If the Sanford, Florida police department did not stink before, it positively reeks now. I’m iPad blogging and don’t have the time or energy to dig up each link, but today I learned that the cops coached witnesses to say that they heard the shooter crying for help, that someone has systematically leaked private information to smear the victim’s character and that the Martin’s body did not have any sign of the kind of hand and knuckle injuries that you get when you severely beat someone with your bare hands, especially someone with a hundred pounds of muscle on you. I learned that the morgue identified the young victim right away but filed him as a ‘John doe’ until much later when his father filed a missing persons report. I read that the Sanford city council asked the DOJ to step in after they were utterly overwhelmed by police racism complaints at their last meeting.
The Martin/Zimmerman police report said that the shooter had a broken nose and grass all over his clothes, and Zimmerman claimed that his victim banged his head repeatedly on the road. Now ABC news has video of the night when they brought Zimmerman in for questioning and – surprise! – his shaved head looks pristine, his nose looks fine and his clothes look like he just washed them. If the cops thought he might have blood on him then protocol requires them to touch him with gloves. They seem fine with bare hands.
Anyone care to explain how this does not stink as bad as it seems? Anyone?
S. cerevisiae
Cue wingnut freakout over liberul media in 3…2…1…
LTL-FTC
I am actually kind of shocked (not shocked, shocked) by how ugly this whole situation actually is once the veils get pulled away. I say this as a true cynic.
beltane
I’m sure the usual apologists for white supremacist violence will be around shortly to offer their litany of lies and excuses.
David in NY
Did he go to the hospital?
David in NY
I had my nose broken by somebody’s elbow once. Real bloody and took surgery to put into place.
__
Also, may be nice the DOJ is already into this.
The Dangerman
There may be more police activity trying to find out how that video leaked than there was on the murder. Zimmerman’s probably fucked, probably has been from the start, but now someone in the PD is in some seriously deep shit.
beltane
@LTL-FTC: It is the type of story we have come to associate with South Africa in the 1980s, and which would have been used to support calls for divestment. Can we divest from the state of Florida?
Warren Terra
After the last several days of Winger pushback – the insinuations that Martin’s extremely adolescent Twitterings somehow make him a threatening figure; the claims that Zimmerman was assaulted, with visible damage; the supposed witness who allegedly saw Martin on top of Zimmerman – it is both surprising and grimly satisfying to apparently have conclusive evidence that so many of their claims were provably utter bullshit. And the fact these things are coming out suggests that the police aren’t going to be permitted to get away with this bullshit.
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PS Tim: RE your statement “beat someone with a̶ ̶b̶a̶g̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶s̶k̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶s̶ your bare hands”, you may not have fully adjusted to our new, improved, strike-tag-free existence here at Balloon Juice.
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ETA (strikethrough above achieved not using HTML but by Googling “unicode strikethrough” and using one of the high-ranking unicode strikethrough translators that it found)
gregor
But Martin came in front of Zimmerman and Trayvon’s looks caused Zimmerman’s fingers to pull the trigger.
lamh35
NBC Rock Center has some of there on air African American talent including Tamron Hall, Lester Holt, Toure & Ron Allen on Trayvon Martin case and race relations as AA themselves.
If u find the video please post it.
Bnut
@David in NY: No kidding. I’ve had mine broken twice, once by a table and another by a steering wheel. Both times it looked like I had been butchering livestock all day. And FSM how that shit hurts.
lamh35
Oh and George Zimmermans father has given his first interview …to Fox News!!!
Tim F.
@Warren Terra: WTF? No strike tags? FYWP.
Nikita
Rock center with BriWi just did a segment on this. It was really good.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Gosh, it’s not like Sanford has a history of racist government. Isn’t this one of the places that filled in public polls when required to integrate them? Did Sanford execute a hostile takeover of a neighboring black town, or am I getting my cracker cities confused again?
.
It’s gonna get really ugly once it’s clear just how fucked up the “investigation” was, and how implicitly approving Sanford PD was of what Zimmerman did. I predict a long hot summer. Starting about April 2, 2012.
Anya
Three reasons:
1. Trayvon Martin wore a hoodie
2. he posed for a picture wearing fake gold teeth caps
3. he wrote some stuff on his twitter account
El Cid
On Al Sharpton’s MSNBC show tonight, he had on as a guest the mother of a teenage boy who heard and saw a bit of the altercation, though at a distance and under conditions that he couldn’t see much. They did play the 911 call in which his sister calls in for him, and then puts him on, and he describes how there was screaming and screaming, then a loud pop (the gunshot), and then silence.
More intriguingly, the lead investigator for the Sanford police department — according to the woman, who had her atty present — had visited her home, and had stated while there that this was not a case of self-defense and that he had children too, and that the case scared or disturbed him.
This and follow up reporting makes it appear that the initiative to quash an investigation came not so much from the Sanford police, but from the state attorney.
