The Murder of Trayvon Martin

[DrPhil]

I saw the photos of Zimmerman's "bloody head." I still call bullshit. If he truly followed Martin then it is perhaps the case that Martin thought he was running from, and eventually beating the shit out of, an aggressor (Zimmerman). I think Martin probably thought that he was defending himself. So, Zimmerman being made out to be the self-defender WITH A DAMN GUN is complete bullshit. Martin may have had every right to break his nose (if that happened) and beat his head into the ground. Perhaps Zimmerman was losing the fight and shot the gun. I would not even doubt that Zimmerman brought out the gun earlier on than he is claiming and Martin beat the shit out of him to escape the wrath of the gun.

We shall see what happens in this case. Innocent until proven guilty and all of that. I pray that there isn't a Trayvon Martin Riot if the public disagrees with the outcome of this trial.

Originally Posted by SOM

My understanding of Stand you Ground is that once someone becomes the "aggressor", they stay the "aggressor". Even when/if they start to lose the very "fight" they started. In other words, one can not flip-flop and claim to be to aggrieved if they lose the fight they started. Or in this case, perhaps, self-defense/protecting ones own life after making a threat on another.

Yet another reason why Stand Your Ground is complete nonsense. These laws and policies should not be based on individuals' understandings. They should not be used as an extreme version of self-defense. They should not be used for "I started this fight but this person is a better fighter than I am...oh yaay...I have a gun." It should not be used for "the police are slow as hell, let me shoot my neighbor's burglars."

[SOM]

Here is another case involving, perhaps, the other side of the coin:
Tonight on AC360: Stand your ground law under scrutiny in domestic violence case
Editor's note: Don't miss Gary Tuchman's interview with Marissa Alexander at 8 and 10 p.m. ET tonight on AC360°.
Marissa Alexander, a 31-year-old mother of three, pleaded for her freedom as an inmate in the Duval County Jail in Jacksonville, Florida.
"This is my life I'm fighting for," she said while wiping away tears. She added, "If you do everything to get on the right side of the law, and it is a law that does not apply to you, where do you go from there?"
Alexander is referring to Florida's so-called 'stand your ground' law, a law that has come under scrutiny since the killing of Trayvon Martin. Unlike the Martin case, which involved one stranger killing another, Alexander's case involved her gun and her abusive husband.
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/2...n=1&hpt=ac_bn1

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/24/justic...law/index.html

LIONEL PODCAST: Have You Heard the One About Marissa Alexander?
Explain the difference(s). Marissa Alexander faces a minimum mandatory 20 years in the hoosegow over firing a round into the ceiling of her home. Oh, I forgot to mention, her husband and two stepsons were present and claim she trained the weapon on them first. They also claim she was the aggressor. And did I mention she had a carry permit for her gun?
Is it about race? The local NAACP chapter President is in her corner and vehemently suggests that Stand Your Ground (SYG) should be implemented to acquit her. Big Ange Corey, that’s right, that Big Ange, opposes any such leniency, dismissal of charges or new trial, The jury has spoken.
So what gives? Welcome to the world of big time law, kids. A million cases, a million decisions. One law.
So what do I do now? Thank Zeus you’re not Marissa Alexander and enjoy the podcast.
http://www.podjockey.com/lionelmedia...ssa-alexander/

Marissa Alexander: A Reverse Trayvon Martin?
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor...ter_socialflow

[Old_Row]

I find it interesting that the major news outlets are not covering the story about Matthew Owens being nearly beaten to death.

http://www2.wkrg.com/news/2012/apr/2...on-ar-3659891/

This is big news in Alabama.

[SOM]

Originally Posted by Old_Row

I find it interesting that the major news outlets are not covering the story about Matthew Owens being nearly beaten to death.

http://www2.wkrg.com/news/2012/apr/2...on-ar-3659891/

This is big news in Alabama.

Perhaps it is due to who/what I follow, but I have seen story on both my twitter and Facebook feeds.
And somethings it does take some time-Martin/Zimmerman took a the very least a week, if not even more, to go National.

