George Zimmerman found not guilty

@willpayton:

not for the martin family....there son is still dead

Of course some people had suspicions. That's what the media was counting on. If Florida would have been allowed to handle this the way it was going to initially, it probably wouldn't have even gone to trial. Mere suspicion doesn't make a trial. The media is the reason this became a national issue and its blatant misinformation preceding the trial is well documented. A simple Google search can verify this. There's a very good reason Zimmerman is suing NBC specifically. He's going to take them to the cleaners.

That's to your credit. Many people have and still are.

@reignmaker said:

The point i'm making is I think the media was on it because I think alot of people were outraged because Zimmerman wasn't being tried. I don't think it's all about the media trying to make a profit by sensationalizing something.

Only in America can a brown man kill a black man and the white man gets blamed for it.

@awesam:

1. Who cares about her age, she could have been mistaken ( or was that just what the court decided), and again who cares. They still badgered her during questioning and said she wasn't speaking properly even though thats due to a medical condition.

2. Lol, yes you can. That is the law. I was just reading it. Look it up. Matter of fact, here is the definition:

"In the United States, the stand-your-ground law states that a person may justifiably use force in self-defense when there is reasonable belief of an unlawful threat, without an obligation to retreat first in order to prevent death or great bodily harm to oneself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”

3. Refer back to the law. Again: If you believe that someone is about to cause you or someone else bodily harm or commit a serious crime, you are justified to use force against them. Martin believed he was in danger and thus had the right to do so. Run? Lol, yeah because it's not like Zimmerman was following him or had a car or anything.

Seriously, what are you not getting?

@ultimatehero0406: What I'm not getting is why you keep justifying Trayvon's actions. Just because he thought Zimmerman was going to do something, it doesn't make Zimmerman guilty. Martin isn't on trial... he's dead.

LOL

@reignmaker: yeah, I guess so

@awesam: I was bringing up the point that the same defense they used for Zimmerman could be used for Martin as well.

And as for your comment before about me being qualified, in a few ways, yes, I am more qualified than their jury. One of the jury, the lady that's writing a book on the affair admitted she pretty much shut the media and stuff like this out of her life and as such may as well have been lving under a rock up until she was called for jury duty. And also by many of her responses in interviews she had, I could tell she was very ignorant about the law and affairs of this matter. You act like the jury they had was some sort of wise grand council of chosen elders. They are people the same as I am.

@ultimatehero0406: The jury was chosen by the defense and prosecution. The woman you were talking about was probably the most qualified. Someone who wasn't influenced by the media.

Also, it's irrelevant. The trial is about Zimmerman, not Martin.

1) I never stated that the hood was used to shield him from rain; what I did say is that it could have served a alternate purpose. I believe that the phone call to the police station mention George Zimmerman claiming that he was roaming around.

2) I honestly believed he was pissed off about Zimmerman following and decided to confront him about it.

3) Since when did you have to be anonymous for you to be profiled? I guarantee that he wasn't familiar with everyone in that community on a personal level, and it seems like Trayvon's father had no knowledge of Zimmerman despite living in that community with his girlfriend.

First of all Zimmeran should have been charged with manslaughter. The operator told him not to follow him. To me Zimmeran is a cop wannabe. At least take away his gun.

@nick_hero22 said:

1. What are you even arguing? I never said you said that. You asked why it was irrelevant that he was wearing a hoodie, the fact that it was raining was my answer. It's not suspicious that his hood is up if it's raining and he doesn't have an umbrella. The fact that he called the police station isn't the problem, although from the way he described Trayvon and what he was doing I believe he was overreacting, the fact that he followed him is the problem.

2. I'm sure you do, but nobody can say that is the case accept for George Zimmerman.

3.That question doesn't make any sense.