From CBS:
Warren Terra
@David in NY:
I’m sure he’s found a friend to help him cover his tracks by breaking his nose for him, or done it himself. The only real question is whether he was clever enough to do this early and generate a medical record within a day or three of the shooting.
Donald G
Time for Captain Renault to round up “the usual suspects”. Oh, he can’t; they’ve all been shot.
I’m glad this video has been leaked, as it so plainly undercuts the narrative the Zimmerman defenders have tried to create of the “vile unarmed hoodie wearing thug” beating the crap out of poor armed self-appointed neighborhood watchman.
If that story were true, Zimmerman would show more outward signs of damage, even after treatment.
Steve
It is amazing to see the polar extremes that the two sides of this story have reached. Today all I saw from my winger friends on Facebook were proclamations that this is the new Tawana Brawley, etc.
I like to think I try to keep an open mind, but their version of the facts where this harmless kid suddenly morphs into a brutal savage pounding someone’s face into the sidewalk is so flat-out racist, it’s amazing.
David Koch
This video was digitally altered by ACORN to frame Livingston and the police department
mark
@efgoldman: please don’t say this. this is what they TRY to do with everything, make it appear its too confusing, too political, and then magically, the only logical response is a fog of forced confusing they call “reasonable doubt” – which is nothing like the legal definition of Reasonable Doubt – then they move on to the next thing they want us to ignore. This is how they fight.
Warren Terra
@El Cid:
Without defending the state attorney or anyone else, because I hope the facts were bad enough to make the so-called “Stand Your Ground” law moot, my (secondhand, non-lawyer) impression is that under the exceptionally awful way the law was written in Florida if someone mounts a successful defense under the “Stand Your Ground” law they are then positively encouraged to sue the state for charging them with use of excessive force. So you can see why “insufficient evidence to guarantee a conviction” would be a big disincentiv for the State Attorney.
__
In related Florida “Stand Your Ground” news, a guy just got off for pursuing and killing an apparent thief, even though he didn’t report the altercation to the police.
beltane
@Steve: They are revealing themselves in all their asshole glory. The word “racist” has become too overused and generic to describe these peoples’ way of thinking. Anyone want to come up with a better term?
jim
Hmm.
It stinks on ice, but might stink slightly less on DRY ice?
SHIT JUST GOT RIPE.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@beltane: Aryan? Fascist?
mark
@beltane: racistest
Sly
@beltane:
Republican.
mark
@Sly: FTW
Suffern ACE
@Warren Terra: Well, if you manage to kill someone for whatever reason, you are encouraged to do so, and you don’t even have to bother to call 911.
And, if I am reading this correctly, sell stuff you’ve taken from the victim.
pragmatism
Rove taught them too well. It’s always projection with these yutzes.
El Cid
@Warren Terra: I think that this is very possible. But I do think it highlights complexities in the actions of the Sanford police department, since there were obviously some officials who didn’t think that Zimmerman’s actions fell under the protection of the Shoot The Duck law.
Geoduck
What’s really sad is the fact that confirming he was in fact brought in for questioning in handcuffs is in some ways a step up from initial reports.
lamh35
Wod, just wow. Zimmerman’s father says on video to Fox affiliate that Trayvon Martin told George Zimmerman ““You’re going to die tonight.”
WTF! The son claims Trayvon asked him “you got a problem” and “well ya do now”…and the father saying Trayvon told him “you’re going to die tonight”…really.
WTF is this some ole time cop movie ala Dirty Harry or Deathwish.
Who The Fuck do these people think they are fooling with this shit…oh yeah racist idiots who think all Black people speak slang and tough talk to whitey I guess.
apocalipstick
You want depressing? For the last three days, my daughter has entered a high school history class where the “teacher” has belched forth, verbatim, Faux Noiz talking points about this case.
Damn unionized thugs!
/sarcasm
Martin
Yes, but minorities receive special benefits and privileges, so this just balances that out.
beltane
@lamh35: They’re not fooling the racist idiots, they’re merely providing them with confirmation of their views, and their views are that all black people are bad, and that even the worst white person in the world is superior to the best black person.
Valdivia
a quick question. where is zimmerman originally from? did I read somewhere they were latino?
lamh35
@lamh35:
The father also claimed that Trayvon Martin was never on the phone with his girlfirend even though call logs prove he was on the phone with the girl.
The father also said Zimmerman “hoped to be a judge, just like his father.”
And that critics of his son “”would have preferred my son being beaten to death.”
lamh35
@Valdivia: father’s White, mother is Peruvian is what I read.
beltane
@Valdivia: I think they were from Virginia. Zimmerman’s father is NOT Latino.
WyldPirate
@lamh35:
I saw that interview as well and had the same “WTF!” thought as you.
Another report I just heard was that Zimmerman’s father was a retired judge and that the Sanford police chief rolled out to the scene on the night of the crime. If true, these facts certainly allow one to form some reasonable hypotheses as to how he walked out of that station w/o being charged.
