George Zimmerman has been found not guilty in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin:
Neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman was cleared of all charges Saturday in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager whose killing unleashed furious debate across the U.S. over racial profiling, self-defence and equal justice.
Facts about the case
Florida's Stand Your Ground law:
The Florida law is a self-defense, self-protection law. It has four key components:
- It establishes that law-abiding residents and visitors may legally presume the threat of bodily harm or death from anyone who breaks into a residence or occupied vehicle and may use defensive force, including deadly force, against the intruder.
- In any other place where a person “has a right to be,” that person has “no duty to retreat” if attacked and may “meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”
- In either case, a person using any force permitted by the law is immune from criminal prosecution or civil action and cannot be arrested unless a law enforcement agency determines there is probable cause that the force used was unlawful.
- If a civil action is brought and the court finds the defendant to be immune based on the parameters of the law, the defendant will be awarded all costs of defense.
The transcript of the 911 call regarding the events of that night:
Dispatcher
Sanford Police Department.
Zimmerman
Hey we've had some break-ins in my neighborhood, and there's a real suspicious guy, uh, it's 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. It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about.
Dispatcher
OK, and this guy is he white, black, or hispanic?
Zimmerman
He looks black. ...
Dispatcher
OK, he's just walking around the area…
Zimmerman
looking at all the houses.
Dispatcher
OK…
Zimmerman
Now he's just staring at me. ...
Zimmerman
Somethings 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
(unclear) See if you can get an officer over here.
Dispatcher
Yeah we've got someone on the way, just let me know if this guy does anything else. ...
Dispatcher
Are you following him?
Zimmerman
Yeah.
Dispatcher
Ok, we don't need you to do that.
Zimmerman
Ok.
Dispatcher
Alright sir what is your name?
Zimmerman
George…He ran. ...
Dispatcher
Alright George we do have them on the way. Do you want to meet with the officer when they get out there?
Zimmerman
Yeah. ...
Zimmerman was labelled as "white" by news sources, one of which edited the 911 call to make it appear that he was racist.
Timeline of the entire affair
Obama stuck his oar in:
If I Had A Son, He Would Look Like Trayvon
Trayvon Martin was a strapping six-footer and admired the "gangster" life:
Taken off his Twitter account, however, Trayvon’s image is much more menacing, with a Twitter feed to match.
“@NO_LIMIT_NIGA,” as Trayvon called himself, tweeted and retweeted about “ThickD-ckThursday,” a favorite “PickUpLine”: “My you have a longue tongue..What do you use it for?” And, having dispensed with the poetry, got dirty: “f–k a b–ch, any b–ch, who you want? Take yo pick, but you gone have to take yo time.”
Martin's mother trademarked his name.
The witness for the prosecution was proven to be less than reliable or even literate:
The star prosecution witness in George Zimmerman's murder trial finished her testimony today - leaving behind serious doubts as to her credibility after the defense attempted to pick apart her testimony.The government aided in the protests following the verdict:
During an often tense and uncomfortable cross-examination, Rachel Jeantel clashed with attorney, Don West - at one point replying 'That's retarded sir,' when asked if Trayvon Martin attacked George Zimmerman.
The difficult exchanges between the young woman who was on the phone with Trayvon Martin moments before he was shot dead, revealed inconsistencies in the story she told Martin's parents, their lawyer Benjamin Crump, and to prosecutors in the aftermath.
And in an embarrassing moment, Jeantel was forced to admit in court today that she could not read a letter she allegedly wrote last year about the teen's shooting, saying, 'I don't read cursive.'
The 19-year-old's time on the stand became so awkward and testy that Martin's parents were left shaking their heads in dismay at times as she gave her answers to West.