I kinda listen to what my mom says about this. We should pray for Trayvon's family that they can get through this, but we shouldn't be making any accusations, because we don't know the whole story. We don't know exactly what happened that night, we don't know if something else had happened between them, we really just don't know. I'm not supporting Zimmerman, but IMO I don't think that we should be the ones trying to play judge, jury, and executioner, especially because we don't know the full extent of the story. So yeah.........

@vance_astro: I'm tired of debating, so do you want to feel free to agree to disagree at this point?

PS: I edited my previous post, so that it is easier to understand.

@amalgamuniverse said:

What is the harm in making accusations, though? It's just words.

The parts about it that didn't make sense are still there but, ok. Also do you mean "agree to disagree"? We were already disagreeing.

@awesam: You don't need to be influenced by the media in order make a reasonable decision. However, insight into the legal system provided by it is a big help. If she had no prior knowledge these kinds of things, she would probably mainly be going by what she is told on the spot which makes her point of view rather narrow and open to error such as not taking into account a counter to a law etc.

But anyway I was just sharing my point of view. Carry on.

@vance_astro: Oh, it's just that idk...... I guess I shouldn't have said that like that, because it kinda sounds like I'm trying to say what's in everyone's best interests when I don't really know them. But I think it's just because, we should wait until we have all of the facts before we say something about them. It's just something I believe in I guess. Of course it still happens when I do that, but I try not to. Sorry if I sound rude or anything.

@vance_astro: Yep

PS: That third point was in response to this "Someone can't profile you if they know you."

Zimmerman case. With a bit of humor.

Thank God he wasn't a cop. If he had been Martin would still be dead, except he would have had crack on him and a gun in his hand, the department would have said clean shot and Zimmerman would have been given a medal and a raise.

Just an FYI. I thought they should have went with manslaughter also. but at any time during the trial if either the judge or jury or prosecution thought they didn't have enough proof for murder but did have enough proof for manslaughter, they could have asked for the reduced charge. seeing that no one did that makes me think, they didn't have enough proof for anything.

@amalgamuniverse said:

Nah, you don't sound rude. I was just questioning your logic. I understand you probably shouldn't make judgements about people without ALL the facts but in a situation where only two people know what happened and one of them is it's hard to not make assumptions and have suspicions about what happened.

I reread it, I don't know what you "edited" but it still appears to be the same. Also it's not that I don't get what you're asking it's that it's a ridiculous question and I don't feel like explaining to you what's wrong with it. I was hoping you'd figure it out on your own.

I agree, at first he was charged with second degree murder... and then later the manslaughter charge was brought in, the only problem was the prosecution, as far as I know, never brought the charge up other then one time. The trial was a farce to begin with, the original prosecutor wouldn't charge him and the original police chief wouldn't arrest him. Chief was fired and a special prosecutor was brought in, that makes it look like they wanted to go after Zimmerman no matter what the evidence showed.

Some of you disgust me. The fact that a few of you claim Zimmerman as a hero is apalling and makes me wonder your intelligence. At the end of the day he killed an innocent 17 year old in a situation that could have been avoided had he listened to law enforcement. And the claims that some of you make makes me wonder if you really did watch the trial. Martin DID attempt to run away. He made it to his Dad's fiances house. When he went for home that's when he was surprised by Zimmerman who asked what he was doing there. His ex girlfriend who was on the phone said that Martin asked why Zimmerman was following. The fighting ensued and we don't know which party started it. Even though it was claimed that the beginning voices to"get off" were his. Do you honestly think Trayvon said that he was going to go outside and bash someones head into the cement. Zimmerman did something to provoke it and the tables turned. Are some of you blind enough to think that Zimmerman wasn't the agressor. The kid was going to his Dad's house after dark, like any teen does. He had skittles and a can of Arizona. Zimmerman had a 9mm handgun. Which one do you think was looking for a fight? He literally told the cops that he was going after him. Trayvon tried to run and Zimmerman followed.

