Neighborhood watch leader shoots FL teen

Hmmm…a twist. :ohnoes

I just don’t see how that guy would need a hand gun to defend himself from the teenager. its not meeting force with equal force. Don’t see how the ‘stand your ground law’ should apply when you are armed and the dead person isnt.

Also don’t see how a bag of weed immediately turns you into a dangerous individual but not suprised that simple minds might make that jump

  • The Smoking Gun, a website that tracks criminal cases and document filings, reported Monday afternoon that Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, filed two applications last week for trademarks on her late son’s name.

Fulton is seeking marks for the phrases “I Am Trayvon” and “Justice for Trayvon,” according to filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. In both instances, Fulton is seeking the trademarks for use on “digital materials,” namely, CDs and DVDs featuring Trayvon Martin," and other products.

This is from that article. Explain this to me, is the Mother trying to capitalize on the name and make money? Or will this just give her rights to veto it going on some not so great materials?

…And the teenager tried to take the guys gun from him. No one on this earth can tell what was going through the guys mind to say if he did the right thing or not, or if the situation even warranted deadly force. The police dept did their own investigation and no charges were filed. The media has hyped this so out of proportion using the race card it isn’t even funny. Last week a kid in Schenectady was found innocent of shooting 2 teenagers when there was 15-20 people who witnessed the crime but wouldn’t say shit, didn’t hear shit about that case because all involved was black not saying its right but WTF. Kids are dying, teach your children not to be hood-rats and avoid situations in the first place.

Green for tha moniez, goldz for da honeyz

don’t even know what the story is… did he say the kid grabbed his gun?

I’m assuming that means he had to draw it on said unarmed teenager in the first place.

This would be a lot different for me if the kid was on the guys lawn or in his house. The shooter basically created this situation where he ‘had to fight for his life’… judging by what little in know.

Look for more articles. The guy followed him when told not to, then went back to his car and as he was getting in the kid knocked him to the ground and slammed his head into the ground several times… a gun could easily be seen on his waist if he was on the ground and the kid went for it. If he pulled his gun from the get go he wouldn’t have had facial bruises/cuts and cuts to the back of his head.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrgH9NTrHKQ[/ame]

Based on what information has been public that scenario is the most logical in my opinion. My problem with the whole thing is the guy should have never chased the kid in the first place he isn’t a cop. He is guilty of creating the circumstances that led to the kids death. Where that falls in the ranking of crimes murder vs man slaughter I don’t really know.

And the medias definition of “chase” was prolly the guy continuing to follow to give the police the kids location.

Either which way he shouldn’t have done that IMO. He is a regular citizen not a police officer, he exercised poor judgement and the result was his injury and somebody elses death.

Exactly, and the Law also had their opinion and he walked free. The real big thing is which black athletes and celebrities are donating money to the new black panthers so help fund their “hits”?? Technically that is funding terrorists no?

So we aren’t allowed to follow people that look suspicious to be able to give authorities an accurate location? Who’s to say he wasn’t acting suspsicious?? Who says he wasn’t looking in the windows of parked cars, or similar? And who’s to say that Zimmerman didn’t turn around and walk away at the dispatchers request and then get attacked from behind?

The point is that nobody knows the true details of what happened and nobody will. But the witness accounts coincide with Zimmerman’s account of what happened… and so do his injuries. So regardless of what happened originally, Martin shouldn’t have attacked him and shouldn’t have been bashing his head into the concrete over and over again (again, nobody knows for sure… but the evidence points to at least this much).

If I were on the ground with my head being repeatedly smashed against the ground and nobody was helping… I think I would take that as my life being in danger and I would take whatever actions necessary to protect myself.

And Martin wasn’t this perfect little angel the media made him out to be in the beginning… he displayed all of the characteristics of your everyday thug…

Just my .02

No your really not. Citizens are not police officers if you see something you think is suspicious pick up the damn phone and let it be if nobody is in danger.(remember this all started cause the moron thought the kid stole something from a store or w.e.) I’m not disputing somebodys’ right to defend themselves or their home, but this guy from all accounts is a want to be cop. Should the kid have hit him no, but he still created the situation. Not saying he should spend the rest of his life in jail, but there should be some consequence for his stupidity.

It all depends on what his actual “position” was in neighborhood watch. Most true neighborhood watch people have some “privileges” that cops have in regards to pursuing possible “suspects”. But that is all very gray area in this case. Some say he was an actual appointed neighborhood watch leader, while others say he was just self appointed and that there was no true neighborhood watch…

Also, yes he admitted to police that he was following the kid, but how did the kid know that? Who’s to say he just wasn’t out for a drive and decided to walk a bit to wake himself up??? Maybe he just happened to be going in the same directly. Granted we know that was not the case here, but there was no way for that kid to know that… and therefore he had no right to attack Zimmerman in the first place.

I’ve heard like 3 distinctly different stories that were supposedly statements made by Zimmerman to the police. I’d say its far from cut and dry that the teenager had Zim on the ground and was bashing his head. Also heard that the cops ‘told’ whatever eyewitness they had thier understanding of the events before they took the witnesses statement.

Bottom line, they completely fucked up the investigation. Sounds like they basically interviewed the shooter and maybe some eye wit… and apparently decided based on this that there was no reason to arrest Zim. Perhaps such a piss poor investigation would fly with some lesser crime, but when there is a dead body you should take the shooters clothes, gun, phone, and in this case probably his car as they are all evidence. They may have taken some of these but i know that they didn’t take Zim’s clothes.

A neighborhood watch leader is not an officer of the peace and shouldn’t (and i’m going to assume doesn’t) have any ‘privledges’ beyond what a normal civilian would have. I don’t really see why a citizen couldn’t follow another citizen, but one might say its harassment. It seems evident that the teen knew he was being followed based on the statments of his gf that was on the phone with him just prior.

The only facts we know for sure is that Zim had a gun, and he was at least for some time following the teen (as per the police call where they told him to stop following). Some might say that alone is threatening behavior on the part of Zim, and perhaps, that alone is enough for someone to ‘defend themselves’. Anyway, just based on what we know, and throwing all the conflicting, unproven statments aside, I honestly don’t see how the stand your ground law is a defense her, as the shooter was in many ways responsible for creating the situation in the first place.

such as?

http://www.wagist.com/2012/dan-linehan/misconceptions-in-the-trayvon-martin-case

How do we KNOW that?

Contrary to popular belief if that were the case this person would be in jail. If that were the accepted story, that a kdi was walking down the street with potato chips and shot…that sounds like a 5589389th party story that has been dramatised like every story is.

Not taking sides here, but are you really implying that every criminal goes to jail?

If so I have some prime Florida swamp land property to sell ya…