Unarmed teen shooting: Is Florida law to blame?

[Coito ergo sum]

Imagine that. The people who were there and actually viewed the evidence made a decision different from some Internet pundit. What a concept.

evidence provided by zimmerman. er...how convenient.

The neighbors back up Zimmerman's having injuries:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/ ... 9Y20120416

I'm still surprised we have not heard from the ambulance medics.

I'm not surprised. They are trained not to disclose evidence in an ongoing criminal proceeding to the public, plus there is a HIPPAA privacy issue. They aren't allowed to disclose medical information about persons they treat without the written permission of the patient.

[Coito ergo sum]

Anyway, what is all this crap about Hispanics being not white?
Zimmerman is whiter than LOTS of my white friends. He's half northern european, half peruvian. And white. Not black.

It doesn't much matter what his technical bloodline is. He looks Latino or Hispanic (those terms mean basically the same thing - people from the Spanish speaking countries of the western hemisphere, generally the mix of Spanish colonial immigrants and native south, central and Mexican (or puerto rican/Cuban, etc.) natives). They aren't "white" because "white" refers to Caucasian ethnicity and they aren't that. They are darker skinned, usually, and hated by racists about as much as blacks.

[Coito ergo sum]

Imagine that. The people who were there and actually viewed the evidence made a decision different from some Internet pundit. What a concept.

evidence provided by zimmerman. er...how convenient.

The neighbors back up Zimmerman's having injuries:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/ ... 9Y20120416

Someone probably already mentioned this earlier, but I'd willingly bet money that if the shoe were on the other foot and Zimmerman was black, and Trayvon was white, Zimmerman would have been arrested immediately.

The McNeil case suggests that's not a foregone conclusion since McNeil was a black man shooting a white man who didn't even manage to touch him, and McNeil didn't get arrested until a year later.

If Zimmerman had been black, but still a neighborhood watch guy who commonly gave tips to police and was positively regarded by his neighbors? I think that there's a good chance the police would have favored the guy they knew over some random person that they likely would have considered a hispanic vagrant.

Zimmerman later sought medical treatment for injuries including a broken nose, his former lawyers have said.

Jorge Rodriguez, Zimmerman's next-door neighbor, told Reuters that when he saw Zimmerman the day after the incident, "he had two big, butterfly bandages on the back of his head, and another big bandage...on the bridge of his nose." He was talking to a police detective in his driveway.
Rodriguez's wife Audria also said she saw the bandages and a third neighbor, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, agreed with the Rodriguez couple's account. "I saw two bandages on the back of his head, and his nose was all swollen up," said the witness, who had watched from a nearby second-floor window.

for real?

his lawyer! surprise, surprise! how many days later was that???

1. next door neighbor and a friend
2. his wife
3. a neighbor at the scene of the crime saw two bandages on the back of his head, but then when he came in to the police station, they were gone? NOT on his head!!!!!

How many days later? From the quote YOU YOURSELF POSTED -- it appears it was the same day. See above - the neighbor told Reuters that THE DAY AFTER THE INCIDENT he had two big butterfly bandages, etc. So, using Holmesian powers of deduction, we can surmise that he received those bandages, and hence medical treatment, between the time of the incident and the next day when the neighbor saw him. Somewhere in that period.

[Coito ergo sum]

Zimmerman isn't white.

No, he's not, but he looks white, or more white than latino.

Not to me. When I look at his photos, he looks perfectly latino to me. He looks more white than black, but not more white than latino. I'm not saying race couldn't have been an issue, but that if it were a white-vs-black thing, the focus should maybe be more on why white cops (I think they were) sided with a latino guy over a black guy.

Ok, let's say this s l o w l y "again".

Zimmerman's father is white, was a judge in the district, all the cops knew him. Need we say more?

LOL -- Zimmerman's father was a "magistrate" in the State of Virginia court system. I highly doubt the Sanford police gave a flying fuck about Zimmerman's father having retired from the lofty position of "magistrate" in Virginia more than five years prior to the incident. Calling him a judge is not correct. They aren't judges.

It seems there is no end to the twisting of facts in this case. Snip the transcript by NBC to make the 911 tape seem to say something it didn't. Claim Zimmerman was not injured, when he was. Claim that he was ordered to stay in his car, but got out anyway. Claim that he didn't follow the dispatcher's instructions, when he actually did. And, allude to his father being a "retired judge" who all the police knew ....when it turns out he was a magistrate in Virginia, nowhere near Florida, and having nothing to do with Sanford police.

[FBM]

And allude to him being a white guy.

Just to reiterate, I have no preferred (read: biased) conclusion to this case. I'm just out to soapbox clear thinking. Neither white-power supremacists nor white-guilt purveyors are doing much of that, IMO.

[Coito ergo sum]

America is a weird place with regards to race.

In England, Obama would simply be described as half-caste, if the subject ever came up. But Americans routinely call him black.

And Zimmerman would just be called white.


But like a lot of things, our media often apes the US media. But it's not how the people see it.

Of course, of course....now we have to hear -- again -- how much more enlightened things are over there. Bradford Riots, Oldham Riots, Brixton Riots, Birmingham Riots, and police racism contributing to the 2011 riots...http://uk.news.yahoo.com/met-suspend-po ... 28267.html ...but, of course...if the issue ever came up at all, it would be just to blithely mention that he might be "half-caste".

