A shot in the dark heard 'round the world

Blackfields & McWhites, Part 2

It really saddens me that Trayvon Martin’s tragic shooting has set people on such opposite paths that it’s gotten downright frightful. In all seriousness, I don’t expect a race war to break out, but there’s no doubt, two paths exist and they are as opposite as north and south, east and west, night and day, and yes, black and white. I spoke with someone the other day who is completely convinced that George Zimmerman will be exonerated for plugging a hole in the 17-year-old boy’s chest and sending him to the morgue, that I was compelled to ask him why he supports the rogue neighborhood watch captain gone wild. He had no real reason; he just felt that way.

“Mark my words,” he exclaimed, “he did the right thing.”

He was quite furvent about it — was, that is — until I hit him with a blunt force statement. Sometimes, you’ve got to fight fire with something much hotter in order to cool the flames. I told him there are only three reasons why anyone would offer their complete support without all of the facts in hand, and they are that:

1. He is a racist;
2. He fully supports the policies of the NRA or;
3. Both 1 and 2

The fact is, this person had no real facts at all when he made the statement. Nor did any of the people who earlier donated over $200,000 to help George pay for his defense. And the money keeps pouring in.

To be fair, I could question some of Trayvon’s supporters as well about racism. Certainly, the New Black Panther party is one. However, there are two stark differences between Trayvon and George and what transpired the night of February 26. One, Trayvon didn’t have a gun and, two, he didn’t stalk George. Still, what strikes me as peculiar is the simple fact that plenty of those people have taken such a firm stand regarding their support for the shooter, that they seem to have no idea about other things, many of which are related to nothing more than what we typically consider to be simple common sense. Yes, George had a legal right to carry a concealed weapon, but that gave him no license to kill. Would he pack his pistol while walking on the beach? Why not? He could, but would it be practical or sensible? What about inside a church? A job interview? Walking into a police station? You see, there are many possible scenarios where being armed makes no sense at all, but what about someone else?

What about a police officer who shoots his/her cheating spouse and romantic partner in a fit of jealous rage? Don’t tell me it’s never happened. A cop has a license to carry, and one to kill, too. Even many white supremacists can carry a weapon just like George, so you can’t use the excuse that he had every right to shoot his target. White supremacists plot to kill minorities all the time. While not calling George a racist, how does anyone other than his close family members and friends know whether he really is one or not? Why give him the benefit of the doubt in every possible way and offer nothing to the victim? You see, my point is all about what’s good for the goose. Why shouldn’t it be good for the gander, too? What makes some think George, a complete stranger, is worth defending? To the point of exalting him? We don’t know the real George. None of us.

Enough of that. Let’s get down to the facts as we know them now. Yes, George Zimmerman had every right to walk anywhere he wanted in the housing development he does not own. So did Trayvon. At the same time, I can walk down the aisles of a supermarket I don’t own, and you’d better believe if I were eyeballing a young mom throughout the store, things would get edgy and a manager would be called. While George was the Neighborhood Watch captain at The Retreat at Twin Lakes, he was not the only one. As a matter of fact, the community newsletter routinely solicits other residents to come forward. In other words, he wasn’t police chief there. As a matter of fact, he wasn’t a cop at all. I’ve heard that he wasn’t acting as a Neighborhood Watch captain that night. Therefore, the implied policy against carrying a weapon shouldn’t apply. Okay fine, but I disagree. Neighborhood Watch people are always on call. There is no time clock. He mentions his capacity as such in almost every call he’s ever made to police — REAL POLICE, and in each case, the “perp” was always black. Never white or Hispanic.

George told police he stepped out of his truck to check house numbers and the name of the street he was on, and Trayvon attacked him from behind as he was returning to his vehicle. It was then that he shot the boy in self-defense. There are multiple problems with that scenario, though; the biggest one being where Trayvon was killed. It was in the common sidewalk area between the back yards of rows of townhouses. It was nowhere near George’s truck or where it was parked. It was a lie. Street names are found on the street and house numbers are located on the fronts of houses, not in back yards. Once he found the information he needed, why didn’t he return to his truck and call the dispatcher back instead of going behind the townhouses with flashlight in hand? There can only be one answer: To find Trayvon.

Police investigators told Trayvon’s father, Tracy Martin, that his son had confronted George at his truck, as George had said, yet nothing exists to substantiate his claim. Certainly, there’s nothing in the police recording of his phone call that evening, from 7:11 pm, when he placed the non-emergency call, through 7:15 pm, when the call ended. He never said anything about Trayvon approaching him in any threatening manner. As a matter of fact, the last thing we know is that he was chasing after the teen when the dispatcher asked and then advised him against it.

Approximately 80 seconds later, the first 911 call came in from someone who reported hearing screams for help. That means the fight was in full swing by then, but for how long? 27 seconds after the first emergency call, Trayvon was dead.

According to ABC News, Sanford police had Trayvon’s phone records within days of his death, yet his girlfriend was never called and questioned about the incident. While I find it rather disconcerting that the police department did not do a thorough job, I can’t place all of the blame on them the night the shooting took place. One of the misconceptions about that phone centers on the length of time it took for SPD to take a look at the device. Why didn’t investigators check it that night? The answer is simple. It was wet and the charge was low. In order to bring it back to life, it had to dry out while someone searched for a charger — something Trayvon didn’t carry with him.  (See page 16 of evidence document.) And they needed the pass code.

Benjamin Crump is the attorney for Trayvon’s mother and father. He told the media that the boy talked on and off with his girlfriend for nearly 400 minutes the day he died. According to him, and based on those phone records, Trayvon’s final moments were spent talking to his girlfriend, initiated by a 7:12 pm call. She overheard the start of the altercation. In her recorded interview with an investigator working with Assistant State Attorney Angela Corey, she stated that Trayvon told her a (white) man was watching him from his vehicle. He put his hoodie on because it was still raining. Meanwhile, the man continued to watch him. She told Trayvon to get back to his father’s house. He agreed. Then, she could tell he was running because of the sound of wind she heard in the phone’s mouthpiece. Trayvon thought he had lost the guy at that point. Suddenly, he said the guy was getting close to him and within seconds, the altercation began.

