Lifestyle > Train of Thought
Justice Demands in Trayvon Martin Shooting Intensifies
The_Ripper:
It has been over three weeks since 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot to death while walking home from a store in the rain in Sanford, Fla. There has been no arrest, although 28-year-old George Zimmerman admitted to police he had shot the teen. He claimed self-defense and, as far as the Sanford Police Department said, it could determine, that should have been the end of the matter.
But too many details were found troubling to many, not the least of which was Trayvon's family, who questioned the incident. Then there was the release of the 911 calls, according to the Huffington Post, and what had begun as a groundswell of support for something to be done to provide justice in the death of the young man.
Although unarmed and carrying a cellphone, a bag of Skittles for his younger brother and an iced tea, Trayvon was deemed "suspicious" by a neighborhood watchman in the gated community where he was visiting. The 911 calls indicate Zimmerman had concerns, noted the unidentified was black and looking at neighborhood buildings. But when Trayvon began to run, Zimmerman gave chase. Although called off by the 911 operator, Zimmerman proceeded to go after the young man. Subsequent 911 calls and eyewitness accounts picked up the story from there.
Zimmerman apparently confronted the teen. Some of the accounts note one of the men in the altercation ended up on the ground. That man was described as black and yelling for help. In one 911 call, the calls for assistance can be heard in the background, just before a shot was fired. A teen walking his dog said he saw a black man on the ground screaming for help. Then there was a shot. Then everything got quiet.
The 911 tapes seem to have intensify demands that something be done in a case where inconsistencies abound. Still, prior to the tapes going public, a petition for justice on Change.org written by Trayvon's parents, Tracy Martin and Sabrina Fulton, had garnered over 200,000 signatures. The petition, spurred on by calls for justice on Twitter and Facebook by celebrities like Russell Simmons, has accumulated over 425,000 signatures.
Prior to the release of the tapes, Zimmerman's father, Robert, delivered a letter to the Orlando Sentinel, responding to allegations his son was racist and getting away with a brutal killing. The letter said George at no time followed or confronted Trayvon before the shooting.
The 911 tapes revealed otherwise.
Police took Zimmerman's statement and he was subsequently allowed to return home. He was never tested for drugs or alcohol, a standard procedure following shooting incidents.
Racism has been cited by many. And there are other circumstances that seem to call for at least some form of formal investigation. Law enforcement expert Rod Wheeler told ABC News that Zimmerman sounded intoxicated in the 911 calls. He noted Sanford police should have noticed any aberrance.
ABC News also reported Zimmerman was not registered on any neighborhood watch lists, something Sanford Police were unaware of at the time of questioning.
Trayvon's father, who lives in the gated community with his fiancee, and his ex-wife, a resident of Miami, only increased their cries for justice, calling for an FBI investigation not only into the shooting but into the way the incident had been investigated by the Sanford Police Department.
CBS News reported that rallies were held on Florida college campuses in an effort to bring more pressure on law enforcement to look into the shooting.
Powerful blogs like Michael Skolnik's "White People, You Will Never Look Suspicious Like Trayvon Martin" at Global Grind are getting steady views as well. Pointing out that Trayvon was in a hospital morgue as a "John Doe" for nearly 24 hours because not even the police believed he lived in the gated community where he was shot, Skolnik noted Trayvon was "suspicious" only because he was black. He compared his own mode of dress to that of the deceased, noting that wearing the same types of clothes -- a hoodie and sweatpants of jeans -- did not arouse suspicions.
The Sanford Police Department has left the case in the hands of the state's Attorney's Office, bringing additional accusations of not performing their duty of arresting Zimmerman and basically passing the buck.
ABC News reported the FBI is monitoring the situation. It is as yet unclear if the agency will become involved.
The_Ripper:
FBI, Justice Department to Investigate Killing of Trayvon Martin by Neighborhood Watchman
The FBI, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida will investigate the killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old Florida high school student, who was shot by a self-appointed neighborhood watchman.
"The department will conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence and take appropriate action at the conclusion of the investigation," a statement released by the Justice Department this evening said. "The department also is providing assistance to and cooperating with the state officials in their investigation into the incident."
George Zimmerman, who claimed self-defense in shooting Martin, has not been charged with any crime in the fatal shooting of the teenager on Feb. 26.
Outrage over the incident has only grown, as irregularities in the police investigation have been uncovered and 911 tapes released last week showed Zimmerman ignored a dispatcher's directive not to pursue the teen.
Zimmerman also blatantly violated major principles of the Neighborhood Watch manual, ABC News has learned.
The manual, from the National Neighborhood Watch Program, states: "It should be emphasized to members that they do not possess police powers, and they shall not carry weapons or pursue vehicles. They should also be cautioned to alert police or deputies when encountering strange activity. Members should never confront suspicious persons who could be armed and dangerous."
Yet Zimmerman made a nonemergency call to police and pursued him anyway, even though 911 dispatcher told him not to, before fatally shooting the teenager.
The Sanford, Fla., Police Department, relenting to massive public pressure, released parts of these 911 tapes pertaining to the shooting.
On the tapes, Zimmerman, claiming Martin looked intoxicated, says he saw the teenager cut through from the main street in the tidy Retreat at Twin Lakes, onto a path between two blocks of townhouses, and decided to gave chase. Zimmerman told a police dispatcher, "These a**holes, they always get away"
Dispatcher: "Are you following him?"
Zimmerman: "Yes."
Dispatcher: "OK, we don't need you to do that."
Zimmerman didn't stop and ultimately confronted Martin, who was carrying a package of Skittles and a bottle of iced tea. The two allegedly scuffled. In a series of seven 911 calls, eyewitnesses reported that they heard a sort of howling. One caller said, "they're wrestling right in the back of my porch, one man is yelling help."
Then a gun shot rang out. The howling and yelling stopped.
Zimmerman wasn't arrested at the time, and ABC News has learned he was not given a drug or alcohol test that night -- standard in most homicide investigations.
Law enforcement expert Rod Wheeler, who listened to the tapes, told ABC News that Zimmerman, not Martin, sounded intoxicated in the police recordings of the 911 calls.
"When I listened to the 911 tape, the first thing that came to my mind is this guy sounds intoxicated. Notice how he's slurring his words. We as trained law enforcement officers, we know how to listen for that right away, and I think that's going to be an important element of this entire investigation," Wheeler said.
According to Chris Tutko, the director of the National Neighborhood Watch Program, there are about 22,000 registered watch groups nationwide, and Zimmerman was not part of a registered group -- another fact the police were not aware of at the time of the incident.
The_Ripper:
http://www.youtube.com/v/ff8Xb0mzYBc
Hood Crawler:
That is really sad and unjust, but seeing those chicks doing that move in between each of your thread posts was the best part.
Teddy Roosevelt:
--- Quote from: EL on March 20, 2012, 02:58:41 AM ---The 911 calls indicate Zimmerman had concerns, noted the unidentified was black and looking at neighborhood buildings. But when Trayvon began to run, Zimmerman gave chase.
--- End quote ---
A black man looking at buildings is suspcious? :grumpy:
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