George Zimmerman - Florida Unarmed Teen Shooting

[bulletproof]

The family of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is demanding answers after police have yet to release 911 tapes or make an arrest nearly one month after the unarmed African-American teenager was shot and killed by a white neighborhood watch captain in a gated Florida community.

Police said he had a weapons permit.

[Heffay]

I'm sure this case is very complicated.

[Squib Joe]

Interesting to see how this could in any way be called self defense.

One thing I wish they would stop doing, however, is showing pictures of a 17-year old that are clearly taken years earlier. This kid was probably a lot bigger than this picture leads us to believe.

[photogpat]

Most definitely should not be armchair quarterbacked.

[justaguy]

Most definitely should not be armchair quarterbacked.

+1

[dleong]

Interesting to see how this could in any way be called self defense.

From the article:

"A police report indicated that Zimmerman, who was armed with a handgun, was found bleeding from the nose and the back of the head, standing over Martin, who was unresponsive after being shot. According to the report, an officer at the scene overheard Zimmerman saying, "I was yelling for someone to help me but no one would help me."

Unless I am missing something, the article does not explicitly indicate if there was a scuffle between Martin and Zimmerman; his bleeding would seem to indicate there was, in which case the issue of self-defence might be entirely relevant.

It is interesting that the article does explicitly mention the ethnicities of the involved parties; the impression I get is that the reporter is trying to paint the incident as a racially motivated attack by Zimmerman.

[Heffay]

There are other reasons to believe it was racially motivated. For example, the whole incident stemmed from him confronting someone he didn't think belonged there. You know, because he had skittles and an iced tea. Clearly a thug out looking for trouble.

Not to mention the history of the shooter, which was also mentioned in the article:

Further investigation by Crump revealed a past history of violence by Zimmerman, who was arrested in 2005 for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.

They are releasing the 911 tapes this week. I'm sure it'll help clear up a lot of questions.

[photogpat]

There are other reasons to believe it was racially motivated. For example, the whole incident stemmed from him confronting someone he didn't think belonged there. You know, because he had skittles and an iced tea. Clearly a thug out looking for trouble.

Not to mention the history of the shooter, which was also mentioned in the article:

Further investigation by Crump revealed a past history of violence by Zimmerman, who was arrested in 2005 for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.

They are releasing the 911 tapes this week. I'm sure it'll help clear up a lot of questions.

Two charges from 2005 which were later dropped, does not a "history of violence" make. Don't buy into the story without all the facts - which as you pointed out, are forthcoming.

[Heffay]

...



I'm sure the shooter is a fine representative of us all.

Sad to say, but this is a perfect example of the "blood in the streets" predictions of the anti handgun crowd coming true.

[photogpat]

...



I'm sure the shooter is a fine representative of us all.

Sad to say, but this is a perfect example of the "blood in the streets" predictions of the anti handgun crowd coming true.

I can see JoanP quoting you as a representative of the "gun community" already. Thanks for your support!

[Heffay]

We need to police our own. We should be yelling about how this guy screwed up on many levels louder than the antis.

It's ok to admit when someone makes a mistake. It doesn't make your cause unjust. And it adds a level of personal commitment that you take your responsibilities seriously.

[photogpat]

We need to police our own. We should be yelling about how this guy screwed up on many levels louder than the antis.

It's ok to admit when someone makes a mistake. It doesn't make your cause unjust. And it adds a level of personal commitment that you take your responsibilities seriously.

Once we have all the facts. Right?

[Heffay]

We need to police our own. We should be yelling about how this guy screwed up on many levels louder than the antis.

It's ok to admit when someone makes a mistake. It doesn't make your cause unjust. And it adds a level of personal commitment that you take your responsibilities seriously.

Once we have all the facts. Right?

That would help. However, we can still use the information we have available to discuss what was right and wrong in this scenario as presented so far.

[Squib Joe]

We need to police our own. We should be yelling about how this guy screwed up on many levels louder than the antis.

C'mon Heffay. Wasn't this almost exactly what you said the day after the Rainbow Foods shooting last year?

Maybe he was attacked by more than one person, maybe the kid was bashing him in the head with a bottle of iced tea or other weapon.. nobody knows yet.

[Heffay]

Nope. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out.