“Why are you following me for?” Trayvon asked.

George responded with, “What are you doing around here?” 

Trayvon’s girlfriend kept asking him what was going on, but he never answered her. Instead, she said she heard a bump, like someone had hit Trayvon. She also heard what sounded like the phone had landed in the grass. She was asked if she heard any screams for help, and the sound of a gunshot. She did not. Before the phone went dead — and she frantically tried to call him back later to no avail — she faintly heard something else in the background — a voice telling the assailant to get off.

“Get off! Get off!” The investigator asked her whose voice it was and she said Trayvon. Then, the phone went dead.

Bill Lee was the police chief in Sanford on the night Trayvon died. He is now on temporary leave. According to the Huffington Post Website, Lee told HuffPost as early as March 8 that “Zimmerman disregarded a 911 dispatcher who told him to stand down and wait for the police to arrive.”

Lee described the events leading up to the shooting, and it corroberated the girl’s later account to the SAO investigator. Zimmerman, he said, told Sanford authorities that Trayvon noticed he was being followed and asked what the problem was. This is when the altercation took place.

What we now know is that George was, in fact, injured as he said he was, but was he beaten so badly that he came within an inch of his life as his father said in an interview?

According to the Sanford Fire Department report on the night of February 26, EMTs found Trayvon Martin unresponsive and declared him dead. George Zimmerman, on the other hand, was a bit bloodied up, but otherwise fine. Their report was filed at 19:41, or 7:41 pm. He was conscious and showed no outward signs of external hemorrhaging. His mucous membrane was normal. So was his color. Everything was within normal limits, including his breathing quality. His GCS (Glasgow Coma Scale: 0-15) was 15, with 0 being comatose and unconscious, and 15 being fully awake and conscious.

The report stated that he had abrasions on his forehead, bleeding and tenderness in his nose, and a small laceration on the back of his head. All injuries had minor bleeding. He denied LOC (loss of consciousness) and neck or back pain. He had PMS X4 with paresthesia. PMS X4 means that his pulse, motor and sensation were good in all four limbs. Paresthesia is interesting. Generally, it means tingling sensations in a person’s skin. Or it could be a change in bodily function generally associated with a disease. It could also be a hallucinated sensation that insects or snakes are crawling over the skin; usually a side-effect of extensive use of cocaine or speed. George did tell paramedics he was on Librax and Tamazepan, which have been shown to cause agitation and mood swings in less than 10 percent of patients, but I seriously doubt those medications had anything to do with his paresthesia.

While many people believe George’s injuries will play well for the defense, I am less sure. Why? The following day, a doctor at Altamonte Family Practice examined him and found no concussion. The doctor advised his patient to seek x-rays and other professional advice, including a psychological evaluation, but he chose not to. Ultimately, his refusal to pay more attention to his injuries may work against him because there is no further proof of the extent of his injuries beyond the initial photographs and the reports from paramedics and his doctor. Clearly, from the shape he was in from those photographs taken the night of the incident, he was nowhere near death, and within minutes of his initial examination, EMTs concurred. Incidentally, the doctor noted that he made the appointment in order to receive a legal clearance for returning to work. He was ready to rock ‘n’ roll. One down, who cares?

We can ask many questions about why Trayvon’s blood was drawn that night for drugs, but not George’s, which is routine in cases like this. We can point to shoddy work by the Sanford Police Department, which is partially true. We know that George was known to SPD as a friend. Did that have any bearing on his treatment by law enforcement that night, on the scene and while in custody? The lead investigator later wrote:

(Edited for content)

[The] investigation reveals that Martin was in fact running generally in the direction of where he was staying as a guest in the neighborhood.

Investigation reveals that on August 3, August 4, and October 6, 2011, and February 2, 2012, George Zimmerman reported suspicious persons, all young Black males, in the Retreat neighborhood to the Sanford Police Department. According to records checks, all of Zimmerman’s suspicious persons calls while residing in the Retreat neighborhood have identified Black males as the subjects.

The encounter between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin was ultimately avoidable by Zimmerman, if Zimmerman had remained in his vehicle and awaited the arrival of law enforcement, or conversely if he had identified himself to Martin as a concerned citizen and initiated dialog in an effort to dispel each party’s concern. There is no indication that Trayvon Martin was involved in any criminal activity at the time of the encounter.

Based upon the facts and circumstances outlined in this narrative, I believe there exists probable cause for issuance of a capias [arrest] charging George Michael Zimmerman with Manslaughter, in violation of Ch. 782.07 FS.

This is precisely what I have been saying all along. Had George just acted like the cop he wanted to be instead of a stupid vigilante out to get “those assholes [that] always get away,” Trayvon would not be dead by his hands. For anyone to donate money to his defense is almost as reckless as he is because no one has given this complete tragedy much thought, just like George on that fateful night. 

Why did George carrry his gun that day? Most people with concealed carry permits don’t, other than bounty hunters, private investigators and the like. While not illegal, what did he expect to find at the grocery store or Target he said he was on his way to? Pit bulls?

Ultimately, this will come down to who looks and acts more honest and presentable to the jury. While the defense has George’s injuries and witnesses who haven’t abandoned him yet, not to mention his own personal pit bull, Frank Taaffe, what else do they have? (Personally, I think Taaffe did more harm than good. Always changing George’s account of the events.)

