: We 'Don't Mess' with Black Gang

Selwyn Duke

Most of us have heard about how the media won't report on black-on-white crime. We also may know that authorities sometimes sweep it under the rug due to political pressure, usually with a wink and a nod. But not so in rural Alabama, where the police actually told a white crime victim that they "don't mess" with a local black motorcycle gang.

The tragic event that led to this shocking admission occurred on March 28, as truck driver Nick Stokes and neighbor Johnathan Cooper were heading out of Birmingham hauling a portable cabin. While rounding a curve, one of Stokes' tires slipped and kicked up some gravel, which angered a black motorcycle-gang member who was in close proximity. The gangster -- part of the notorious "Outcasts of Alabama" -- gave chase and tried to force Stokes to pull over to the side of the road. Here's what happened next, as reported by the Macon Beacon's Scott Boyd, whose piece has been published online by J. Christian Adams:

The motorcyclist then sped up and pulled in front of Stokes [sic] F-250. He stopped in the middle of the road and forced Stokes to stop. He then jumped off his bike and came around to the passenger side and hit the rear passenger window with his fist but it didn't break. Stokes then made the quick decision to get out of there and pulled out around the parked motorcycle.

Stokes said he looked back in his rear-view as he pulled away and noticed the biker rolling in the highway. "He either tried to jump in the back of the truck or onto the trailer and somehow slipped."

Stokes said when he noticed the injured man flailing in the roadway he stopped, worried about leaving the scene of an accident. Stokes said he was getting out of his truck to go check on Clay when a woman in a red Jeep pulled alongside and shouted a warning: "You better get out of here - they've got guns." That's when Stokes looked back down the highway and [saw] some the motorcycle gang - 30 or 40 bikes strong - headed his way. "I jumped back in the truck and took off until I could find a busy intersection and that's where I stopped."

Stokes said he and Cooper were immediately surrounded by a gang of black bikers, all with black bandanas covering the bottom half of their faces.

The gang forced him out of the truck and commenced their revenge attack. "After I saw the knife and then felt the stabbings I fell to the ground and played dead - I think that may have saved my life," he said.

Stokes heard police sirens seconds later, as his friend, Cooper, had called 911 on his cellphone. But despite the authorities having identified the injured gangster as Ladarrious Clay of Birmingham, none of the bikers were detained or even questioned, reports Boyd. Shocking.

And the silence is deafening. Boyd contacted the Birmingham News, only to be told that the incident wasn't "newsworthy." In fact, if J. Christian Adams hadn't published the story at PJ Media, we probably never would have heard about it. The Macon Beacon is so small that it doesn't even have a website.

As for the relevant law-enforcement agency, the Adamsville Police Department, its public affairs officer had not responded to Boyd's inquiries as of his press time. Yet it's not as if they had no answers at all. They told Stokes that there was nothing they could do, as it would be impossible to identify those who actually wielded the knives. And then there was that more shocking admission. Both Stokes and Boyd were told the same thing by the Adamsville police.

We "don't mess with the Outcasts of Alabama."

Wow. Just wow. These guys sound like Barney Fife -- without the guts.

We're used to hearing stories about law enforcement being intimidated by organized crime in places such as Colombia and Mexico. But in the US? This is yet another example of our descent into Third Worldism.

Stokes also reported the crime to the FBI, which has promised an investigation. The question is, will the agency do anything more than just go through the motions? I don't know, but three things are for sure. First, if this had been an attack by a white gang on a black victim, the national media would be all over the story. Second, Eric Holder's DOJ won't be getting involved like it has in the Trayvon Martin Case. And, lastly, we can be sure that Barack Obama won't get on his soapbox and accuse the Adamsville police of acting stupidly.

[Ryan Ruck]

Attorney Hal Uhrig said that his legal team is still concerned about Zimmerman, who he said is "not doing well emotionally" and may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

I'd say there is a significant possibility of this. It is an issue that even professional shooters like the police and military have to deal with.

Hopefully Mr. Zimmerman doesn't do something drastic like take his own life.

[American Patriot]

I'd say there is a significant possibility of this. It is an issue that even professional shooters like the police and military have to deal with.

Hopefully Mr. Zimmerman doesn't do something drastic like take his own life.

Wouldn't that just make everyone's day?

/sigh

[Malsua]

Here's a GREAT article from PJmedia. Read the whole thing...not just the first few paragraphs which are quotes from an older article where this guy condemned Zimmerman.


