Let's talk about Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, and how unbelievably fucked up this all is

as long as there is a possibility of him having any kind of charges against him, definitely

xxxpost I remember when we first passed this law and detractors were labeled as paranoid. Now, the statistics indicate a sharp and clear correlating rise in "justifiable homicides" in the state since its passage.

few would dispute someone's right to defend themselves from being under attack, but the problem is clearly, the populace of Florida is interpreting this law VERY loosely, and lawmakers and police are afraid to challenge anybody who uses the defense.

Get rid of it. Now.

The thing is, anyway, eve if Trayvon had robbed a house, and was, say, walking off from that, that fucker has no right to play cop and SHOOT HIM DEAD.

And if Im to believe that law means he legally can and it isnt murder then god help u all :/

well even the dude that drafted the law says it doesn't cover what Zimmermann did. The problem is how the law is interpreted by both citizenry and the law. It's given way too wide of a berth.

oh and Trayce otm

well i ask because i wish the nat'l dialogue was more abt the NRA's favorite fantasy (that if everyone was packing we'd be safer) and less about whether bernard goetz jr should go to jail

I think you're being mildly facetious, but let's be clear: there's a sizable difference between the circumstances surrounding George Zimmerman and those surrounding Bernie Goetz.

right, i'm just drawing the parallel because that was the last time i recall "vigilante justice" seized the nat'l headlines

bernie goetz was arrested and charged (and convicted, although not of much).

and the poor black victims of drive-by crossfire that the pretty white dallas columnist reminds us of (and would equate with) were victims of undoubted criminal activity.

this dude was neither arrested, nor charged, nor investigated, nor anything. it's one very bad thing when a racist jury perverts the law; it's wholly another when the law itself happily accepts perversion.

TPM, others: ALEC & the NRA wrote the 'stand your ground' law(s)

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/03/stand_your_ground_legislation_that_may_have_let_tr.php

I thought it was common knowledge that NRA sponsored the stand your ground laws?

this is also lol: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/21/george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin-_n_1371171.html

"You cannot provoke the confrontation. You cannot be the instigator and then claim 'stand your ground,' Sundby said.

funny, seems like that's exactly what george zimmerman did

the NRA yes, but ALEC having a hand in the drafts, transmission, prioritizing is a new factoid i think. and sick.

what else does ALEC do? I know they have a hand in privatizing prisons

have fun!

http://alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed

looks like they have a finger in every pie

sorry, I just wanted to use that phrase

http://newsone.com/nation/elonjameswhite/how-occupy-wall-street-co-opted-the-million-hoodie-march/

i don't want to start another million post argument about OWS, but i think we can mostly agree that this is a bit fucked up? i'm reading a lot of personal accounts of the million hoodie march and i have yet to read one that wasn't lamenting Occupy's presence. and apparently a livestream caught Occupy protesters trying to redirect the march towards zucotti park.

Chief's out

that'll solve it

rmde

God forbid he should fucking arrest and charge Zimmerman before the door hits his ass on the way out.

According to the police, the police made an investigation, and the police found nothing to merit an arrest, so obviously the police need not take a second look, because the police are capable and fully to be trusted with this case.

Do you think the police chief who is taking "a tmeporary leave" is going to back down from that one inch? Not on your life, buster. He's the president of the club.

Yeah there was no doubt in my mind that with all this negative attention that some of the policemen were going to need to find a new line of work.

temporary resignation?

isn't that a 'holiday'?

Been stressful for the poor guy. If anybody deserves a holiday it's him.

that's fair, that's fair

So George Zimmerman once had a domestic violence complaint in which -- quelle surprise! -- he claimed that it was his ex-fiancee's fault and HE was the real victim.

But don't worry, Geraldo Rivera has gotten to the bottom of things: It's all the hoodie's fault.

Uhhhh...isn't that basically the old "women shouldn't dress like they wanna be raped" saw? BULLSHIT, GERALDO.

Looks like the writer of the original Stand Your Ground legislation is squirming:

As far as I’m concerned, that Neighborhood Watch guy was breaking that law as soon as he started following that kid. He was stalking him. That’s not standing your ground," said Rep. Richard "Rich" Glorioso, R-Plant City, who voted for the bill. "If the law is applied right, it’s a fine law. But we worried about how people would interpret it, and how it would be applied, when we were discussing i

But we worried about how people would interpret it, and how it would be applied, when we were discussing i

But we figured, fuck it, let's pass it anyway and see what happens.

after geraldo says "you can't rehabilitate the hoodie" (judiciously acknowledging that fearing all black dudes in hoodies are here to rob+murder you "may be irrational in some extent", although he doesn't have the statistics right here in front of him) and suggests that this whole thing could have been avoided had martin only dressed a little better (we're trying really hard not to kill you guys but come on you have to meet us halfway!) he suddenly torpedoes his thesis with this exception:

I think unless it's raining out, or you're at a track meet, leave the hoodie home.

but it was raining out, so i guess we're back to this thing being the fault of the guy who shot and killed the unarmed teenager instead of the fault of the guy who was so thoughtless and utopian he thought he could wear a sweatshirt around white people without getting murdered?

anyway huge lol at the final line in the transcript:

HUDDY: Perception is reality.

yes let us talk now about geraldo rivera

yeah a trap obviously but i was caught off guard

Obv that hoodie thing is completely horrible and wrongheaded in any event, but according to his girlfriend he only pulled the hood up when he realised he was being followed anyway.

Sorry everyone, go back to leaving it well alone...

but according to his girlfriend he only pulled the hood up when he realised he was being followed anyway.

What was pulling up the hoodie supposed to achieve, make him invisible?

yeah I've never understood that as an impulse, seems almost like a knee jerk saw-it-in-a-movie thing

Plus: Cuts down on drag/wind resistance/something for someone to grab onto.
Negative: lose peripheral vision, attract attention/look suspicious.

uh

are you saying that wearing a hood up makes people look suspicious in general, or is that only for black people

what do you think Zimmerman is doing all day considering the entire country wants his head on a platter? is he like going to work and getting Wendy's drive-thru and shit? is he hiding in his house?

obama: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/23/obama-trayvon-martin_n_1375083.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

"If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," Obama said, underscoring how the issue affected him on a personal, and not just a political or legal, level. "I think [Trayvon's parents] are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves, and we are going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened."

idk, if i was being watched / followed / pursued by someone i don't know, i would probably instinctively try to conceal myself and evade my pursuer, idk about you xps

yeah Whiney i've been wondering the same thing. where is this guy?

are you saying that wearing a hood up makes people look suspicious in general, or is that only for black people

Nah. I just meant that if I were crazy psycho vigilante guy and I saw someone I already thought was suspicious (because I am crazy), then I saw that person see me and put their hood up ("but according to his girlfriend he only pulled the hood up when he realised he was being followed anyway"), I'd probably only get crazier. But of course, I am not crazy.

Boils down to: wearing a hoodie is not suspicious, hood up or no. Flipping up a hood when you see you're being followed: slightly more suspicious. Though of course in this case, he was already being followed by a psycho racist vigilante, so ...

Oh, and I assume Zimmerman is still on neighborhood patrol, what with the threat of reprisals and stuff. Someone's got to keep the gated community safe!

yeah Whiney i've been wondering the same thing. where is this guy?

at EMP.

noted racist enclave

this is cool

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/Trayvon-Martin-Walkouts-at-Miami-Schools-143962536.html

president's comment sure to harden certain hearts even further i'm afraid. this is going to get worse.