The State, on the other hand, has Trayvon’s girlfriend and it will be very tough to discredit her without looking like a creep. That’s not Mark O’Mara’s style, and he won’t outright call her a liar. They also have Trayvon’s dead body; a kid doing nothing wrong to begin with, and his mourning parents.

This was just so horrible. For the life of me, George must be held accountable for something. So help me dog.

[Note to Laurali — The Arizona iced tea can fell out of Trayvon’s pocket when the paramedics were moving him.]

Blackfields & McWhites, Part 1

“FBI may charge George Zimmerman with hate crime”

That was the heading of an online story published at the WFTV Website on Monday, May 14, 2012. WFTV-Channel 9 is the ABC network affiliate located in Orlando. The opening paragraph was very revealing in the sense of what it failed to do. It revealed nothing new or, for that matter, particularly newsworthy.

SANFORD, Fla. —  WFTV has learned charges against George Zimmerman could be getting more serious.

State prosecutors said Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman, profiled and stalked 17-year-old Trayvon Martin before killing him, so the FBI is now looking into charging him with a hate crime.

What’s so strange about this kind of journalism is that it fuels the fire. It’s called baiting. While starting the article with a leading statement, WFTV has learned, it offers nothing new beyond what we didn’t already know. What, exactly, did WFTV learn, and what does the word could mean, as in the charges could be getting more serious? THAT’S NOT NEWS! IT’S GUESSING! The article later adds a revelation:

FBI investigators are actively questioning witnesses in the retreat at the Twin Lakes neighborhood, seeking evidence for a possible federal hate crime charge.

Of course they are! That goes without saying. If the FBI is investigating any crime, agents from the bureau routinely interview everyone in sight of the crime. And everywhere else, for that matter. The remainder of the story is nothing more than superfluous fluff, a term I last used early in the Casey Anthony case — long before the trial and, quite possibly, while critiquing another WFTV piece. You see, soon after I began writing about Caylee and her mother, I was reminded of how biased the news could really be. In college in the 1970s, I wrote an article, An unbiased look at news slants that explained how it’s done every day. I’ve republished it over the years (with improvements) and it’s an easy read. It describes how simple it is to write a news story in a manner that subtly offers an opinion.

While attending most of the Casey Anthony hearings beginning in October, 2009, I got a lot of advice from many of the local journalists covering the case. They were familiar with me and my work. It wasn’t just advice, though. There were rumblings going on in O’do, the unofficial slang word for Orlando. Was WFTV on State Attorney Lawson Lamar’s payroll or something? I mean, it took me no time at all to see how blatant it was that the station got the jump on stories coming out of the State, and nothing at all from the defense. It was apparent that WFTV was pro-prosecution, in my opinion, and I was far from alone in my thinking.

In many of the posts I wrote before covering the trial for Orlando magazine, I made my assertions clear about bias. How I know I was far from alone in this regard was because of the feedback I garnered from other journalists covering the case. What’s up with that station? I was asked. 

Here’s the deal. I’m not about ready to accuse a television news organization of unfair reporting. You are smart enough to figure it out yourself; but doesn’t it seem like the WFTV headline about charging George Zimmerman with a hate crime is a bit premature and racially baiting? The article contains no meat or any legs to stand on and it only serves to provoke the Trayvon Martin camp of supporters.

I don’t know. Perhaps May 15 was a slow news day around Orlando. It’s interesting to note that the story broke at 4:47 pm, just in time for the 5:00 o’clock news hour, and only one station reported it. Huh. Do you think it has anything to do with ratings?

(By the way, other news outlets reporting on the WFTV story don’t count.)

George, Trayvon and Other Trials and Tribulations

Lately, I’ve been pondering a few things about George Zimmerman and his victim, Trayvon Martin. When I’ve had the time, of course…

The Age Factor

On his February 26 recorded phone call to a Sanford Police Department dispatcher, George Zimmerman described Trayvon Martin as black and in his late teens after being asked. When he took the stand at his bond hearing, he apologized to Trayvon’s mother and father, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, and saying that he thought the boy was closer to his own age of 28. That, at best, is a 10-year age discrepancy — a huge difference. What intrigues me the most is that, from a distance, Trayvon looked like a teen; hence the description to the dispatcher. Surely, as the two men approached each other, it should have been even more apparent to Zimmerman that Trayvon was, in fact, a mere teenager, especially moments before the fatal shot was fired. In my opinion, it makes the apology superficial.

Clearly, Trayvon’s age will be a factor during the second-degree murder trial. Why did George contradict his own statement to the dispatcher about the boy’s age while on the stand? How will his defense attorney, Mark O’Mara, explain this faux pas to the jury? This is not an easy math problem to solve with tangents, cosines and mirrors.

Sunset came at 6:23 PM that day. Sixteen minutes later, at 7:09, George called the police. How long had he been tailing the teen in order to decide his approximate age? Certainly, once darkness fell, it should have been more difficult to make any sort of call regarding age, unless enough light was cast from street lamps, but still, it meant a clean enough look to respond to the dispatcher’s query regarding the youth’s age.

What made him tell the dispatcher that Trayvon was in his late teens? Why did he change his tune on the stand?

The Myspace Page From 2005

You can read the page here.

“I love the fact that I can still go back home and crash on my boys couch as if i had never left, I can hit my boy up to handle a lil somethin with my sister and he’s at my house with his boys on bikes before i hang up with her! They do a year and dont ever open thier [sic] mouth to get my ass pinched.”

Is Georgie Boy admitting that his pals do time in jail for him? They never rat him out? What sort of upstanding, law-abiding citizen allows his “friends” to take the blame? A hero?

“Im still free! The ex hoe tried her hardest, but the judge saw through it! Big Mike, reppin the Dverse security makin me look a million bucks, broke her down! Thanks to everyone for checkin up on me! Stay tuned for the A.T.F. charges……”

Ex hoe? How about it ladies?

