Tag: george zimmerman

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Domestic Policies News Politics trayvon martin

Trayvon

A young African-American man is dead. He was armed only with Skittles and a hoodie, which now qualifies as dangerous. He reacted when a self-styled and armed neighborhood watchman bothered him for little reason other than he seemed to be threatened that an African-American male was walking the gated premises. The laws of Florida allow armed people to shoot first and ask questions later.

This was the recipe for travesty, and I’m sure it won’t be the last time it happens.

For all of the talk about having an African-American president, we are not a post-racial society. Race plays an important, and in this case an explosive role in our civic culture. President Obama has shied away from invoking race where it is an issue and, in my mind, he hasn’t done enough to focus Americans on the continuing injustice that colors our system. He should be speaking out more and letting America know that we have much work to do to achieve equality in society and fairness under the law.

Now there’s talk that the Department of Justice ought to file civil rights charges against George Zimmerman. Perhaps, like OJ Simpson, that will provide the family with closure and provide for some kind of punishment. There’s also talk of plots against Mr. Zimmerman and I truly hope that he remains safe. Violence should not beget more violence.

What truly needs to happen is that laws like Florida’s that allow people to legally acquire firearms and use them preemptively must be stricken from the books. How many innocent people need to die before we do that?

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest

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Featured News

George Zimmerman’s Brother Wonders If Trayvon Martin Was Making Lean [VIDEO]

George Zimmerman‘s brother, Robert Zimmerman, Jr., is clearly delusional. Last night, he appeared on CNN after his brother was found not guilty of manslaughter and murder charges and painted the victim, the late Trayvon Martin, as a machine gun toting drug dealer.

“We have to grow from this,” Zimmerman, Jr. told Piers Morgan. “I want to know what make people angry enough to attack someone the way Trayvon Martin did. I want to know if it’s true, and I don’t know if it’s true, that Trayvon Martin was looking to procure firearms, was growing marijuana plants or was making lean or whatever he was doing.”

From there he goes on to mention that his brother was dedicated to service, expressed dismay at people calling for harm to his kin and made sure to mention George mentored two Black kids. Hey, at least Zimmerman didn’t kill them, right? Also, Trayvon Martin wasn’t the one with the gun.

Sadly, Zimmerman, Jr’s asinine views are in line with a lot more people than are willing to admit it. Watch the segment below.

– See more at: http://hiphopwired.com/2013/07/14/george-zimmermans-brother-wonders-if-trayvon-martin-was-making-lean/#sthash.nw09IwNI.dpuf

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Politics trayvon martin

“I Am Not Trayvon Martin” – I Went Home, He Was Killed – PIC

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Politics

George Zimmerman’s Verdict: “Not Guilty” – Just Another Day In The Hood

I watched MSNBC and heard when the announcement was made that the verdict was reached. About 15 minutes after, when everyone had shuffled into court, the Judge brought the Jury in and the decision was read:

“We the jury find George Zimmerman not guilty.”

*pause*

George Zimmerman smiled and shook the hands of his lawyers. His family hugged each other and shed tears of joy. Told that his monitoring bracelet would be removed, Zimmerman knew that the jury, the law justified the killing.

No one thought of the life that was lost. No one thought that a 17 year old was just walking home from the store when he was gunned down like an animal. No one remembered Trayvon Martin… except his grieving parents.

Just another day in the life of black America, where black males are gunned down every day and no one seems to care. Life I guess, goes on…

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murder Politics trayvon martin

#ZimmermanTrial – Jury Asks For “Clarification” On Manslaughter Charge

It is now 6:20PM, and the Jury in the Zimmerman Trial is waiting for more instructions on the manslaughter charge. The judge called all necessary participant to the court about a half an hour ago, and advised them that the Jury had sent a note.

The note read:

May we please have clarification on the instructions regarding manslaughter?

An educated guess would be that there is agreement among the jury on the more serious charge of second degree murder and need to know more about the manslaughter charge. If they find Zimmerman guilty of manslaughter, that charge carries a punishment of 30 years on jail.

The Judge has ordered a temporary recess as the Jury’s note is looked at.