Money and/or good connections have always gotten people out of deep shit. These things lie at the heart of the two-tiered system of justice in America.
Mike in NC
My wife attended college in Fort Lauderdale and loves Florida, but having visited myself many times, the place just freakin’ creeped me out. The Deep South but with the extra annoyance of tons of stupid old people who can’t drive.
apocalipstick
@Valdivia: I believe that Zimmerman’s mother is from Peru.
Valdivia
@lamh35:
thank you for that answer. I was just curious because the dad says his son wanted to be a judge like himself, and that made me wonder if they were american or not since a latin american law degree would not work for that.
Tom Betz
@Valdivia: 1) Virginia 2) GZ’s Mom is from Peru, Dad’s a US-born ex-military.
AxelFoley
@The Dangerman:
And I say good. I want Zimmerman AND the Sanford PD to go down.
some guy
the disturbing thing is that the coroner had identified his body, and the original police report had listed his full name, and yet Martin was listed and treated as a John Doe.
wtf? someone or somebodies were already working on a coverrup on the very first night. hopefully DOJ and the newly appointed State prosecuor can find out where that fish smell comes from.
clayton
It only happened one time.
Dee Loralei
Lawrence had about an hour on this tonight. Had the police tape at the station and Zimmerman’s dad also. Was a good solid hour of investigative tv.
That said, this story makes me ineffably sad and fearful for our country. Weeks ago, I put myself in the shoes of Trayvon’s parents, because I too am a mother of a slight young adult male-child who wears hoodies. I worry about my son every day, because that’s what parents do.
I never,ever had to worry about him being pulled over because of his color, I never had to worry about him being suspended from school for being a smart-ass. I certainly never had to worry about him being arrested or shot because of the color of his skin.
I can’t imagine the fears that course through the minds of an African-American, Hispanic or Middle Eastern moms every time their sons step out of the house.
This has got to stop. And we have got to do something about it. We have to become more pro-active in this. And I don’t know how. But those of us who are white middle-class folks need to stand up and defend these kids and their moms.
Back when I was in college we had “take back the night” rallies. It was to protect women from rape and date rape and other forms of violence. And we would walk women from the Libraries, or local campus night spots to their dorms or sorority houses. It was annoying and stifling and a total pain in the ass. But we proved our point. I’m not saying that could be scaled up, but maybe something like it?
Donald G
@lamh35:
And, according to Zimmerman’s father, after Trayvon Martin was shot, he said, “You got me!” and died like a character in a bad movie western.
Okay, Zimmerman senior, what “Dirty Harry” quote, if any, did your son quip after he shot the youngster?
Warren Terra
@Suffern ACE:
The AP stub I linked doesn’t really make it clear, but I think the stuff he sold was his own stuff, recovered from the thief he stabbed to death. Selling it would have been more of an issue more about destroying evidence than an issue of profiting from the killing.
Seebach
I dont get it. What benefit does Fox news have in defending a murderer? Just racism?
Valdivia
I love that the father says that Trayvon told him ‘what’s up hommie?’ What??? fucking jerks.
AxelFoley
@lamh35:
Toure has some fuckin’ balls being on that panel after that bullshit he tweeted last week.
lacp
@beltane: I’ll Dubyuh it: “racialamalizarists.”
PeakVT
@efgoldman: mark is right: conservatives want to confuse the issue enough that people in the middle throw up their hands and walk away. In the end, I don’t think confusing things is going to help Zimmerman walk, but I think it will do a lot to prevent these laws from being repealed.
amk
@Steve: what polar extremes ? Another both sides do it shite from ya ?
Martin
@Seebach: They got HovrRound and Depends ads to sell.
__
C.R.E.A.M.
kth
Since Zimmerman pere wasn’t there, why would his version of the tale be relevant even if it weren’t (as noted above) completely preposterous?
Tim in SF
This thing stinks worse than a dumpster fire behind a gynecologist’s office.
Jade Jordan
His Father is supposed to be a current or former magistrate judge with the Virginia Supreme Court and his mom is the court clerk.
AYA: The ghetto pic of Trayvon is a fake, see Snoopes.com
He got away with fighting a cop and two cases of domestic violence post OJ. Sounds like he was set up to believe he could get away with anything including murder.
Between this Trayvon case and the riots over black people in the hunger games it’s either Good bye cruel world or time to return to Kenya.
lacp
@lamh35: Fuck me on toast. So the father (who wasn’t there) of the shooter (who has a wee bit of incentive to look as innocent as possible) tells some Fox news media creature (who was doubtless reveling in coprophagy heaven at this opportunity) that this kid (who is conveniently, like, dead and can’t defend himself) started talking like a 1970s-blaxploitation-flic-bad-negro? Why, I’d believe every word. Scrap the grand jury; case closed!
PTirebiter
@El Cid: Chris Serino was the lead investigator and the only homocide detective at the scene. He didn’t buy Zimmerman’s story that night and recommended they pursue a manslaughter warrant. I imagine he’s at odds with the powers that be and hia story will be revealing.