“I dont miss driving around scared to hit mexicans walkin on the side of the street, soft ass wanna be thugs messin with peoples cars when they aint around (what are you provin, that you can dent a car when no ones watchin) dont make you a man in my book… Workin 96 hours to get a decent pay check, gettin knifes pulled on you by every mexican you run into!”

Does that sound racist? Does it prove anything? Can it be used against him in court?

Here’s what I’m hearing in the hood. Well, it’s not really any kind of hood, mind you. Call it word on the street. Zimmerman was only 21-years-old at the time of this particular Myspace page. What would you expect from a 21-year-old, right? It’s an odd question, though, because Trayvon was only 17 when he died and I’m hearing all sorts of excuses for homeboy Zimmerman acting that way when he was 21, but nothing in favor of Trayvon four years his junior at the time. Why was it OK for Zimmerman to act like a street-punk gangsta at 21, but not OK for Trayvon at 17, if, in fact, he acted that way at all the night he died? You see what I mean? What’s good for the goose should be good for the gander, right? Only this time, it cost a boy his life; hardly punishable by one year in jail, served by one of Joe G’s friends, the name Zimmerman went by on his Myspace page.

Here’s something else to consider. According to the Miami Herald Website, another one of Zimmerman’s Myspace pages under the username “datniggytb” was taken down last month. datniggytb? Huh? Why was it swiftly removed? Any ideas, folks? Could this have been factored into the arrest?

Personal Observations

A lot has been said about the donation site and other support pages set up by Zimmerman’s defense attorney. In my opinion, there is nothing inherently wrong with it. Yes, public funding will save Florida’s taxpayers a ton of money since he can no longer claim his client is indigent. Yes, it is a bit tacky, but there’s no reason why he or anyone else, for that matter, cannot ask for handouts. Ultimately, it’s up to you (and only you) to decide whether to fill his coffers or not, which leads me to…

Life is full of radicals. They come from the far left and right. On the left, there are those who would be very happy to proclaim that a vote against Barack Obama is racist. I’ve heard it myself. Do I believe it? Is there any truth to it? No way! We are a diverse nation, filled with liberals and conservatives, Republicans, Democrats and independents. When it comes to voting, ethnicity no longer plays a role. We vote for who we please.

There are those who believe that a donation to George Zimmerman’s defense fund is truly racist, too. I wholeheartedly disagree. While some of the money might come from white supremacists and bigots — true racists, indeed, there’s more to it than a simple explanation. For sure, Zimmerman’s going to get funds from the NRA, either by the organization itself or its members, and from gun supporters in general. That’s mostly because of “stand your ground” laws in place in several states. And, of course, the Second Amendment; the right to bear arms. This particular aspect has nothing to do with racism. Because the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case is such a complex issue, I don’t think it’s as black and white (pun intended) as a superficial explanation or excuse. It’s much deeper. It could be either/or, or it could be both/and, if you understand my meaning. We must keep our minds open. Not all of Zimmerman’s supporters are white any more than all of Trayvon’s supporters are black. Besides, Zimmerman describes himself as Hispanic/Latino on his old Myspace page. I look beyond his race and see a cop wannabe who grew up reading way too many comic books. Nothing more.

On a more personal note, I have been noticeably absent from my blog. I am not trying to elicit any sympathy or anything, but my father suffered a stroke. He has been in the hospital all week and I have many important family obligations to attend to. My mind is focused on mostly that, plus other very personal things going on in my life. SnoopySleuth has been doing an exemplary job of maintaining my blog and I appreciate it more than she probably knows. All I can do is thank her for her efforts, and thank you for your continued support. I promise, things will loosen up, but it may take a bit of time. Soldier on!

Zimmerman in Custody: Second-Degree Murder Charge Filed

 

There you have it. The most damning evidence to date, as far as I’m concerned, came from the interaction he had with the police dispatcher, which was recorded and released:

1) He got out of his truck to;

2) Pursue the victim

In my opinion, his major mistakes were that he carried and discharged his weapon, ignoring the edicts of the Neighborhood Watch program, and he ignored the dispatcher’s advice to stop chasing after the victim. 

On the recording, he admitted both.

George Zimmerman turned himself into the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Orlando attorney Mark O’Mara will represent him. You may recall that O’Mara was the first legal analyst to join WKMG during the Casey Anthony trial. (And he continued to be.) Mark NeJame later joined the team. O’Mara is well-respected by everyone, including me. He’s a very likeable, respectable and respectful guy.

May justice prevail.

George Zimmerman to be charged...

… within hours, so the rumor goes.  Announcement is planned for 6 p.m. in Jacksonville, Florida by special prosecutor. Most likely manslaughter, but could be second-degree murder.  Stay tuned! I’ll try to stay on top of this story. WHERE IS GEORGE?!

Slimm v. Zimm

CAUTION: CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE

It’s a sad state of affairs when an innocent person’s death is ostracized to the point that it creates a huge rift; enormous enough to cut through the very fabric of race, politics and social mores. But it’s precisely what happened in the case of Trayvon Martin, the teenager whose life was cut short by a 9mm bullet fired from George Zimmerman’s gun in Sanford, Florida, a short distance away from where I live. Who was to blame?

Because of a profound difference between people of various ethnicities, religions and political affiliations, the facts don’t always come out as they should. Initially, I thought the shooting was racially motivated, for instance, but later, I didn’t feel it was any more than just some kind of profiling. That didn’t necessarily mean without due deliberation. In other words, strangers are always up to no good, right? Wrong, but George Zimmerman assumed that Trayvon Martin was as soon as he saw him. From the start of the 9-1-1 call to the Sanford Police Department, Zimmerman made it clear that he was profiling Martin:

[The bold emphasis in the quotations is mine]

Dispatcher: Sanford Police Department

Zimmerman: Hey we’ve had some break-ins in my neighborhood, and there’s a real suspicious guy, uh, [at] Retreat View Circle, um, the best address I can give you is 111 Retreat View Circle. This guy looks like he’s up to no good, or he’s on drugs or something.