-------
http://pjmedia.com/blog/why-i-called...inglepage=true

On March 17, I thought I had it all figured out. I wrote a post on my blog in which I pronounced America’s most famous neighborhood watch captain guilty:

Martin, a wispy 17-year-old-black teen, was walking to the home he was staying in after going to the convenience store for a bag of candy and a Coke. George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, stalked Martin from his car, and then well, you can read the rest.

It seems self-evident from the 911 tapes that he was psyching himself up to justify a confrontation. Zimmerman initiated the confrontation by leaving his vehicle. He then asks us to believe — absent any living witness to conflict with him — that a teen some 100 lbs. lighter than him started a fight, and that Zimmerman “had” to shoot the kid in self-defense. Does anyone but Zimmerman’s father — and an apparently incompetent Sanford PD — buy Zimmerman’s claim this was a justifiable case of self-defense?
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I’ll admit that I do not know the idiosyncrasies of Florida law, but if an armed person initiates a conflict, then uses that conflict as an excuse to draw his weapon and kill the person he confronted, that sounds a lot like murder in my book. No wonder Martin’s parents are furious that the Sanford PD hasn’t filed charges against Zimmerman.

In light of the just released 911 tapes, which suggest Martin plead for his life before Zimmerman fired a second, killing shot, both Zimmerman and the Sanford PD better prepare for very expensive civil rights cases, and hope that a vigilante doesn’t act to correct a perceived injustice as some have already threatened.

How naive that post now seems. The narrative created by the media at that time was one of an innocent life taken for no reason at all, by a much older, heavier, and racist man itching for a confrontation.

That was before we found out there was only one gunshot and no coup de grâce. That was before we found out that George Zimmerman had not deluged the local police with 46 paranoid 911 calls in one year, but 46 calls over a period of eight years, which isn’t unreasonable for a community watch volunteer. The media had either lied about how often he called, or purposefully compressed the timeline.

That was before we learned that Zimmerman didn’t know Martin’s race when he made the call, and that race didn’t play a roll in any of the 911 calls the local police had on file.

That was before we discovered that George Zimmerman wasn’t the 240-plus pound bruiser in the five-year-old picture the media used as much as possible, but was listed at a much smaller 170 pounds by none other than the New York Times. That’s a nominal 20 pounds heavier than a teen that stood four inches over him.

That was before we found out that two eyewitnesses placed Martin on top of Zimmerman as the aggressor, and that at least one of them claims it was Zimmerman crying for help.

That was before ABC News attempted to claim police surveillance video disproved Zimmerman’s claim of being injured in what may have been a purposeful deception. The very same news organization was forced to later admit the presence of two lacerations on the back of George Zimmerman’s skull consistent with his claim of self-defense. In the end, details of the beating Zimmerman suffered at Trayvon Martin’s hands were only given a brief mention in the local news.

That was before NBC News was forced to fire a senior producer for selectively editing audio of Zimmerman’s 911 call in a deliberate effort to make him sound racist.

And of course, almost no one knows that on the night he took Trayvon Martin’s life, George Zimmerman willingly consented to take a voice stress analyzer test, a kind of lie detector test used by the Sanford police. He passed it.

The narrative has changed in the wake of new details, eyewitnesses, and embarrassing retreats. The actual story may in fact have been a textbook example of the proper use of deadly force.

The revised narrative is that George Zimmerman wasn’t even actively volunteering as a neighborhood watchman, but was in the process of going to the store when he happened to see a hoodie-covered figure acting oddly in the rain, in a way that Zimmerman apparently interpreted as a burglar “casing” the gated community. He called 911 and kept the dispatcher apprised of his current position as best he could, in order to try to bring the police to the scene so that they could talk with the suspicious figure. It wasn’t until partway through the call that Zimmerman was able to tell the dispatcher that he thought the suspect may be black, in a direct answer to the dispatcher’s question about the suspect’s race.

During the course of the 911 call, the dispatcher asks several times for an exact street address, which an apparently frustrated Zimmerman is unable to provide. At one point, Martin notices Zimmerman shadowing him, and disappears between buildings.

Zimmerman chooses to leave his vehicle, either to track Martin or get a street address of Martin’s current location for the responding officers. At this point, Zimmerman is no longer on the phone with the 911 operator. Trayvon Martin is allegedly on the phone with his girlfriend, right up until when the physical confrontation apparently takes place.

By piecing together the 911 call and the series of events as alleged by Martin’s still anonymous girlfriend, we can see that a man is following a teenager, and the teenager notices he is being followed. We see Zimmerman’s apparent frustration at being unable to get the police guided to the suspect — his frustrated cry of “these assholes always get away” — and see two reasons Zimmerman would have left the car after first telling the dispatcher he didn’t want to because he didn’t know where Martin was at the time.

