Neighborhood Watch guy chases down a kid, shoots him, charged with 2nd-degree murder

[auburntigerdude]

I don't mean to make light of a serious situation, but I thought this picture was funny (mostly because of the look on her face)....

FAIL

[auburntigerdude]

http://espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miam...trayvon-martin

Good!

[auburntigerdude]

Being a person who was born and raised in Sanford aka Bo Key aka the middle of nowhere Central Florida . . . there has been a lot of black on black violence lately in which youth have been slain . . and the city was already tense from it . . then this happened and it exploded.

Many folks I have known my whole lives are standing up for Trayvon and what Zimmerman to see justice. None of them openly have called for violence against Zimmerman or even privately. They whole nation finally knows where I am from and it is not a good reason . . before that we were the hometown of baseball players Tim Raines and David Eckstein (brother Scott is a good baseball player in high school as well) and NFL QB Jeff Blake and tennis legend Jim Courier . . that's it . .

Now we are seen as a city where the local police has bungled the investigation and local prosecutor's office was reluctant at best to charge a man who murdered an un armed and non threatening youth.

Sanford is a rural town where blacks and poor whites worked for rich whites . . . that was it, we were the celery capital of the world in our hey day. All my relatives worked in the fields and all moved there during and after slavery to work in those field and work those jobs.

Allen Chapel, the church where the rallies have been held is the church of my school teacher Mrs. Washington (RIP), and of my father's family. My Grandfather was buried in that church and they STILL HAVEN'T UPDATED THE INTERIOR IN 30+ YEARS OF MY LIFE!!!

But seriously, the town is shaken by this and angry. SPD has always been quick to arrest blacks for everything . . . and to their credit whenever I needed them, they were there for me and they were professional. They have a hard job in a town where crack hit real hard and had a devastating impact on the black community . . I always say crack killed our black community in Sanford and I am right.

Zimmeran is not a native Sanfordite like me, he moved there from VA but has been there for years . . did we have racial issues? Yes!! Both of my grandmothers tell me of KKK parades. My Grandmother on my mother's side told me when she first moved to Sanford that the black folks faces would change and the fear on them was something unspeakable . . my father's grandmother spoke about going to KKK rallys downtown where my great grandfather Zachary would name all the Klansmen even in their hoods, they were the shop owners, the powerful people in the area.

The city had a ton of fights during integration like many southern towns . . . I had bad racial experiences there . . I have had them everywhere . . racism is a human condition . .

A lot of those old wounds have come back, and they are sore and folks are ready and will not tolerate injustice in this situation.

Now as an LEO, I can say if I shot someone on duty I would have my gun taken away forever (I would get assigned a new one once I got cleared) and be questioned left and right and me and my supervisor would be writing reports for days . .

The fact that this idiot shot the kid and said, "Self defense" and the police were like, "Okay, case closed, have a nice day." Was HORRENDOUS!! Imagine if ever criminal we encountered said, "Hey it was someone else." No one would be arrested . . I don't get how the SPD bungled this, how they local prosecutor's office bungled this . . the Police Chief and the chief of detectives should be FIRED.

IF things are as they appear to be and SPD bungled this case and that will keep Zimmerman from seeing justice, then they are liable and careers should end permanently not temporarily . .. . . the SPD should be hoping and working for with the FDLE, State of Florida and FBI in this investigation because if this guy walks criminally, then the SPD will NEVER live this down and on one black will ever trust them ever again, EVER again.

[auburntigerdude]

The SPD may have bungled this beyond repair . . if you remember the Ben Rothilseatsalotofcheeseburgers case where the PD who responded and the bar where the alleged sexual assault occurred bungled the initial response so that when GBI (a great law enforcement agency Georgia Bureau of Investigation) took over the investigation they didn't have enough to ask the prosecutor to file charges . . the initial response by Law enforcement and others to the crime scene is very critical to investigations like this.

[The Great Gazoo]

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/new...erman-03232012

this is getting strange...

ORLANDO - A witness we haven't heard from before paints a much different picture than we've seen so far of what happened the night 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed.

The night of that shooting, police say there was a witness who saw it all.

Our sister station, FOX 35 in Orlando, has spoken to that witness.

What Sanford Police investigators have in the folder, they put together on the killing of Trayvon Martin few know about.

The file now sits in the hands of the state attorney. Now that file is just weeks away from being opened to a grand jury.

It shows more now about why police believed that night that George Zimmerman shouldn't have gone to jail.

Zimmerman called 911 and told dispatchers he was following a teen. The dispatcher told Zimmerman not to.

And from that moment to the shooting, details are few.

But one man's testimony could be key for the police.

"The guy on the bottom who had a red sweater on was yelling to me: 'help, help…and I told him to stop and I was calling 911," he said.

Trayvon Martin was in a hoodie; Zimmerman was in red.

The witness only wanted to be identified as "John," and didn't not want to be shown on camera.

His statements to police were instrumental, because police backed up Zimmerman's claims, saying those screams on the 911 call are those of Zimmerman.

"When I got upstairs and looked down, the guy who was on top beating up the other guy, was the one laying in the grass, and I believe he was dead at that point," John said.

Zimmerman says the shooting was self defense. According to information released on the Sanford city website, Zimmerman said he was going back to his SUV when he was attacked by the teen.

Sanford police say Zimmerman was bloody in his face and head, and the back of his shirt was wet and had grass stains, indicating a struggle took place before the shooting.

[motorcityjoe611]

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/new...erman-03232012

this is getting strange...

Way to come forward right away "John," so as to stem any potential misunderstandings that could stir up fragile, volatile conditions.
When you leave a hole in a story like this, the public will fill it in with what they believe and certain media types will craft it to their
fan base. That's what may be happening here.
You're right though, Gaz, it is getting weird.

[The Great Gazoo]

even though they were fighting, doesn't change the fact that zimmerman chased this kid down...who knows, the kid probably fought back because he felt threatened...i know i would...and how nice, "john" happened to go upstairs and then poof the fight was over and the kid was dead...if i saw a fight like that in my neighborhood, i'd probably watch and call the cops...but that's me i guess

[sseelhoff]

What was that about people who wear hoodies?

[det2orl]

What was that about people who wear hoodies?

Its only dark skinned AA's and Latinos.

[sseelhoff]

Its only dark skinned AA's and Latinos.

Like Geraldo?

[The_Real_Right_Way]

even though they were fighting, doesn't change the fact that zimmerman chased this kid down...who knows, the kid probably fought back because he felt threatened...i know i would...and how nice, "john" happened to go upstairs and then poof the fight was over and the kid was dead...if i saw a fight like that in my neighborhood, i'd probably watch and call the cops...but that's me i guess

Bingo... the evidence seems to be pretty clear that Zimmerman initiated this by following the kid. If there was an altercation Zimmerman provoked it unnecessarily. If I was the kid not knowing who this guy was I would have fought for my life.