If that’s not profiling, I don’t know what is, but do I believe it stooped to the level of racial profiling? At first, I did, but today I don’t. Not really. What threw me off was that the Sanford police were so quick to release Zimmerman after the shooting, under the auspices of the ‘stand your ground’ law in Florida. I have serious doubts, though, about whether Martin would have been able to walk away had the shooting been the other way around. Believe me, I’ve lived around these here parts long enough to remember seeing the remnants of separate water fountains for blacks and trees that were once used for hanging.

As for Zimmerman’s incessant phone calls to police to report suspicious activity over the course of eight years, he only mentioned the person’s race when prompted. This is from the February 26 call:

Dispatcher: OK, and this guy is he white, black, or Hispanic?

Zimmerman: He looks black.

Since August of 2011, he called the police a total of seven times, and again, only mentioned his suspect’s race after being asked. That’s not racism, but you may wonder why I wrote his in italics. It’s because I feel strongly that Zimmerman is a loose screw with very distorted views based on his own innate paranoia — his irrational distrust of others. Does that make him crazy? No, but I would rather a guy like him live far, far away from my neighborhood because he’s the type who would end up doing precisely what he ended up doing.

Everyone who knows me understands I am not a gun enthusiast. I have never owned any kind of weapon like a gun and I never will. However, I do believe in everyone’s right to bear arms. I just don’t agree that everyone is sane enough to bear one, let alone walk around with it on their person. I do believe that most people with concealed license permits are not of the same mold as Zimmerman, and from what I’ve learned, most are at odds with a vigilante like him. He made roughly 47 phone calls (9-1-1 and non-emergency) to police since August of 2004, and 9 since August of 2011. In order to put this into a proper perspective, think about how many times you’ve called the police in since 2004. How about just since August of last year? Yup, that’s what I thought, so you would agree that it’s an exorbitant number and quite abnormal, given the circumstances of where he lived and traveled throughout his neighborhood. Sure, I’m considering his self-appointed title as captain of the Neighborhood Watch program, but for crying out loud, the guy called police when someone left their garage door open. 

§

As for Sanford’s problem today, most of it stems from sweeping the incident under the proverbial rug, and for that, I don’t blame civil rights leaders for lighting the fuse of the firestorm that is now burning. Had I not known any better, I’d probably be thinking the same way a lot of people are looking at this mess:

Black boy shot dead by white dude. White dude claims self defense. Police look at scene while eating donuts and agree with dude. Case closed. Clean up the mess.

Certainly, that’s not really the case, but it’s easy to think so since this country, the south in particular, is rich with examples of this kind of thing, where the good ol’ boy system of cronyism is the way local governments have been run for generations. Because of this, I agree that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson were right in taking up this cause, although they do have a way of adding fuel to burning embers. But I also know from past experiences that without their help, there’s a very good chance that Trayvon’s story would still be tucked away and forgotten. The bottom line is, and I heard Sharpton say this with my own ears, that all they seek is the truth. Each of us should be asking for that instead of splintering into social, racial and political divides. To seek the truth is what everyone deserves, and that means justice for George Zimmerman, too.

§

So far, what do we know that is factual? There’s so much distortion out there and I’ll be the first one to openly admit I was part of it — initially, anyway. Zimmerman’s gun, for example, has no safety and a bullet enters the chamber when the clip is placed inside the grip. I was wrong about that.

There’s also a real problem over Zimmerman’s ethnicity. Is he white or Hispanic? I will stand by the initial police report. Whether Zimmerman was asked or not is not known, but Zimmerman doesn’t sound Hispanic to me. (For the record, his mother is Peruvian.)

During the 9-1-1 call on February 26, Zimmerman contradicted himself. He told the dispatcher that Martin was coming toward him and moments later he said the exact opposite. You can listen to his voice and hear the wind to show that he was running after his suspect. Again, I am emphasizing the quotations in bold:

Zimmerman: Something’s wrong with him. Yup, he’s coming to check me out. He’s got something in his hands. I don’t know what his deal is.

Dispatcher: Just let me know if he does anything ok

Zimmerman: How long until you get an officer over here?

Dispatcher: Yeah we’ve got someone on the way, just let me know if this guy does anything else.

Zimmerman: Okay. These assholes they always get away [more profiling?]. When you come to the clubhouse you come straight in and make a left. Actually you would go past the clubhouse.

Dispatcher: So it’s on the left hand side from the clubhouse?

Zimmerman: No you go in straight through the entrance and then you make a left…uh you go straight in, don’t turn, and make a left. Shit he’s running.

Dispatcher: He’s running? Which way is he running?

Zimmerman: Down towards the other entrance to the neighborhood.

Dispatcher: Which entrance is that that he’s heading towards?

Zimmerman: The back entrance…fucking [unintelligible]

Dispatcher: Are you following him?

Zimmerman: Yeah.

Dispatcher: Ok, we don’t need you to do that.

Zimmerman: Ok

Let’s try to examine the actual timeline by breaking it down:

7:04 PM: Trayvon receives phone call from his girlfriend.

7:08 PM: Trayvon’s phone call with girlfriend ends.

7:09 PM: Zimmerman spots Trayvon while sitting in his truck and calls non-emergency number. Log records show incoming call received at 7:09:34 PM.

7:10:35 PM: Zimmerman tells dispatcher Martin is coming toward him.

7:11:48 PM: Dispatcher asks which way Martin is running.

7:12 PM: Trayvon’s girlfriend calls back.

7:13 PM: Zimmerman says his truck is parked at cut-through. 15 seconds later, he loses sight of Trayvon.