[VandalSquirrel]

I saw this and thought it was interesting.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_20...-into-skittles

[SOM]

Seems as if there are more cases that have gotten "over-looked" until now:
Black Man’s Killing in Georgia Eludes Spotlight
LYONS, Ga. — Norman Neesmith was sleeping in his home on a rural farm road here in onion country when a noise woke him up.
He grabbed the .22-caliber pistol he kept next to his bed and went to investigate. He found two young brothers who had been secretly invited to party with an 18-year-old relative he had raised like a daughter and her younger friend. The young people were paired up in separate bedrooms. There was marijuana and sex.
Over the course of the next confusing minutes on a January morning in 2011, there would be a struggle. The young men would make a terrified run for the door. Mr. Neesmith, who is 62 and white, fired four shots. One of them hit Justin Patterson, who was 22 and black.
The bullet pierced his side, and he died in Mr. Neesmith’s yard. His younger brother, Sha’von, then 18, ran through the onion fields in the dark, frantically trying to call his mother.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/us...eorgia.html?hp

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by SOM

Seems as if there are more cases that have gotten "over-looked" until now:
Black Man’s Killing in Georgia Eludes Spotlight
LYONS, Ga. — Norman Neesmith was sleeping in his home on a rural farm road here in onion country when a noise woke him up.
He grabbed the .22-caliber pistol he kept next to his bed and went to investigate. He found two young brothers who had been secretly invited to party with an 18-year-old relative he had raised like a daughter and her younger friend. The young people were paired up in separate bedrooms. There was marijuana and sex.
Over the course of the next confusing minutes on a January morning in 2011, there would be a struggle. The young men would make a terrified run for the door. Mr. Neesmith, who is 62 and white, fired four shots. One of them hit Justin Patterson, who was 22 and black.
The bullet pierced his side, and he died in Mr. Neesmith’s yard. His younger brother, Sha’von, then 18, ran through the onion fields in the dark, frantically trying to call his mother.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/us...eorgia.html?hp

"Over-looked" how? We can't have a media circus around every shooting in this country, there just isn't enough hours in the day to allow it.

[SOM]

Originally Posted by Old_Row

I find it interesting that the major news outlets are not covering the story about Matthew Owens being nearly beaten to death.

http://www2.wkrg.com/news/2012/apr/2...on-ar-3659891/

This is big news in Alabama.

And this maybe the end of it:
His Own Neighbor! Arrest Made In Trayvon Martin Beating Case (VIDEO)


Mobile, Alabama police have made an arrest in the beating case of Matthew Owens, as 44-year-old Terry Rawls surrendered to authorities on assault charges.

According to Corporal Chris Levy of the Mobile Police Department:

"This here is an ongoing dispute with neighbors, that's what this is."

The story between Owens and Rawls goes deeper, as police say the tension between the two neighbors have been escalating for three years. In fact, police say Rawls has attacked Owens before, but charges were never filed because they say Owens instigated it.


Read more: http://globalgrind.com/news/arrest-m...#ixzz1tAKVQ6B2Read more: http://globalgrind.com/news/arrest-m...#ixzz1tAKN246V

http://blog.al.com/live/2012/04/arre...eating_of.html

http://www.splcenter.org/blog/2012/0...d-with-victim/

[SOM]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

"Over-looked" how? We can't have a media circus around every shooting in this country, there just isn't enough hours in the day to allow it.

While I do understand, and can ague you point, this is just part of the whole article:
Over the past several weeks, the men’s parents, Deede and Julius Patterson, watched news of Trayvon Martin’s death in Florida and focused on the similarities. In both cases, an unarmed young black man died at the hands of someone of a different race.
And they began to wonder why no one was marching for their son, why people like the Rev. Al Sharpton had not booked a ticket to Toombs County. The local chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. has not even gotten involved, although Mr. Patterson’s father approached them.
“We are looking into the case,” said Michael Dennard, the president of the chapter, after a reporter called more than a year after the crime. He would not say more.
Why some cases with perceived racial implications catch the national consciousness and others do not is as much about the combined power of social and traditional media as it is about happenstance, said Ta-Nehisi Coates, a senior editor at The Atlantic who writes about racial issues.
Several events coalesced to push the Martin case forward: an apparently incomplete police investigation, no immediate arrest and Florida’s expansive self-defense law.
“These stories happen all the time,” Mr. Coates said. “It’s heartbreaking and tragic, but there’s not much news coverage unless the circumstances are truly, truly unusual.”
“Stories like the south Georgia killing don’t have the same particulars,” he said. “One of the great tragedies is that people get shot under questionable circumstances in this country all the time.”
Although the facts surrounding the case in Florida and the case in Georgia are quite different, both involve a claim of legally sanctioned self-defense, a dead young black man and, for the Pattersons and the Martins, deep concern that race played a role in the deaths of their sons.
“I definitely believe racism is why he was shot,” said Mrs. Patterson, who recently left her job as director of operations at a uniform company and moved to another small Georgia town. “And for him to get nothing but a slap on the wrist? There is something wrong here.”
That race played a significant part is not hard to imagine here in a county that was named after Robert Toombs, a general and one of the organizers of the Confederate government. A black woman has never been named Miss Vidalia Onion in the annual festival that begins Thursday. And until last year in neighboring Montgomery County, there were two proms — one for whites and one for blacks.
Still, like so many other crimes where race might be a factor, this one is not so clear-cut. Mr. Neesmith says he felt threatened. He says he aches for the parents but believes none of this would have happened if the young men had not been in his house when they should not have been.

