The future George Zimmerman Acquittal Trial Megathread!

[Rasputin]

Are you saying that the media did not sensationalize the story based on race?  Hell, when the race details didn't fall the way they wanted, the media manipulated them to fit the narrative they wanted.

See: "he looks black" and "White Hispanic"

No.  But they probably would have done so had Trayvon been white.  Suddenly it is a Latino gunning down a white kid.

But I think due to the nature of this particular tragedy it would have been a big deal regardless even if it was same race on same race.  Plj said that we would never even would have heard of this if Trayvon had not been black, as if the media goes around championing the cause of every dead black kid out there and ignoring everybody else.

weve had about 75 cases involving the stand your ground law in florida between the law's passage and the zimmerman case

i believe there was only one news story on it anywhere in florida before this case

[Rasputin]

One of my co-workers visited a gun store a few days ago.  He said that while he was there they were doing a brisk business selling to African-Americans.  So at least some good came from all this.   

Look for the usual gun-rights advocates to remain very, very silent about this.

As long as they have had or intend to get some sort of training, and are responsible with the firearm, I think it would be a net positive.

Not sure where you're going with that.

he is saying that all people who are pro gun rights are anti black...the same as cdm is saying but more subtle

[The Minsky Moment]

i believe the combination of the hoodie, the prior break ins and martins being "out of place" that evening combined to make him appear suspiscious to the wannabe without regard to color

A kid the same age out of an Abercrombie & Fitch ad probably doesn't attract the same notice.
The clothing was a factor here but race was as well.  And race can be a factor even if the actor isn't racist.

[Valmy]

weve had about 75 cases involving the stand your ground law in florida between the law's passage and the zimmerman case

i believe there was only one news story on it anywhere in florida before this case

Relevence counselor?

They all involved unarmed teenagers being gunned down a few feet from where they were staying?

[11B4V]

weve had about 75 cases involving the stand your ground law in florida between the law's passage and the zimmerman case

i believe there was only one news story on it anywhere in florida before this case

Relevence counselor?

They all involved unarmed teenagers being gunned down a few feet from where they were staying?

Did they involve that teenager assaulting and individual.

[Valmy]

Did they involve that teenager assaulting and individual.

After being stalked by an armed adult?  Indeed there were factors that made this case especially tragic and debate inspiring.  I certainly hope tragedies like these do not occur at a rate of 10 or so a year in Florida.

[11B4V]

Did they involve that teenager assaulting and individual.

After being stalked by an armed adult?  Indeed there were factors that made this case especially tragic and debate inspiring.  I certainly hope tragedies like these do not occur at a rate of 10 or so a year in Florida.

How did Trayvon know he was armed while being, "Stalked" as you say?

[derspiess]

After being stalked by an armed adult?  Indeed there were factors that made this case especially tragic and debate inspiring.  I certainly hope tragedies like these do not occur at a rate of 10 or so a year in Florida.

Do you think Trayvon was justified in physically assaulting Zimmerman?

[Valmy]

After being stalked by an armed adult?  Indeed there were factors that made this case especially tragic and debate inspiring.  I certainly hope tragedies like these do not occur at a rate of 10 or so a year in Florida.

Do you think Trayvon was justified in physically assaulting Zimmerman?

I think it was a pretty irrational thing to do but sometimes when people feel threatened they may do something stupid.

But it is hardly relevent to what I was saying.  Zimmerman was found innocent I am not retrying him, my only wish was that there at least be a grand jury hearing due to the circumstances (which I understand from Scipio did not even happen).  I was saying that this case was especially tragic and that is what made it significant not simply that the person killed here was black.  Last I checked black people tend to die in shootings pretty regularly, why I bet a black person was even previously involved in one of the previous 75 cases which it seemed were not important enough to be of national attention.  I suspect the real reason was because the others were more straightforward self defense cases.

[Valmy]

How did Trayvon know he was armed while being, "Stalked" as you say?

I do not recall I said he did.  But again I am not saying Zimmerman is the new Hitler.  I was talking about why this case was so significant.

[derspiess]

But it is hardly relevent to what I was saying.  Zimmerman was found innocent I am not retrying him, my only wish was that there at least be a grand jury hearing due to the circumstances (which I understand from Scipio did not even happen).

Are you saying you want one now? 

The prosecution could (and should) have put the case before a grand jury but due to some odd Florida loophole was able to bypass it.

I was saying that this case was especially tragic and that is what made it significant not simply that the person killed here was black.  Last I checked black people tend to die in shootings pretty regularly, why I bet a black person was even previously involved in one of the previous 75 cases which it seemed were not important enough to be of national attention.  I suspect the real reason was because the others were more straightforward self defense cases.

I think you're being a bit naive here.  Race had everything to do with the way this was over-covered in the media.

[Neil]

i believe the combination of the hoodie, the prior break ins and martins being "out of place" that evening combined to make him appear suspiscious to the wannabe without regard to color

A kid the same age out of an Abercrombie & Fitch ad probably doesn't attract the same notice.
The clothing was a factor here but race was as well.  And race can be a factor even if the actor isn't racist.

Yeah, I don't see how race couldn't be a factor, or even why it shouldn't have been.  Stats don't lie.  Young black men are heavily drawn to criminal behavior.  Maybe if Zimmerman were some kind of unlettered rube, he might have been able to look past Martin's skin colour, but he was just a regular idiot.

[Valmy]

Are you saying you want one now? 

What?  Of course not.  You were asking me if I thought Trayvon was justified and therefore, I presume, that Zimmerman was guilty. 

The prosecution could (and should) have put the case before a grand jury but due to some odd Florida loophole was able to bypass it.

I realize that now and that is unfortunate.  Cases like these are a big part of the reason we have grand juries in the first place.

I think you're being a bit naive here.  Race had everything to do with the way this was over-covered in the media.

Well then explain to me why this case was so much more significant than every other shooting of a black dude in our recent history if that is the only determining factor.

[Savonarola]

And it's never a dull day in Florida:

George Zimmerman helped rescue family from overturned SUV, cops say


By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel
2:11 p.m. EDT, July 22, 2013



George Zimmerman, the man recently acquitted in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, helped rescue a family from an overturned SUV last week, the Seminole County Sheriff's Office confirmed today.

According to sheriff's spokeswoman Heather Smith, deputies were called to the crash about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday.

A Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle had gone off the road and rolled over in the area of Interstate 4 and State Road 46, Smith said, with two children and their parents inside.


By the time a deputy arrived, Zimmerman and another man "had already helped assist the family by getting them out of the overturned vehicle," Smith said.

"Zimmerman was not a witness to the crash and left after making contact with the deputy," Smith said in an emailed statement. "There were no report of injuries to the vehicle occupants."


The Sheriff's Office has not released any information on the family, or the other man.

The crash came days after six Seminole County residents returned a not-guilty verdict in Zimmerman's high-profile murder trial. Prosecutors accused Zimmerman of profiling, pursuing and killing Trayvon in his Sanford townhouse community Feb. 26, 2012.

Zimmerman, then a Neighborhood Watch volunteer for the Retreat at Twin Lakes, said he shot Trayvon in self-defense after the unarmed Miami Gardens teen attacked him.

Zimmerman remains in hiding, as he had been while awaiting trial.

[The Brain]

Yeah we don't need you to do that.