7:13:41 PM: Zimmerman ends call to dispatcher.

Meanwhile, Trayvon is still on the phone with his girlfriend.

7:15 - 7:16 PM: Trayvon’s tells girlfriend he thinks he lost the guy. She then hears voices:

Trayvon: Why are you following me?

Zimmerman: What are you doing here?”

Phone cuts out at 7:16 (approximate.) Girlfriend says it sounded like the phone was dropped.

7:16:11 PM: First of seven 9-1-1 calls comes in. A high-pitched male voice is heard screaming for help.

7:16:56 PM: GUNSHOT IS HEARD.

According to the initial police report, officers Ricardo Ayala and Timothy Smith arrive on the scene at 7:17 PM, a mere seconds after the fatal shot.

There are two flaws in Zimmerman’s story, the way I see things. The timeline doesn’t add up according to his account. If Trayvon is on the phone with his girlfriend and loses the connection at 7:16, with the fatal shot coming approximately one minute later, how could Trayvon have sneaked up behind Zimmerman when the two exchanged those questions overheard on the phone? Follow me on this, please:

Trayvon: Why are you following me?

Zimmerman: What are you doing here?

Phone goes dead

Pause

GUNSHOT!

This all takes place in less than or equal to one minute - hardly enough time for Trayvon to mount a “from behind” sneak attack, as Zimmerman says he was returning to his truck, but there’s more to it than that. 

The second aspect of Zimmerman’s account of a sneak attack doesn’t make sense to me, either. Study the map:

The yellow line signifies the path Trayvon took on his way back from 7-Eleven to his father’s fiancée’s house. This was the correct path. Zimmerman’s path is in orange. He could have followed Trayvon or he could have taken the other path and swung around to face him north as Trayvon headed south along the sidewalk. Either way, I don’t see how Trayvon could have caught Zimmerman off guard. This is a major issue as far as I’m concerned, and in my opinion it adds up to an alibi that doesn’t compute.

Witness points to spot where Trayvon died.

The bottom line is that I’m more concerned with what really transpired than I am about anything else. Who is black and who is white shouldn’t matter, but it does, and both extremes are expanding the rift. No doubt, it’s a terrible shame when we break down a human life and crumble it like bleu cheese over potholes marked by liberal and conservative values, Republican and Democratic doctrines, and most shocking, what a young man’s life is worth depending on where one sits. This cannot be marred by the loud marches of vengeance seekers. There can be no coerced contrition based on speculation. While we argue over justice, we can’t lose sight of the truth. 

Trayvon Martin is dead. Had he been left alone that Sunday evening, which he should have been, he would have delivered a bag of Skittles to his soon-to-be step-brother and life would have continued as usual; uninterrupted. Instead, a man with a gun had to stick his nose into something that was police business, and for that reason alone, if nothing more, he should be held accountable. Without that gun, George Zimmerman would have been too afraid to chase after a fluffy little bunny rabbit and Trayvon would be spending Easter with his family. Instead, we’re left with fighting over a word: coon, cold, or punk. Sadly, the battle lines are drawn, and it’s Slimm v. Zimm. Which side are you rooting for?

A Loaded Question

A lot of new information has come up since my last post about Trayvon Martin. Some true, some false; with some of it somewhere in between. I will only delve into a few things that are clear to me.

To begin with, I will state with complete confidence that George Zimmerman did not work in the capacity of Neighborhood Watch anything during the early evening hours of February 26, the date Trayvon was shot to death by him — by his own admission. Remember that, because there should be no chance to back away from his pronouncement later on by claiming it was an accidental shooting. Nope, he did it and then invoked the “Stand Your Ground” law minutes later, soon after the Sanford Police Department arrived.

During his 9-1-1 call to report a possible drug induced, up to no good, stranger in the hood, Zimmerman made it clear that he was sizing the guy up. He complained that “these assholes always get away.” The cop wannabe tailed Trayvon, even after he was advised not to. This impulsive action rattled the young Trayvon. Wouldn’t you think that, in his capacity as head of the watch, Zimmerman would know the rules? If anyone was supposed to, it was clearly him — the self-appointed captain of the entire Retreat at Twin Lakes. He was the head dude; master of his enclave. It was his to command, and he most certainly put in the most courageous performance of his life that night. Bravo, George! Only he killed an innocent person, a young Black teenager. As a White/Latino man, depending on which one suits him best, does that make him a racist? I don’t know. Did he profile Trayvon? Yes, absolutely, but did he do it strictly based on color? That’s tough to say. I’m inclined to think he did it for his own selfish reasons more than anything else. He was out to rid his narrow-minded world of demons on the prowl. Demons that didn’t play by his rules.

Let’s look at what his rules should have been — the Neighborhood Watch ones he failed to follow — the ones that would have kept his blood from boiling through his veins that night:

Patrol members should be trained by law enforcement. 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. Patrol members can be equipped for their duties. For example, flashlights or searchlights are necessary for night patrols. Many mobile patrols use cell phones or two-way radios to contact a citizen-manned base station, which in turn contacts law enforcement officials when necessary. Remember your partnerships and ask for donations from local businesses. [Neighborhood Watch Manual: USAonWatch - National Neighborhood Watch Program 20/37]

Clearly, he ignored the rules of the manual he was obligated to follow. He emboldened himself by surreptitiously promoting himself from private to sergeant to lieutenant to captain, most likely in one fell swoop. Now an officer, he became confident enough to mete out his own form of justice because, in addition to that, he had the power of his gun. It was the gun that enabled him to become the zealous superhero he never was, but always wanted to be. He kind of reminds me of the movie Death Wish, only he’s no Paul Kersey, the character played by the late Charles Bronson. Kersey was a tough guy through-and-through. Zimmerman was only tough when he was packing.