This case is sad, and some of you that march Zimmerman around as a hero are delusional. He killed a kid that was probably scared for his life. Zimmerman came out of the car with a loaded gun and the safety off that he was prepared to use. Trayvon was percieved as a criminal, chased as a criminal, potentially became one and shot. And for what? Did he pay 98 cents for that Arizona instead of 99?

Go ahead and praise Zimmerman? The fact is he profiled a kid as f*cking a*s hole and punk. How he profiled him I'll let you choose whether it be race or clothing attire. And in the end a living human beings life was taken away when he was just trying to get back to his dad's house. Ya, I get that the law dictated Zimmerman not guilty. But honestly tell me that the law is always right. Can you really go back through history and tell me that the law is always right? No, it isn't. This is about common sense and decent Human morality.

Zimmerman was innocent from the start.

He was clearly acting in self defense.

Your just dodging around the question! Why does one need to be anonymous in order to be profiled? So you believe that people can't be suspicious of others in a community based off of race? I have a analogy for you, let's say that there was a group of friends (4 whites and 1 black) and a some money came up missing, who do you think others would be most suspicious of? And isn't this a form of racial profiling?

1. ra·cial pro·fil·ing

   Noun The practice of substituting skin color for evidence as grounds for suspicion.

I'm not surprised. But sooner or later, he'll face justice. His time will come

He was innocent. Case closed. Goodbye yall.

Need a kleenex?

Zimmerman needs to learn how to fight. He got his a$$ handed to him. It was proven that he can't even throw a punch. Pathetic.

LOL. I am definitely moving from Florida when I am old enough. I also think its ridiculous that woman got 20 years for firing a warning shot. I hate Florida and always will. Seriously though Vigilantes yeah he better watch for Green Arrow or Batman. He is just another Casey Anthony case. How many trials in Florida the outcome was Not Guilty win obviously they were. I also think it is ridiculous how people say Zimmeran was acting in self-defense. Lets look at the facts. He saw a kid walking. He decided he would profile the kid. Claimed the kid was suspicious. Started following him. Called 911. Was told to stop following. Ignored that. Kid was walking home. Zimmeran confronted him armed. Martin was acting in self-defense. They fought. Zimmeran decided to shoot the kid. He wanted to be a hero. He is a Wannabe cop. He should have been charged with Manslaughter. Even though he is free he should have his gun taken away.

This case was nothing like casey anthony...

@ living monstrosity, huh?? I dont know what case youve been watching but clearly not this one lol nobody blamed a white guy. Zimmerman however is half white, half latino...

@biteme_fanboy: exactly!! Thank you!

Is racial profiling illegal?

____________________________

I hear many assumptions, speculations, a bunch of conjecture but very little actual evidence circumstantial or otherwise. The prosecution had to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and they didn't. Because there is so little actual evidence and because so much of the prosecutions case was built upon assumptions, conjecture and speculation it is inevitable that it is going to come down to each person's particular POV concerning guilt. Thankfully the jury followed the law and did what was right with the evidence they had in front of them. If I am ever in a similar circumstance, I can only hope I will be presumed innocent until it is proven otherwise beyond a reasonable doubt and am not condemned on such flimsy grounds as the prosecution presented.

I wonder if it was me walking around, looking at houses, hoody pulled up -- would Zimmerman have done the same? (short, white female FYI). Would he have followed me in his vehicle with a gun, safety off? For all he knew, I could have a gun on myself or be a martial arts expert so using the argument of my size making him not feel threatened wouldn't hold much water. If you truly believe he would do the same as he did with Martin, then don't bother reading the rest of my post. Be assured you won't agree with it and do yourself the favour.

What I do find disturbing is someone on here used the word "escape" (I can't be bothered to go back and find the exact post) to describe when Zimmerman lost sight of Martin and that being the reason for either getting out of the car, or attempting to go back to it. Martin didn't "escape" from anything -- he committed no crime. Does no one see a problem with this mentality?