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Featured trayvon martin

Disgraceful: Zimmerman’s Lawyer Blames Trayvon for Trayvon’s Murder

Apparently, a teenager realizing that a strange man is following him should not stand his ground and defend himself if he has to.

And if the strange man follows the teenager,  pulls out a gun and kills the teen for defending himself, then the strange man’s lawyer gets to blame the murder of the teenager on the teenager.

It all unfilded today as George Zimmerman’s lawyer Mr. O’Mara, made his closing statement.

Earlier, O’Mara warned jurors against filling in holes in the prosecution’s case, cautioning against making presumptions and assumptions.

Yet he invited them to form their own conclusions about Martin, particularly in the four-minute gap that O’Mara said passed between Zimmerman’s losing sight of Martin and when Martin attacked.

He dramatized that length of time by pausing for four minutes, leaving the courtroom silent.

“Four minutes. You get to figure out what Trayvon Martin was doing,” O’Mara told the jury. “Four minutes to do what? To run home. To walk home.”

Instead, O’Mara said, Martin attacked Zimmerman

The New York Daily News reports as Zimmerman’s trial closed Friday, his defense lawyer declared in summation that the unarmed Martin was to blame .

“We know he had the opportunity to go home, and he didn’t do that,” Mark O’Mara said, brazenly turning the world on its head . “The person who decided to make the night violent was the guy who didn’t go home when he had the chance.”

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Featured News trayvon martin

Is Kokopelli Gym Trying to Capitalize From The George Zimmerman Trial?

So George Zimmerman was called “Physically soft” by his trainer. Adam Pollock, owner of Kokopelli Gym, even went on to call Zimmerman “non athletic.” Pollock’s testimony earlier this week was part of the defence’s efforts to say that Trayvon Martin was the aggressor and Zimmerman had no choice but to use his gun and take Trayvon’s life.

Of course, if Zimmerman had listened to authorities when they told him not to follow Trayvon, there would be no need for Pollock’s testimony calling Zimmerman “non athletic”, there would be no need for a Zimmerman trial and Trayvon Martin would still be alive today.

And there would be no need for Pollock to apparently try and profit from his testimony and Trayvon’s death. In a shocking ad, the owner of the gym where Zimmerman trained put up a “Zimmerman” page on his website, promising to send information on Zimmerman’s training to anyone who enter their name and email address in his website’s database.

Data collection in itself is one way websites make money. Data brokers are companies that buy this data from other sources, including websites, and use this data to target potential consumers. Pollock’s database has the potential to grow tremendously, because of the high publicity case his testimony is now a part of.

Below is a screenshot of Pollock’s request for your data.

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News trayvon martin

“HE SHOT HIM FOR THE WORST OF ALL REASONS…”

“F**king punks, these a**holes always get away.” Those were the words spoken by prosecutor John Guy during his opening statements this morning as the murder trial of George Zimmerman began in Sanford, Florida. These exact words are, of course, the ones that came out of Zimmerman’s mouth during a 911 phone call he made to say that then-17-year-old Trayvon Martin was in his gated community acting suspiciously.

Guy and the rest of the prosecution are out to prove that not only did Zimmerman follow and shoot Martin because he unfairly profiled him as someone who would possibly commit a crime, but that he shot the teen because he “wanted to.”

“George Zimmerman didn’t shoot Trayvon Martin because he had to. He shot him for the worst of all reasons – because he wanted to.” The prosecutor also took time to poke holes in Zimmerman’s account to police about what happened on that fateful night in February. Guy claimed that statements made saying Martin had his hand over Zimmerman’s mouth aren’t true seeing as Zimmerman’s DNA wasn’t found on Martin’s body, and the teen’s DNA wasn’t found on Zimmerman’s gun or holster, refuting claims that Martin got his hands on Zimmerman’s firearm during their fight, according to Guy.

h/t – Madamenoire

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Politics trayvon martin

Zimmerman’s Judge Blocks 911 Voice Analysis Testimony

The screams are clearly coming from a distraught male, whose repeated cries for help end abruptly with a gunshot. What is not clear from a recording of a 911 call, however, is the identity of the screamer: George Zimmerman, the volunteer community watchman, or Trayvon Martin, the unarmed 17-year-old he killed that night.