According to the documents: March 25 – 27, 2012, CRS spent $674.14 upon being “deployed to Sanford, FL, to work marches, demonstrations, and rallies related to the shooting and death of an African-American teen by a neighborhood watch captain.” March 25 – 28, 2012, CRS spent $1,142.84 “in Sanford, FL to work marches, demonstrations, and rallies related to the shooting and death of an African-American teen by a neighborhood watch captain. March 30 – April 1, 2012, CRS spent $892.55 in Sanford, FL “to provide support for protest deployment in Florida.” March 30 – April 1, 2012, CRS spent an additional $751.60 in Sanford, FL “to provide technical assistance to the City of Sanford, event organizers, and law enforcement agencies for the march and rally on March 31.” April 3 – 12, 2012, CRS spent $1,307.40 in Sanford, FL “to provide technical assistance, conciliation, and onsite mediation during demonstrations planned in Sanford.” April 11-12, 2012, CRS spent $552.35 in Sanford, FL “to provide technical assistance for the preparation of possible marches and rallies related to the fatal shooting of a 17 year old African American male.”
Cue riots... now:
Protesters angered by the acquittal of George Zimmerman held largely peaceful demonstrations in three California cities, but broke windows and started small street fires Oakland, police said.
(Sidebar: then they're not peaceful, are they?)
Obama calls for calm after the killing of his son:
U.S. President Barack Obama called for calm on Sunday after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of black teenager Trayvon Martin, as civil rights demonstrators planned rallies in a handful of cities to condemn racial profiling.
I wish black Americans would see that the Liar-in-Chief uses them as voters and thugs for hire. If he truly cared what the law allowed Zimmerman to do or how the jury responded, he would have kept his fool mouth shut to begin with. But an Islamist-supporting Alinskyite should NEVER let a good race-dividing crisis go to waste.
Also, not letting a good crisis go to waste, Zimmerman:
After his acquittal on murder charges for fatally shooting Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman may go to law school to help people wrongly accused of crimes like himself, close friends told Reuters on Sunday.
Moving on...
Iran may be closer to building a nuclear weapon:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Iran was getting closer to the "red line" he set for its nuclear program and warned the international community not to be distracted by the crises in Syria and Egypt.
Tehran was continuing enrichment activities and building inter-continental ballistic missiles, which could give it a military nuclear capability, he said on CBS' "Face the Nation." ...
"They haven't yet reached it but they're getting closer to it and they have to be stopped," Netanyahu told CBS. He said the West's sanctions against Tehran needed to be intensified and backed up with the threat of a credible military option.
Where the pilot failed, the stewardess succeeded:
Flight attendant Lee Yoon Hye, 40, is being hailed a hero for carrying passengers to safety just moments before Asiana Flight 214's remains burst into flames.
Lee, who has nearly 20 years' experience on the job, was the last person to exit the wreckage — and even tried to return to the plane to double-check that all of the passengers escaped safely.
What the hell is Germany thinking?
Mittelstand firms offer a number of selling points. They allow China to acquire business and technical know-how along with much-sought-after patents. German companies have also become synonymous with top-quality products.
"Quality and 'Made In Germany' brands are preferred takeover targets for Chinese companies," a recent study by the Munich University of Technology reports. "And, in certain industries, increasing China's level of innovation plays...an important role, too."
Many of China's recent German acquisitions have been in the industries of the future, such as electronics and renewable energy. Engineering firms, a traditional German strength , have also topped the shopping lists of Chinese investors.
For now, there is little sign that torrent of takeovers is tapering off. And Germany's strong performance in a weak European market has made its small and medium-sized enterprises even more attractive to Chinese buyers, analysts say.
Why give China credibility?
(thank you, Harold)
Is this a step forward?
But until now -- amid the outrage -- there has been among many people an unmistakable element of denial. Although there have been good, outspoken individuals, certain Muslims have been uncomfortably over-fulsomely praised for their "courage" in speaking out against the crimes -- as though it were something remarkable for a Muslim to speak out against a rape-gang. What a low place to put the bar of praise. If you congratulate people for speaking out against the gang-rape of children, your society may be in something of a mess.
Every crime must have the same justified outrage at the same moment. That those on the outside looking in who would rather not speak about child abuse, violence against women or radicalism must swallow their
This is deceptive:
Key greenhouse gas emitter Australia on Sunday announced it will scrap its carbon tax in favour of an emissions trading scheme that puts a limit on pollution from 2014, a year earlier than planned.
One is paying for the "privilege" of polluting (if one believes that carbon pollutes) but the ridiculous tax goes to the wayside? I suppose sensible pollution laws are out of the question.
(With lots of thanks)
No comments:
Post a Comment