As for Zimmerman calling the police -- this is something you are required to do as a representative of Neighbourhood Watch when you suspect a crime is about to be committed (or committed already -- either/or -- suspicious behaviour anyway). Zimmerman following Martin -- even after being told not to by the 911 dispatcher -- negates the idea in my head that he wasn't racially profiling Martin. Zimmerman was. Why are people seeming to be jumping around this issue? Zimmerman was pretty confident Martin was going to be committing a crime (or did) -- the gun was on him, safety off, driving in his truck as he followed the younger man, and even exiting the truck with said gun is more than sufficient evidence this is true. Why else would all these actions happen - to go so far? It was because the kid was black -- of course it was. And before anyone jumps on me with "oh -- you don't know for sure" and "he didn't kill Martin because he's black" -- yes, of course I don't know for sure and yes, I don't think Zimmerman killed Martin because he was black -- but what wasn't on trial was this racial profiling of the victim prior to the events which led to his death. It couldn't be anyway -- racial profiling is an offense only when exhibited by a law enforcement officer, of whom Zimmerman was not. I am comfortable stating Trayvon Martin would be alive today had he not been racially profiled by a Neighbourhood Watch citizen - Mr. Joe Public. This is what I find tragic.

Houses were being broken into -- supposedly by African American men -- and based on that, Zimmerman concluded Martin was up to no good. That is racial profiling. You can argue any other person would have came to the same assumption -- okay, that's a worthy debate for another thread -- but just like how the rule of law can only be applied to Zimmerman in terms of killing Martin in 2nd degree murder or manslaughter, same thing here. But racial profiling wasn't put on trial -- it was Stand Your Ground.

As for the rest of the events that night -- according to state law -- the jury were unable to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Zimmerman killed Martin with a depraved mind -- a racist in every interpretation of the word. What could be surmised, based on the evidence required for Stand Your Ground, that it could be reasonably believed Zimmerman felt his life was in danger and/or fearful of grievous injury. The prosecutors aimed for 2nd degree, manslaughter was still an option but even then, based on the evidence and the laws of the state of Florida, they could not convict Zimmerman. It would have been a travesty of justice had they done so.

It's sad all around and while there might be this idea of two separate camps in regards to the case, there really are many different factions all with their own concerns on how this all came to be. Zimmerman had to be found not guilty -- there could be no other outcome -- but there are a few problems. One, how this Stand Your Ground law is being applied in Florida courts and two, this ignoring or refusal to acknowledge the problem with racial profiling by anyone. The problem of racial profiling is hard to tackle -- socio-economic factors etc, but just because it is difficult doesn't mean it should be brushed aside. It's important to note the Attorney General of Florida joined several other states in pursuing racial profiling as a policy by enforcement officers as an effective tool for crime prevention in April of last year, rather than against the law. If that's not enough to convince you there is a problem in that state (and others), I don't know what can convince you.

Everyone wants this thread to die -- everyone wants this to go away and I understand why but discussion is always a good thing and there are several topics being discussed in this thread worth delving into. If you are in here just to be right -- so be it -- but I do notice those who want this story to go away are those who declare Zimmerman innocent, and that's that. That's telling in itself.

All my opinion. Hopefully that's clear to anyone who wasted their time reading this.

What people dont know is zimmerman has defended black people and helped them prior to this. He once defended a black guy from a cop over them beating on a black homeless man. Now if zim was a racist, why would he do such?

Btw this was back in 2010 not too long ago...

http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/04/zimmerman-demanded-discipline-in-2010-race-related-beating-for-officers-who-investigated-martin-shooting/

So honestly this whole racial profiling, zimmerman is a racist is pure bs created by the mainstream biased media. Period. George was following tray simply because A. The neighborhood was getting robbed alot by someone with a similar description and B. Tray looked like a suspicious fellow. Had nothing to do with him being black or wearing a hoody.

I did basically knew next to nothing about this, thought Trevor was a defenseless kid, who got shot by this a hole. Zimmerman is still a dick, but Trevor is not as innocent as I was let to believe.