[DaemonSeid]

There is the case of Werdensheim brothers here in MD

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by SOM

Still, like so many other crimes where race might be a factor, this one is not so clear-cut. Mr. Neesmith says he felt threatened. He says he aches for the parents but believes none of this would have happened if the young men had not been in his house when they should not have been.

Weren't the young men invited to be there - invited by the girls residing in the house? You can't shoot people just because you don't know them, especially if it appears possible that they were there as guests of other residents of the house. This is a lesson to the girls that their actions could have bad consequences for the homeowner.

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by SOM

Why some cases with perceived racial implications catch the national consciousness and others do not is as much about the combined power of social and traditional media as it is about happenstance, said Ta-Nehisi Coates, a senior editor at The Atlantic who writes about racial issues.
Several events coalesced to push the Martin case forward: an apparently incomplete police investigation, no immediate arrest and Florida’s expansive self-defense law.
“These stories happen all the time,” Mr. Coates said. “It’s heartbreaking and tragic, but there’s not much news coverage unless the circumstances are truly, truly unusual.”
“Stories like the south Georgia killing don’t have the same particulars,” he said. “One of the great tragedies is that people get shot under questionable circumstances in this country all the time.”

Oh wow look, that same article you posted just went over why this isn't getting the same media circus that the Martin/Zimmerman case is. Cool.

[SOM]

Well it seems, for the moment at least, that someone lied while under oath. Or at the very least withheld information and deceived the court and court officers. And keep in mind that both of his parents had jobs/careers in the court systems. His father was a Judge and had to know just what was going on here....Hummm.
Attorney: Zimmerman Had $200K From Web Donations
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/a...5#.T5qsNbMvkUU

George Zimmerman Remains Free - For Now (DETAILS)

George Zimmerman will remain free - for now. Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. said he's not going to make a decision about bond until he has all the facts regarding the PayPal accounts and donation lists that have been given to Zimmerman.
Read more: http://globalgrind.com/news/george-z...#ixzz1tFrRgIbD

Trayvon Martin Case: George Zimmerman's lawyer says he didn't know about $200,000 in donations before bond hearing
Mark O'Mara told the judge Friday that Zimmerman's family hadn't informed him about the money before his client was granted $150,000 bond.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_1...%3BcontentBody

How George Zimmerman’s Prosecutors Missed $200,000
Florida prosecutors said on Friday they were surprised to learn that George Zimmerman had raised more than $200,000 for his own defense in the killing of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin.
But a week ago, those same prosecutors had a chance to grill Zimmerman and his family about the fund and mostly took a pass.
The revelation about just how much money Zimmerman collected came on Thursday night when his attorney told CNN that his client managed to raise the cash in just a few weeks by using a crudely built website and a PayPal account.
The six-figure surprise was a major departure from what the Zimmerman family claimed during sworn testimony at a hearing last week.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmem...in.php?ref=fpa

[SOM]

George Zimmerman’s crude Myspace page from 2005 uncovered-While it includes photos of an ethnically diverse group of friends, the murder defendant’s 2005 web presence includes disparaging remarks about Mexicans.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/0...#storylink=cpy

Now We Know It's Real! Zimmerman's Attorney Confirms MySpace Page (DETAILS)

Read more: http://globalgrind.com/news/george-z...#ixzz1tj2hecoA
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/0...#storylink=cpy

[Kevin]

Well now it's too much of a circus for me to care anymore. His 2005 Myspace page? That warrants multiple stories, some by actual newspapers?

I'll be interested in the post mortem of his trial. His 7 year old Myspace page, however, is not something I care too much about.