§

By now, most of us have seen the video of a handcuffed (but not arrested) Zimmerman entering the Sanford Police Department, sans blood, bandages, nor any discernible injuries to his head. No blood could be seen on his clothing, including his chest, back and arms. Granted, the video is not Hollywood quality, but what’s most important is what it will fail to do in court. If he is charged, the video will do nothing to help prove that he had been pummeled by the teen.

We also have the word of Richard Burke, the Fort Lauderdale funeral home operator who took Trayvon’s remains after it was released by the medical examiner. He said that when he inspected the body, it was in “pristine” shape, minus the gunshot wound to the chest. There were no scratches or cuts on his body, and that won’t bide well for Zimmerman, either. With no wounds, there’s no evidence of any kind of physical altercation.

§

The Orlando Sentinel is now reporting that:

Tom Owen, forensic consultant for Owen Forensic Services LLC and chair emeritus for the American Board of Recorded Evidence, used voice identification software to rule out Zimmerman. Another expert contacted by the Sentinel, utilizing different techniques, came to the same conclusion.

By now, we’ve heard some of the neighbors’ 9-1-1 calls. On one of them, we could hear someone crying for help until the fatal crack of the bullet. Then, an eerie silence fell.

Owen listened to that 9-1-1 tape of the screams and compared it to the voice from Zimmerman’s own 9-1-1 call. By using software called Easy Voice Biometrics, he determined that the two voices were not the same person. Owen told the Sentinel that, “As a result of that, you can say with reasonable scientific certainty that it’s not Zimmerman.”

§

In my opinion, all of the above information does not paint a rosy picture for George Zimmerman. While that information is what I would consider evidence, I have something that’s been giving me a very itchy finger for a couple of days now. Oh, I know it was legal for Zimmerman to carry a concealed weapon. I know he had every right to be inside that gated community. I also understand his concern for safety in the neighborhood. While I question why he didn’t just roll down his window, identify himself and state his case, there was something more sinister lurking in his mind. He was out to gun himself a bad guy whether he knew it at the time or not. Why do I say that? The answer is simple and it’s been staring right at us.

For everyone who’s ever watched the TV show COPS, law enforcement personnel are tickled pink when they take a bad ass out of circulation. When they confiscate a gun like Zimmerman’s, they look for one thing first. Yup, you got it…

The chamber. Zimmerman’s gun must have had a bullet in the chamber because, when it came out of his waistband, it was fired. For crying out loud, the safety wasn’t even on. Doesn’t that mean he came ready for a kill? Did Trayvon?

Sanford Police Video of George Zimmerman

See it for yourself. Watch it again and again. It’s grainy, but you may get something out of it. Please share your thoughts. All opinions are welcome.

The National Rally for Justice on behalf of Trayvon Martin

I attended the rally for Trayvon Martin last Thursday, March 22, in Sanford. I chose to go because I truly believe Trayvon Martin was murdered. I don’t believe George Zimmerman ever set out to kill anyone that day or any other time, but a teenager is dead and he alone is responsible. 

The Stand Your Ground law does not give citizens the right to kill on a whim. You cannot be the aggressor and use the law as an excuse. In truth George Zimmerman stalked a child.

Jeffrey Toobin is an attorney, author and legal analyst. On the slate.com Website, Toobin states, “Trayvon saw someone following him, felt threatened, retreated, was still followed, and then was approached by an armed man who had 100 lbs on him. … Because Zimmerman was acting as an aggressor, Trayvon had the right to defend himself by punching, kicking, tackling, etc. Because Zimmerman was acting as the aggressor, his actions cannot be considered self-defense: you can’t initiate and then claim self-defense. The evidence for initiation is there on the 911 tape. … Why is it that a black man cannot be afraid of a white man who follows and approaches him on a street at night?”

A lot of trashtalk is coming out on Trayvon now. Some of it may be true, but it still means nothing to me. Zimmerman may not be guilty of a hate crime, but that doesn’t mean he’s innocent in the 17-year-old’s death.

I will be posting more articles in the coming days, but first, the following is a video I put together of 50 of the 141 photographs that I took at the National Rally for Justice on behalf of Trayvon Martin. Please watch it and if you feel like it, let me know what you think. Right now, I’ve got 50 pictures to post on my blog, but not on my front page. I’ll post a link to it when it’s up.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL PHOTOGRAPHS

The Tragedy of Trayvon Martin

PLEASE READ MY NEW POST HERE:

SLIMM V. ZIMM

By now, the entire world knows who Trayvon Martin is — the unarmed 17-year-old African-American lad shot dead in his tracks by an overzealous Neighborhood Watch captain, George “Triggerman” Zimmerman, on February 26 in Sanford, Florida. Before delving too deeply into this tragedy, just what is Neighborhood Watch, and who (or what) gives people the right to shoot anyone?

Actually, the National Neighborhood Watch Institute has no authority or control over anything. According to the NNWI Website, it “was formed to supply law enforcement agencies and individual’s [sic] better tools for their crime prevention dollar.”

Basically, NNWI sells the materials, including signs and manuals, necessary for police departments to train people like “Triggerman” Zimmerman. In my opinion, whatever the police department was that trained him, they did a remarkably lousy job. While the NNWI strives to “provide excellent educational materials and products that build observation and reporting skills,” somewhere along the line, all of Zimmerman’s training went out the window with one squeeze of the trigger. Not only did the system fail him, he failed the system dreadfully.

The location of the shooting was inside the gated community of The Retreat at Twin Lakes. Zimmerman lives in that community and he’s the self-appointed Neighborhood Watch captain. Apparently, he called 911 at least 47 times between August 12, 2004 and Feb. 26 of this year. Most of the calls started the same way about suspicious persons, “We’ve had a lot of break-ins in our neighborhood recently and I’m on the Neighborhood Watch.”