Just saw a video today of Charles Barkley saying he agrees with the verdict.

And Trayvon got shot. Now you tell me; who got the last laugh?

I knew there was a reason why the MonStars wanted your basketball skills.

Good man.

Has a cop framing a dead body that actually happened? If so how would you know? Not trying to condescend you or anything, i honestly just want to know.

@kuonphobos said:

No, but it's not ok.

@hardcorefakes: There was no laughing.

You can't prove that a cop planted a gun on a body, after all its his word vs the dead persons, but far to often cops get away with killing people because, "They fear for their safety" and that's all the justification they need. Just look at varies stories were cops shoot unarmed people in their beds, who are hand cuffed, or otherwise restrained.

http://www.king5.com/news/investigators/20-million-claim-against-DOC-by-man-shot-16-times-214962061.html

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/12/handcuffed-man-shot-in-moreno-valley-is-identified.html

And here is an interesting case of a man shooting himself in the head, in the back of a cop car while handcuffed...

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/08/21/autopsy-arkansas-man-shot-himself-while-cuffed-in-back-of-police-car/

So again I say thank God Zimmerman wasn't a cop or there wouldn't have been a peep about this.

I'll take your word for it. I remember in Occupy Oakland the *Anarchist* were all wearing cop boots... Fuck idk, stories like that can really make a man depressed. Just keep in mind one thing, cops are people too, and they aren't bullet proof. All criminals hate cops, and all criminals are "cool" in the eyes of pop culture. Thats why i wouldn't want to be a cop, i couldn't take it if people called me pig behind my back.

That still doesn't justify killing innocent people though.

Laws aren't any real good when there is no real justice.

This case doesn't throw me into a tizzzsy because the American system and the people who apply it, are imperfect. I recognize that reality.

I don't put my faith in the justice system. I don't convict people, only God does. God is the only one who does justice and can bring it. At the same time, Everyone should thank God for having mercy, and should pray to God that he continiues to have mercy and does not give us all that we deserve.

This is evil. This the twistedness of human nature. Self-serving monsters, treasuring things up for ourselves, but really just treasuring nothing but garbage. Seeking to destory all that is good in the effort to live for ourselves, not knowing that living for ourselves is our own destroyer.

And This is how i feel about what is wrong with this case:

A. He tried to completely handle police-business, which is just reckless:

"Hey! there's someone for me to follow!"

"Let's play Cops and Robbers!"

B. Say what you want but since Travyon was black, it makes it easier to dsimiss the case:

"And he's black! No one will mind if I happen to carelessly shoot this guy down!"

C. The fact that "self-defense" is so strongly argued in this case is laughable:

"I'll get into a fist fight with him. I can claim innocence by pulling out my gun and shooting him during round of fistocuffs. I can easily encourage them to believe my story about what happened since the other guy that was involved is dead, due to my shooting of him."

"They'll have no choice but to say it was self-defense, depsite the fact that I followed him(even when cops advised me not to) and then got into a fist-fght with him only to just end up pulling out my gun and shooting him to death. That's right. I didn't just shoot to stun and injure... I shot to kill! No way that can be called anything but self-defense!!"

in conclusion,

Stuff like this has happened and will happen again and again. What happened with Travon and Zimmerman is nothing new!

There it is. The dark side of humanity. Why are you suprised? You act like you've never seen the face of evil before!

By the way, I get my point accross in a joking manner, even though what I say is serious, becasue that is one the ways I get people attention becasue people like to fall asleep to reality. What happened isn't funnny at all but the tragic irony of it is.

Illegal for police to partake in but not Joe Public.

@lykopis said:

This is true.

Any relevant links at hand?

Wouldn't it be very difficult to prove that a police officer was "racially" profiling?

@kuonphobos said:

Nobody said that a police officer was racially profiling. You asked if it was illegal, what you should have got out of what lykopis just said is that for George Zimmerman it's not illegal to racially profile because he has no authority. For the Police it is. Your question was answered.