While jurors in Mr. Zimmerman’s second-degree-murder trial, in which opening statements are scheduled for Monday, may get to hear the recording in court, they will not hear the opinions of two audio experts for the prosecution about who the screamer is, or is not. One concluded that the voice was not Mr. Zimmerman’s; the other said it was very likely Mr. Martin’s.

In an order released on Saturday, the judge in the case, Debra S. Nelson, excluded their testimony. She said the science supporting the experts’ analyses “is not as widely accepted at this time” as the more established methods relied on by defense witnesses who said it was impossible to conclude whose voice it was.

A neighbor made the 911 call on Feb. 26, 2012, during the fatal encounter between Mr. Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, and Mr. Martin, who was black and was returning to a home where he was staying after buying snacks. Citing Mr. Zimmerman’s claims of self-defense, the police did not arrest him for six weeks, setting off protests nationwide.

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Politics trayvon martin

Jury Selection Begins in The George Zimmerman / Trayvon Martin Case

It is the case that shocked the nation, shocked the world for that matter. And today, the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin trial officially began with jury selection.

Zimmerman, 29, is charged with second-degree murder and faces up to life in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty, contending he acted in self-defense during a confrontation with Martin, 17, in a gated community in this central Florida town on February 26, 2012.

After a brief opening session in the courtroom, where Zimmerman was joined by his wife Shellie, Circuit Court Judge Debra Nelson called a recess so that she, the prosecutors and defense attorneys could meet briefly with a pool of about 100 potential jurors.

The jurors were then to fill out a questionnaire before being summoned one by one into the courtroom for individual questioning.

It is unclear how long it will take for the judge and lawyers to select a panel of six jurors.

At the time of the Martin killing, Zimmerman, a light-skinned Hispanic, was the self-appointed neighborhood watch captain in the Retreat at Twin Lakes community. During a struggle, he killed Martin with a single shot to the chest from a 9mm handgun.

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News trayvon martin

Trayvon Martin’s Text Messages, School Records and More Banned From George Zimmerman Trial

With just a few weeks before his second degree murder trail is set to begin, George Zimmerman’s defense team has hit another barrier. Earlier today (May 28) a judge barred the admission of Trayvon Martin’s text messages, social media posts, and other records during the trial.

Zimmerman’s team wanted to use the evidence to paint Martin as more of an aggressor than a victim. In looking into his previous school suspension records, alleged Mary Jane smoking, and other damaging actions, the defense hoped to prove that the accused killer shot Martin, 17, out of self defense.

“There’s is certainly enough evidence….that’s going to suggest Trayvon Martin involved himself longingly with fighting with other people,” Zimmerman’s lead attorney Mike O’Mara said.

Although the ruling is a blow, it may not be permanent.

From NBC News:

Judge Debra Nelson said that during the trial she will consider motions to admit details as evidence on a case-by-case basis, outside the presence of jurors who will decide if Zimmerman is guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Martin.

Capping a slew of rulings on pre-trial motions, Nelson rejected a defense request for a trial delay and ruled that jury selection will begin June 10.

“This case has dragged on long enough,” prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda said in arguing for the trial to start as scheduled.

Over the course of two hours, Nelson granted numerous motions by prosecutors, who argued that details of the slain teen’s past are not be relevant to the Feb. 26, 2012, confrontation between Zimmerman and Martin and should not be discussed before the jury.

This isn’t the first time that Martin’s personal life has seeped into the media, as well as Zimmerman’s. Since the February 2012 incident, both have had unknown public records dragged into the spotlight, but it is unclear if any of the evidence will sway jurors in either direction.

Zimmerman’s trial begins June 10.

See more at: HiphopWired

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Politics trayvon martin

George Zimmerman Will Not Use “Stand Your Ground” Defense… For Now

George Zimmerman, charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, waived his right Tuesday to seek immunity under Florida’s “stand your ground” self-defense law before his June trial.

His lawyers have said they may seek immunity later.

Zimmerman, who has pleaded not guilty, is a former neighborhood watch volunteer of white and Hispanic descent who has maintained he shot Martin on Feb. 26, 2012, in self-defense after Martin attacked him.

The “stand your ground” law says people do not have to retreat if they believe they are in imminent danger of being killed or badly injured.

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