It is at this point that the confrontation between Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman takes place. We have no living witnesses to the start of the confrontation, other than Mr. Zimmerman. He claims Trayvon Martin assaulted him by punching him in the face (breaking his nose), and then jumped on top of him and started pounding his head into the the pavement.

At this point, apparently two witnesses responded to cries for help. One witness, named “John,” identified the man on the bottom wearing red (George Zimmerman) as the person crying for help in 911 calls as the other person (Trayvon Martin) was on top of him. “John” moved to get a better view out another window when he heard the gunshot and then saw Martin on the ground.

A second eyewitness also identified George Zimmerman as the man on the ground crying for help.

Not one witness had a start-to-finish view of the confrontation, and even if they did, eyewitness accounts are notoriously inaccurate. But when the various aspects of the case are weaved together from what is publicly known, a more plausible and tighter narrative seems to coalesce.

Shortly after getting off the phone with the 911 dispatcher, George Zimmerman left his vehicle. He and Trayvon Martin engaged in some sort of a conversation, which is agreed upon (in a larger context) by both Martin’s girlfriend, who was on the phone with him at the time, and Zimmerman’s account.

At that point, the call between Martin and his girlfriend terminated, and her testimony is of no further value.

Zimmerman alleges that Martin punched him in the face, breaking his nose and knocking him down with one punch. Basic forensic details, such as the grass stains on Zimmerman’s back and the injuries to his face reported by police and the resulting swelling and bruising reported by the neighbor the next day, make this at least plausible.

Zimmerman claims that Martin then jumped on top of him and began bashing his head against the sidewalk, and he began crying for help. Again, this part of Zimmerman’s story is at least partially corroborated by the eyewitness testimony, police reports, the enhanced police department video that shows two substantial lacerations on the back of Zimmerman’s head, and the reported bandages and swelling the neighbor confirmed the next day.

Zimmerman claims that Martin then saw and went for his gun. There were no eyewitnesses to this portion of the confrontation, and the next eyewitness view (from “John”) tells us what we already know: George Zimmerman fired a single shot from a 9mm pistol that hit Trayvon Martin, killing him. The rest of the actions from this point on are contained in police reports, but the confrontation was over, and Trayvon Martin lay dead or dying.

The Sanford police are being heavily condemned for mismanaging the investigation, but they did manage to do two things that may shed light on the whole story. They managed to get Zimmerman to the police station, where video surveillance confirmed his head injuries, and Zimmerman passed the voice stress analyzer they administered, which suggests he believes the story he gave to police.

When all these publicly known bits of evidence are combined, it suggests that a series of miscalculations and escalations by both men led to Trayvon Martin’s death.

George Zimmerman used questionable judgment in leaving his vehicle. But if the evidence and testimony publicly known are to be believed, it was an angry young Trayvon Martin who committed the first crime of the evening when he threw a punch that knocked George Zimmerman down. At this point, Trayvon Martin became the aggressor.

Eyewitnesses and forensics suggest that Martin continued his assault, escalating it to assault with a deadly weapon when he began trying to smash Zimmerman’s skull on the pavement. If this is accurate, and Zimmerman was on his back crying for help while Martin pressed his attack, then Zimmerman had reason to believe he was under the threat of serious injury, maiming, or death at the hands of Trayvon Martin.

At that moment, in reasonable fear for his life, and apparently after a struggle for his gun if Zimmerman’s lie detector-cleared testimony can be believed, he fired a single shot at Trayvon Martin.

Ultimately, the forensics the public has not seen may be the ultimate arbiter of truth. If the ballistic trajectory is consistent with Zimmerman’s story, then Trayvon Martin was killed in a textbook case of self-defense. Florida’s “stand your ground” law is utterly immaterial and Zimmerman committed no crime whatsoever.

Ultimately, the special prosecutor will have to weigh the evidence in this case and make her own determination, but she would have to find some very compelling evidence countermanding the testimony and forensics shows thus far, which seem to support Zimmerman’s claim of legal self-defense.

I took the media’s claims at face value and erroneously labeled George Zimmerman a murderer based upon false information that was designed to arrange a lynching.

I won’t get fooled again, and I hope that prosecutor Angela Corey, who dismissed the grand jury this week, won’t fall into the same trap of trying to pursue a narrative instead of true justice.

[American Patriot]

Breaking news... Zimmerman WILL be "charged" with "something". Either second degree murder or manslaughter....