Steve
@amk: Hardly.
Martin
BTW, there’s no way that Zimmerman had a broken nose. I’ve broken mine twice – no way you can walk in later, no blood, no black eye, no visible injury. No way.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@WyldPirate: Apparently Zimmerman’s father is a retired federal magistrate. But I read they lived in VA – not that a US magistrate wherever wouldn’t impress a cracker cop.
.
The whole John Doe morgue listing while the report had the victim’s name, combined with the state attorney ordering no charges, smells very bad.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@some guy: In 2004, I crossed in front of another car. The wreck knocked me unconscious and sent me to the hospital. It happened at 1pm; my wife was not notified until after 7pm. The cop waited until they could do a test to see if I had been drinking.
They were looking for something, anything, to pin the fault on Martin.
lamh35
@lacp: yeah, the father claims Tryavon told George Zimmerman “you goa a problem homie…”
Homie…fuckin’ homie….
Cacti
Tim, you forgot to mention that Zimmerman has a rap sheet, including assaulting a police officer, and a domestic violence restraining order from an ex-fiancee.
Nom de Plume
@Donald G:
“A man’s got to compensate for his limitations.”
piratedan
@Seebach: I reference the book of Rove, Chapter 1, item 2, paragraph 3:
“If it pisses off liberals, we’re all for it”
consider thyself enlightened young one, go forth and hate…..
Bruce S
Prosecuting Zimmerman isn’t enough. The Police Department needs to be held accountable, via criminal charges if possible – civil charges if necessary. This is a case of aggressive failure to do even minimally competent police work for reasons that appear to be blatant racism. Hard to figure out another rationale for this deliberate misconduct. A hate crime on the part of the Sanford police.
Cacti
I’m guessing that the Sanford PD has cocked the evidence up so badly, there’s little chance that Zimmerman will ever be convicted.
Martin
@lamh35: Honkie Honkie!
Billy Rae Valentine
@AxelFoley:
what did Toure say?
gnomedad
Video: George Zimmerman’s Father: ‘So Much Hate Coming From the President’
Cacti
Also, too, the 21-year old son of a former Sanford Police officer posted a Youtube video of his assaulting a homeless man outside of a bar.
The chief refused to issue an arrest warrant.
Guess what color the victim was?
dead existentialist
@efgoldman: F, I’m of the same mind. This hive mentality on every goddamn issue in America is perplexing as hell. If one team does “x,” the opposing team must counter. It’s ridiculous and insane. Some fucked-up shit happened, but because some fucked-up shit happened doesn’t mean we need to lose our heads and start defiling each other. American political commentary has devolved into the playground argument of “I got here first.”
The ball is finally rolling. The facts, such as they can possibly be at this point, will soon come out. People need to stop trying to out-do those loathsome pundits that they deride.
Being the first one to make a point about the injustice of a situation is as pointless as being the first to comment in a comment section with “First!”
This type of pointless discussion borders on being dangerous. If people want to argue first principles, I’m good with that, but we need to stop with the blithering hysterics.
The Other Chuck
@Seebach:
To spite liberals. No, really, I’m serious.
lamh35
@gnomedad: wow, just wow…so Obama saying that “I could have had a son like Trayvon” is a hateful statement.
Ugh, whatever sympathy I may have had for this dude has lept out of the window…fudge him and his damn son.
Cacti
@gnomedad:
: ‘So Much Hate Coming From the President’
__
From the LGF Comments:
__
“He stalks and kills one innocent kid and they want to make my son the bad guy.”
rageahol
with all this new information, I think there is every reason to suspect the elder Zimmerman of complicity in a criminal conspiracy to obstruct justice. perhaps even directing it.
His son assaulted a cop in the same small town and got off. I tend to doubt that happened without the elder Zimmerman throwing some weight around. The police, as a result, probably knew exactly who they should contact in regards to Zimmerman fils getting all caught up in the consequences of his dumbass racistry.
and pere zimmerman has been really out in front of this, media-wise. there’s something fishy about that, even beyond the implications for the racist ass sanford pd.
Rome Again
@apocalipstick:
Why is your daughter’s HISTORY teacher teaching about the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case?
Rick Taylor
Actually, I think the initial police report just said Zimmerman had blood on his nice and the back of his head; nothing about a broken nose, that came later.
kc
@Geoduck:
Geoduck, that was my first thought as well.
tcinaz
can’t link to ABC news footage. ????
Rome Again
@dead existentialist:
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
Cacti
@rageahol:
He got sent to a diversion program for “resisting arrest with battery”. Who else but the son of judge or some other big swinging dick doesn’t get the book thrown at them for that shit?
lacp
@Rick Taylor: And by next week he’ll be in a full body cast.
tcinaz
this is the link I ended up with, nothing came up. http://abcnews.go.com/US/t/video/george-zimmerman-police-surveillance-16024475&tab=9482931§ion=1206839&playlist=9660543
It shows nothing. More cover-up or what?