George Zimmerman 911 Call History

How revealing it is that most of those suspicious characters were black, yet this shooting is not supposed to be about racial profiling? Give me a break.

I went to the scene on March 21 and spoke to several people. I took photos of the spot where Trayvon died, and I laid it all out in the pictures displayed below to give you a good idea of what went down that tragic Sunday evening.

CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

This map shows the route Trayvon Martin took when he returned.

Visiting from Miami, Trayvon walked to a nearby 7-Eleven, but when I say nearby, it was about a 2-mile hike. I’m sure, like other boys his age, he got restless inside his father’s girlfriend’s house and needed to get out to do what 17-year-olds do; they text and talk on their phones. That’s not all. He wanted to buy something for his soon-to-be stepbrother, so when he got to the store, he bought a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea, turned around and headed back. Very suspicious, huh?

Almost immediately after Trayvon returned to the gated community, Zimmerman began to slowly tail him in his pickup truck. It’s as if he were lying in wait… lurking… ready to pounce at any moment. He dialed 9-1-1 to, once again, report a suspicious character, whose crime thus far was merely being black. When Trayvon put his hoodie up to keep the falling rain off his head, he suddenly morphed into a black thug. You see? This is racial profiling, plain and simple.

Straight ahead, between the two perpendicular rows of buildings, is the sidewalk Trayvon took to escape Zimmerman. It was the way back to where he was staying. 

 

Zimmerman has a concealed weapons permit and was carrying a Kel Tek 9mm PF9 semi-automatic handgun. Why, in God’s name, anyone like him needs to carry a gun in his capacity as a nobody with no authority whatsoever is beyond me. Today, he is a murderer in my book.

In recorded 911 calls, Zimmerman acknowledged that he was following a suspicious person. At some juncture, he parked his truck and began pursuing Trayvon on foot. In his subsequent statements to police, he claimed that Trayvon attacked him and he shot the teenager in self-defense, but here’s where his story falls apart. (Continued below the photos)

This is the path Trayvon took, looking south. Scott is on the left. Both are from a Japanese media organization. Facing me is the direction Trayvon took. Zimmerman parked his truck somewhere near the red car and pursued on foot.

This is the spot where Trayvon died, just to the left of the small tree.

Trayvon never left the sidewalk. He followed the path to where he was staying. As he approached his destination, the sidewalk went from being parallel to the street to winding around the side and backside of two rows of townhouses. In order to continue following his prey, Zimmerman had to get out of his pickup to pursue him. He had to run, too, which is clearly evident on one of the 911 recordings, where he acknowledges to the dispatcher that he is running after him. The dispatcher tells him not to do that, to which Zimmerman says “OK” yet ignores the request. Incidentally, dispatchers have no authority. They are civilians and all they can do is offer advice.

This is the scene looking south. The shooting took place on the sidewalk to the left.

This is what Trayvon last saw as he tried to make it back to safety, although it was dark.

From what I was told near the scene, Zimmerman raced in front of Trayvon and swung around abruptly to face him. Both stopped in their tracks. Trayvon was on the phone with his girlfriend at that moment. Bear in mind that Zimmerman weighed about 100 lbs. more than Trayvon. Trayvon asked Zimmerman why he was following him and Zimmerman demanded to know why he was there.

STOP! BACK UP!

Here’s where it gets tricky. If a nutbasket like Zimmerman came up to me, I’d want to know who gave him the authority to question who I am and why I’m anywhere. I’d ask him if he were a cop. No? Then get out of my face. It’s none of his business. That’s a natural reaction. Someone pushed first. It doesn’t matter who, because, in no time at all, a senseless vigilante pulled out his weapon and shot an innocent person dead on the spot. He shot him point blank in the chest. I’ve heard rumors he did it while the teenager was lying on the ground, on his back, but I haven’t heard anything official yet.

One of the people I spoke to was Sly, who lives nearby, but not inside The Retreat. He said that, obviously, Zimmerman knew all about the Stand Your Ground law, where you shoot to kill and claim self-defense. Without a witness, who’s there to contest it? Because of that law, the Sanford Police Department chose to not arrest Zimmerman, but my big question to them is quite simple — has there ever been an incident anywhere in the world where a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea was used to threaten someone or cause death or great bodily harm?

I didn’t think so.

Trayvon was on his cell phone talking to his 16-year-old girlfriend within minutes of his death. He told her he was being followed. She told him to run. He told her he’d walk a little faster, but he wasn’t going to run. Trayvon had no idea who this dude was or what he wanted. When he walked around the corner of a building, Zimmerman zipped on by and swung around.

“What are you following me for?” Trayvon asked.

“What are you doing around here?” Zimmerman demanded.

Trayvon must have been pushed, his girlfriend assumed, because his headset fell to the ground and the phone went dead. Who pushed who first doesn’t matter. This is clearly the case of a cop wannabe. Zimmerman took the law into his own hands, as if he had the power of a real law enforcement officer. This was his goal in life — to be a cop. In one loud pop, that dream went down the drain as blood flowed from Trayvon’s chest. Trayvon’s own dreams faded into oblivion in a matter of seconds.

There’s a good reason why Zimmerman never became a police officer. What’s sad is that no one looked at him intently enough to know he was a threat to everyone’s safety; a guy who took his self-proclaimed title as captain of the neighborhood too seriously. Today, he’s nothing more than a cold-blooded murderer. He alone provoked the incident. Would someone please tell the Sanford Police Department that you cannot be the instigator and then claim Stand Your Ground self-defense?

Incidentally, police confiscated Zimmerman’s gun. He says he needs to buy a replacement to keep up his work as a Neighborhood Watch captain. Would someone please tell me this is not an insane world?

Tonight, I will try my best to join thousands of others in the National Rally for Justice on behalf of Trayvon Martin.