[Clinton Huxley]

Credit where credit is due. Blighty's riots are but a pale imitation of what can be achieved by the 'Mericans. Was listening to a programme on the radio about the aftermath of the LA riots following Rodney King's "talking to" by the LAPD. More than 50 people were killed. We are lucky if we manage 1 fatality in a riot.

[FBM]

Credit where credit is due. Blighty's riots are but a pale imitation of what can be achieved by the 'Mericans. Was listening to a programme on the radio about the aftermath of the LA riots following Rodney King's "talking to" by the LAPD. More than 50 people were killed. We are lucky if we manage 1 fatality in a riot.

You'll get there. Just keep working on it.

[Clinton Huxley]

Credit where credit is due. Blighty's riots are but a pale imitation of what can be achieved by the 'Mericans. Was listening to a programme on the radio about the aftermath of the LA riots following Rodney King's "talking to" by the LAPD. More than 50 people were killed. We are lucky if we manage 1 fatality in a riot.

You'll get there. Just keep working on it.

We used to be pretty good at it, when we could quell a riot with a jolly old cavalry charge. Now it's all "health and safety" and no fun for anyone.

[Coito ergo sum]

Credit where credit is due. Blighty's riots are but a pale imitation of what can be achieved by the 'Mericans. Was listening to a programme on the radio about the aftermath of the LA riots following Rodney King's "talking to" by the LAPD. More than 50 people were killed. We are lucky if we manage 1 fatality in a riot.

Proving unequivocally that the Anglo-Saxon is among the least racist groups in the world. That much is obvious. Well, except for the Anglo-Saxons in Merka. Those Anglo-Saxons are racists, by definition. The non-racist Anglo-Saxons stayed in Yerupp..

[FBM]

Credit where credit is due. Blighty's riots are but a pale imitation of what can be achieved by the 'Mericans. Was listening to a programme on the radio about the aftermath of the LA riots following Rodney King's "talking to" by the LAPD. More than 50 people were killed. We are lucky if we manage 1 fatality in a riot.

You'll get there. Just keep working on it.

We used to be pretty good at it, when we could quell a riot with a jolly old cavalry charge. Now it's all "health and safety" and no fun for anyone.

It's those blasted plastic helmets and elbow pads on the mounted ranks wots to blame, I say.

[amused]

We are a nation of bullies.

[kiki5711]

You'll need to make your non-sarcastic comments less ridiculous then. It's hard to tell them apart, a la Poe's Law.

Neighborhood watch, contrary to what you seem to think, is just people who live in the neighborhood who want to contribute to making it safe for everyone's kids to play. They aren't generally speaking nutbags and murderers. They're good people of varying shades.

do you really think it was necessary to point that out? I mean, come on? you talk like we're all stupid. the above IS pretty obvious to everyone, but I guess you don't think so.

Your comments in the past have been vary negative toward neighborhood watches, with the definite implication that you think the neighborhoods are racist and the watchpersons are crackpot gun nuts. So, it did not appear to be "obvious" to you. Witness the way you addressed the fact that Zimmerman was some sort of "captain" of the neighborhood watch. That was portrayed as some sort of an indication that he was up to no good.

OMG! do you like to play the "twister" game? What in the holy name of god are you talking about? Did you even read what I wrote before you started typing the response?

[kiki5711]

Zimmerman isn't white.

No, he's not, but he looks white, or more white than latino.

Not to me. When I look at his photos, he looks perfectly latino to me. He looks more white than black, but not more white than latino. I'm not saying race couldn't have been an issue, but that if it were a white-vs-black thing, the focus should maybe be more on why white cops (I think they were) sided with a latino guy over a black guy.

Ok, let's say this s l o w l y "again".

Zimmerman's father is white, was a judge in the district, all the cops knew him. Need we say more?

LOL -- Zimmerman's father was a "magistrate" in the State of Virginia court system. I highly doubt the Sanford police gave a flying fuck about Zimmerman's father having retired from the lofty position of "magistrate" in Virginia more than five years prior to the incident. Calling him a judge is not correct. They aren't judges.

It seems there is no end to the twisting of facts in this case. Snip the transcript by NBC to make the 911 tape seem to say something it didn't. Claim Zimmerman was not injured, when he was. Claim that he was ordered to stay in his car, but got out anyway. Claim that he didn't follow the dispatcher's instructions, when he actually did. And, allude to his father being a "retired judge" who all the police knew ....when it turns out he was a magistrate in Virginia, nowhere near Florida, and having nothing to do with Sanford police.

Who frkn cares? magistrate, judge, asshole? the point was and IS that zimmerman was known to the police "hence his many calls regarding suspicious people in his neighborhood". You are the one that snips and cuts the words to your liking, omitting the real facts.

[Tyrannical]

Credit where credit is due. Blighty's riots are but a pale imitation of what can be achieved by the 'Mericans. Was listening to a programme on the radio about the aftermath of the LA riots following Rodney King's "talking to" by the LAPD. More than 50 people were killed. We are lucky if we manage 1 fatality in a riot.

Those were black race riots, and not indicative of your typical 'Mericans.

As for Rodney King, he even has a cameo appearance in this Chris Rock video