Redshift
@The Dangerman:
According to the reporter who obtained the video, who was on Lawrence O’Donnel tonight, the video wasn’t leaked, he just asked for it and they gave it to him. (I suppose it’s still possible that it wasn’t authorized, but if so, you’d think the source would have made that clear so the reporter would know to protect the source.)
pragmatism
When explanations don’t add up they don’t add up. Zimmerman’s narrative smells like fromunda. I didn’t think OJ’s story made sense either. I’m sure that since liberals are the real racists(tm) I was being racist in both instances.
Steeplejack
@Warren Terra:
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Kudos, sir. Deeply impressed by your strike-through-fu.
maya
Fox News – The Sphincter Of Truth.
ChrisNYC
@Seebach: 1) Anything to paint Obama as a wild eyed race warrior. 2) Holder’s in the picture. Holder’s been their resignation target number one since the inaug. They’re just softening the ground so that they can call him a closet Black Panther when the DOJ investigation concludes. 3) Holder’s other big initiative? Aggressive enforcement of voting rights. When the time is right Hannity and OReilly will roll out, “Just like in the Florida case, that Holder is stomping all over our sainted freeeeedomy states to advance his black planet goals.”
dead existentialist
@Rome Again: Okay then.
Burke was praised by both conservatives and liberals in the 19th century. Since the 20th century, he has generally been viewed as the philosophical founder of modern Conservatism,[5][6] as well as a representative of classical liberalism. Both sides DO/DID it.
Your point?
Rick Taylor
The original police report can be viewed here.
Nothing about a broken nose there; I think that came from either Zimmerman’s lawyer or his friend.
Rick Taylor
Oh, and the report lists Trayvon’s name, city of birth, address, and phone number (the latter two redacted). So why was he listed as a John Doe?
joel hanes
This is nothing exceptional; frightened bigots have been murdering uppity black males since forever, and mostly getting away with it since forever. Sundown towns; strange fruit. This is America, born in genocide, suckled on slaveholding, a country that accepted Jim Crow for more than half a century. And the police all too frequently the hand with the cattle prod, the mop handle, the investigation that exonerates anyone white if the victim is not.
Zimmerman and the Sanford PD are as American as apple pie.
TooManyJens
@Rick Taylor: I think the report has been updated since it was originally filed.
gwangung
To set up a self defense excuse.
But, as of now, kinda hard to demonstrate Zimmerman was truly acting in self defense, given his apparent pristine appearance.
Mouse Tolliver
The video changed nothing. Zimmerman apologists say the video shows that he’s bleeding.
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http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p489/igot44mag/cutonhead.png
gwangung
@Mouse Tolliver: Yeah, well, they’d say that no matter what.
But the lack of gloves is really glaring, apparently, to the police-trained.
Karen
If I was the President I wouldn’t go down to Florida any time soon. With the way the law is and the police are, he’d be shot by some racist dickhead like Zimmerman because Obama’s blackness is threatening to him and guess what? That would be buried too. Because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter that Obama is the President and the police (with the help of the GOP in the state) would just treat him like any other N they hate.
Karl The Crap Blog Detective
@Cacti: Domestic abuse is like a badge of honor to a conservative, but I’m surprised those cop-worshipping chucklefucks are so eager to paint Zimmerman as a stand-up guy despite that other thing.
Jason
@lamh35: Exactly: it’s what some doughy white guy would imaging some black guy saying when trying to concoct an alibi. “Fo shizzle, honkey, i gin gonna cut yousa up good!”
Andrew
@gwangung: As someone who regularly shaves his head, I can tell you with absolute certainty that even the slightest nick on the scalp bleeds and bleeds and bleeds. If that dark mark on his head is a cut, it’s an enormous one, and there’s no way it would have stopped bleeding without any apparent stitches or even bandages.
Jebediah
@Karen:
I don’t doubt there are many jackasses who would like to harm the President. I do, however, have some faith in the skill, dedication, and uncorruptibility of the Secret Service agents who protect the President. I think if someone took an actual shot at the President they would fail, and die in the attempt. Which is as it should be.
Peter A
@Karen: There’s no evidence Zimmerman is racist. Stupid, yes. But there’s no real evidence it was a racially motivated murder. The willingness of the police force to let this drop smacks of racial bias, but you can’t pin that on Zimmerman. Seems like Zimmerman was an overzealous guy who doesn’t trust teenagers. And in fairness, teenage boys, white or black, tend to be assholes, especially jocks. Doesn’t excuse shooting one. But if you’re an untrained paranoid neighborhood watch guy looking to be a hero, odds are a teenager in a hoodie, whatever skin color, is more likely to cause trouble than anyone else in your little gated community.
AxelFoley
@Billy Rae Valentine:
Basically, he was joking around on Twitter that he’d been “Zimmermaned”. Folks on Twitter lit his ass up, and he then said that no one could take a joke.
That fucker.
Chet
@WyldPirate: @Cacti:
His dad’s a judge and knows exactly what the job of judging’s all about.
Joey Maloney
All the leaking from the Sanford PD is reassuring, to the extent that it suggests that at least one person within the organization knows that shit is fucked up and bullshit.
Groucho48
So, if Martin had been straddling Zimmerman and bashing his head on the sidewalk when Zimmerman was forced to shot him, wouldn’t some of Martin’s blood gotten on to Zimmerman? Granted, Martin was wearing a hoodie, which might have absorbed some of the blood, but, still you would think that there would have been some splatter.
Also, if that was actually a wound on Zimmerman’s head, there would have been a dressing on it and the cops, as others have pointed out, would have been wearing gloves. Not to mention that you generally don’t get sliced like that when being bashed against a sidewalk.
Sgaile-beairt
Ten and a half years ago there was a scandal starting in the news, on public radio at least,about how Florida cops had been caught putting stolen guns next to the bodies of the people they shot by mistake, who, you guessed it, werent white.
Of course it disappeared off the radio that fall and never was picked up again….. but no, none of this shocks me, its the natural result of getting away with this for OVER a decade unpunished (it wasnt a new practice in 2001 of course.)
lou
Sounds as though the lead detective is trying to do the right thing, at least. My guess: Officer Tim Smith and Chief Bill Lee are the ones who are trying to cover up for Zimmerman. Tim Smith wrote the report that was released and Lee is the one who selectively released the information.
The Orlando Sentinel had an article yesterday to clear up some misconceptions: for instance that Zimmerman’s gun and clothing were bagged. Why they didn’t test him for alcohol is another question.
in the Orlando Sentinel, the rightwing nuts ARE STILL defending the guy. “Oh he must been cleaned up at the seen (sic)!” Yeah, right. His clothes look pretty tidy for a guy involved in a crawl. And if his nose was broken and bloodied, some of it definitely would have leaked onto his spotless T.
rageahol
@Peter A: you have clearly never lived in central florida.
Omnes Omnibus
@Karen: There are some federal laws and and some federal law enforcement folk who would be involved. Florida law would have exactly jack-shit to do with any attempt to do anything to the president.
Suffern ACE
@lamh35:
Well that’s nice. I’m sure those law school applications were in the mail.
Suffern ACE
I’m going to make a petty complaint. I’m glad ABC news got its exclusive, but could they possibly make that promotion any more prominent in the video? For a good part of the video, the “exclusive! We Got One!” covers Zimmerman and he police. It’s like they figured we would be more interested in what was happening on the ceiling and the back wall, so they left those parts alone.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Cacti:
Oh, I dunno…Maybe someone who’s making drug buys for another PD’s narcotics squad?
The detective who first questioned Zimmerman, rather than taking a statement…Which squad was he on?
Barney
Call me a luddite, but that ABC NEWS ‘page 1 of 3’ seems to have no way of getting to pages 2 or 3. I’m looking at it with Firefox on Windows 7, and there’s no scroll bar, no ‘next’ button, no ability to drag it, and ‘pg dn’ just gives me a blank white screen. Has this been ‘optimised for smartphones’ to the extent that it’s unusable on a computer?
Neddie Jingo
@Chet:
No thugs in our house, are there dear?
We made that clear!
We made little Graham promise us he’d be a good boy.
XTC FTW!
MattMinus
Guys, I have no brief for Zimmerman, but you’ve got to ease up on the “assaulted a cop” stuff. The charges wee dropped, which is a pretty good indication that he did not assault a cop. Resisting arrest and assaulting an officer are classic “contempt of cop” charges that they can conjure out of thin air with plausible deniability in almost all cases.
Talking about Zimmerman assaulting a cop is like the guys atr free republic talking about how Martin was caught in school with burglary tools.
Ivan Ivanovich Renko
QFT.
And the biggest reason why white people looking for excuses for Zimmerman and the Sandford PD keep getting the side-eye from black America. This shit ain’t NEW.
liberal
Don’t worry; everything is OK. I’m sure jrg will show up soon and kindly inform us that we don’t have enough information, and a jury trial will make it all better.
Some Loser
@MattMinus:
Except that he really assaulted a cop.
liberal
@lou:
Why go as far as the Orlando Sentinel? There are putative non-wingers here and other places either defending Zimmerman or expressing doubt about his (obvious) culpability.
liberal
@Ivan Ivanovich Renko:
I don’t disagree. But let’s be clear: it’s not entirely a race thing. (I agree that race has a lot to do with it, of course, given the conduct of officialdom, plus the apparent existence of cases where black and white were reversed, and charges were filed.)
It’s also a justice thing. FL has essentially legalized homocide; all you have to do to get away with it is (a) dont’ do it in the presence of a video camera, (b) make sure you shoot the vic while “confronting” him/her face to face, and (c) leave no evidence of a motive.
I don’t know about you, but IMHO a government which has legalized homocide is a failed sovereign.
liberal
@Some Loser:
But…but…but…if there’s no jury trial, then…uh uh uh…we don’t have all the facts…uh uh uh…and can’t possibly come to an independent judgment! /snark
liberal
@Warren Terra:
When I first heard about the case, the key facts clearly implied that Zimmerman assaulted (in the sense of “accosted in a threatening manner”) Martin, that Martin was unarmed, and that Zimmerman murdered him. Hence it was pretty clear that Martin’s character wasn’t at issue, and barring new evidence of their interaction (regardless of Martin’s character), that in any place with a coherent set of laws, Z would be guilty of at least manslaughter, probably murder.
But FL is apparently not such a place.
liberal
@beltane:
Seriously, though, a complete boycott of that shithole is clearly in order.
Horrendo Slapp (formerly Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.)
@Bnut:
I actually butchered a cow once in Honduras. True. It was for a Mother’s Day party at t he school where I worked. Another teacher and I stood in a kitchen at a little comedor that the owner had kindly let us use and cut meat off the bones into strips for 4 hours. After I was done, I was a lot cleaner and less bloody than people I’ve seen who had broken noses.
liberal
@dead existentialist:
Huh?
People pointed out years in advance that idiotic laws like the one in FL would lead to exactly this situation.
Your “start defiling each other” claim is complete, utter horseshit.
Horrendo Slapp (formerly Jimperson Zibb, Duncan Dönitz, Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy, Mumphrey, et al.)
@Donald G:
“A man’s got to know his limitations.”
MattMinus
@Some Loser:
You know this how?
Oh, he did it because he falls on the opposite side of the tribal divide on this issue, amirite?
Cops never inflate BS charges that are later dropped? How many OWS protesters were in the exact same situation?
I haven’t seen a full story, but it looks like the assault charges stemmed from an incident at a bar, which seems very consistent with a contempt of cop charge. It looks like he was charged with both Resisting With Violence and Resisting without violence(maybe that makes sense to an attorney). The preponderance of available evidence,led by the fact that charges were dropped, really makes it look like he didn’t assault a cop. My life experience tells me you don’t actually hit a cop and walk.
Anyway, are we now operating under the principle that everything a cop says is true and being charged with a crime is as good as having committed it? If anything the Trayvon case has certainly taught us that we can trust the authorities to be good faith brokers in all cases, amirite?
Ivan Ivanovich Renko
Jaysus, Mary and Joseph.
LOOK AT THAT MOTHERFUCKER.
Just fucking look at him.
He doesn’t look like that pudgy fucker in the mug shots we’ve seen of him before now– he looks like a fucking well muscled skinhead.
Yet a kid who weighed a hundred pounds less than him could CONCEIVABLY have threatened his life?
Some folks seriously need to hone their Occam’s.
RalfW
Apparently a Castle Doctrine/Shoot First bill worse than Florida’s was considered in Minnesota this session. I cannot believe how horrible the MN Legislature has become in just one term. The GOP took power in both houses in 2010 and has been on an insane tear to ruin what has been a decent state.
I mean really, Minnesota. Pass a stand your ground law that would have granted total immunity from prosecution? Even if you got threatened with a punch in the nose on the street and decided to kill the ruffian dead. Wow.
The bill failed for this year. But if the GOP retains the Lege in 2013, watch out…
Amanda
@Dee Loralei: THIS.
White people (like myself) need to start not only calling out racism by other white people but backing up African Americans and other racial minorities who are targets. We need to talk about these issues with our white family members, friends, work colleagues, etc. Stop letting stuff slide.
I have noticed an encouraging amount of discussion and debate about this case and the issues it raises among my mostly white work colleagues. This has definitely woken some folks up, especially those with kids who can’t help but think what if that was my kid etc.
Your idea about take back the night marches is intriguing, actually. From a raising awareness and media/PR perspective, it has real potential, I think. Just as the take back the night marches have had a real impact on people’s awareness and thinking. I think a similar type of march could have an impact on people’s awareness of how pervasive this fear is among parents of these young people, as well as how widespread all the stop and frisk stuff is, etc. Could be a powerful awareness strategy but also a powerful organizing strategy bc I think it would connect a lot of folks who might not normally meet each other. Thanks for sharing the idea…
Some Loser
@MattMinus:
You do know that (aggravated) assault has a specific legal meaning, right? And you’re confusing it with battery.
Thought I’d also point out that Zimmerman has connections. Well, his father has connections. I’m not sure how much pull his father would have in cases like this, but I suspect short of harming an offer, he could get the charges dropped.
You can dispute this if you want. I can’t control you.
brantl
@MattMinus:
You easily could, if your daddy’s a judge.
Howlin Wolfe
@LTL-FTC: And 1.
Jnc
So the amout of muscle on someone’s body affect how scraped up your hands get when you hit them in the face?
There a certain breathless illogic here that is not limited to that one statement.
MattMinus
@brantl:
I still think no one here really knows what happened with the charges, but, from what we do know, we can’t say with any certainty that he assaulted a cop. Does anyone know anything about the actual circumstances? It seems that all we know is that a charge was filed and dropped and we don’t like him. Not exactly compelling.
Anyway, let’s say he did hit a cop? Who cares? Is it relevant that Trayvon smoked weed or allegedly had stolen property (another claim of questionable veracity)?
I swear, half the folks here are just freepers with blue jerseys
Some Loser
@Jnc:
You’re back to defend the murderer some more. Alright, but I think the thread is pretty much done.
Some Loser
@MattMinus:
It shows he has a history of poor behavior. It reinforces the idea that needs to be incarcerated because he cannot control himself. It gives more insight on him and his motivations. It might not be the smoking gun piece of evidence, but it does matter. (Also, assault =/= battery.)
What is a “freeper”?
MattMinus
@Some Loser:
So Trayvon’s disciplinary record matters too? It shows that he had poor judgment, a lack of impulse control, and an inclination towards criminality.
No one brought that up the distinction between assault and battery. He was charged with resisting without violence and resisting with violence.
A freeper is a commenter at Free Republic.
Some Loser
@MattMinus:
Zimmerman’s record shows he has a history of starting conflict which was the point.
I don’t really care what evidence they have on Martin. Unless there was ready evidence that Martin actually did break into people homes (or whatever Zimmerman thought he did). If they had evidence like that, it could change it from a hate crime to vigilantism. That would be relevant and very important. So in other words:
I don’t know. I don’t know Trayvon’s record, so I can’t tell you.
Anyway,
The evidence available point towards Zimmerman starting the conflict, even if it was just him simple following Martin in a car. Whether Martin showed poor judgment following being confronted by Zimmerman is irrelevant. He was in the right.
Also, too,
I mentioned the distinction between battery and assault before when you first used the word assault. Sorry for actually thinking you were using words correctly. Next specify you’re not using the definition of the word.
What is Free Republic? A conservative blog?
ThresherK
@Chet: Woohoo! “No Thugs in our House!”
(I fully expect someone to have beat me to giving you the kudos you deserve.)
Sad_Dem
Zimmerman’s father is a judge? That explains it. The whole thing does stink, and I’m not talking about the winger noise campaign (which also stinks). What stinks is the official reaction. Zimmerman once got arrested for pissing off a cop, IIRC, and the charges were dismissed. And this time he skated for shooting somebody? And the police department lied for him? That tells me he has a powerful ally. A judge could be that ally.
Mattminus
@Some Loser:
Argumentum ad dictionarium is usually the last refuge of an idiot, so it’s not surprising that you’ve gone there. I was using the word in it’s commonly understood sense, one which entirely compatible with the charge of Resisting with Violence.
I guess you heard someone cite the distinction once, and you thought they sounded really smart, so you decided you’d just throw it out randomly.Well played.
“Miami Gardens teenager Trayvon Martin was suspended from school in October in an incident in which he was found in possession of women’s jewelry and a screwdriver that a schools security staffer described as a “burglary tool,” The Miami Herald has learned.”
So, by your standard we have to seriously consider that Trayvon had it coming?
The funny thing is, we largely agree. I agree that Zimmerman was menacing (troll repellent: Common, not legal, usage)the young man by following him and likely provoked whatever followed. Even if he wound up getting the worst of the conflict, I wouldn’t consider the killing justified.
I just don’t think that we need to dredge up every detail of the participants lives. The events of that night, from teh racial slur, to the murder, to the indifference of police tells us everything that we need to know.
We don’t need to be like the other side and start reporting on Mr Zimmerman’s countertops.
And FYI – Free Republic is the fever swamp of right wing blogs.
Mr_Gravity
@MattMinus: OR possibly that your father is a former judge.
Rome Again
@dead existentialist:
Where do you extrapolate Burke becoming a conservative hero into a “both sides do it” argument? WTF?
Rome Again
@MattMinus:
A charge was NOT filed and dropped. Two felony charges of resisting a law enforcement officer with violence and Battery on a law enforcement officer (both 3rd degree felonies) were transferred into ONE misdemeanor charge of non-violent resisting arrest which was referred for an intervention program, and then nolle prossed (nolle prosequi – we will not pursue) and a total of about $300 between both cases was left on the books for over five years before being paid off just this past month. See my latest post at my blog (linked above). You can look up the case numbers and see all of the actual case file info for both cases at the Orange County Clerk of Court case file look-up portal: http://myclerk.myorangeclerk.com/default.aspx (Both cases numbers are included in big red letters on my graphic showing the charges that went unpaid until just recently).
ETA: Apparently, according to the Lawrence O’Donnell show recently, the intervention was an anger management program.
Rome Again
@Some Loser:
Free Republic is a place that I monitor closely because of the amount of crazy coming out of that place.