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

ohhhhhhhhhhhhh boy

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-03-24/news/os-trayvon-martin-new-black-panthers-protest-20120324_1_gathering-third-protest-gated-community

sorry abt the typos, I'm typing on a phone while driving a prius thru a drive thru starbucks in a whole foods parking lot in a skyscraper

― the late great

haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Bjo otm

Time to cancel my family vacation to Samford, Florida.

Former Orange-Osceola County prosecutor Esther Whitehead said the Panthers' bounty opens them up to civil and possibly criminal liability.

"I can't see how anyone can go out and take action as a private citizen without some government action like the issuance of a warrant," she said. "It doesn't make sense. It doesn't sound reasonable."

Well gee, it FUCKING WORKED FOR ZIMMERMAN.

Zimmermann's attorney pulled out a new wrinkle and said Trayvon broke his nose, and pointed out Zimmermann's injuries.....

....like why are people still pointing to this as some kind of smoking gun? I don't think most are disputing that at some point, there WAS indeed a scuffle between the two prior to the shooting.

I think it's pretty obvious though that George himself instigated the altercation, and there's no indication as to who was 'winning' the fight. Still doesn't qualify as 'stand your ground'. I actually have a friend that is very pro-gun/pro-self defense that still believes Zimmermann should be arrested. Even THAT crowd doesn't support him.

After listening to the recording, Zimmermann at some point mentions that Trayvon is looking at him, and coming towards him, right before he mentions that he starts running. My guess is that he was just naturally walking that way on the sidewalk, and saw George staring at him and talking on the phone, and as he began to pass by, overheard the call in which Zimmermann was describing him to the dispatcher, and got scared and ran.

going back up to the Panthers', as much as I understand the anger and can't possibly understand their perspective (being a white male), I can't say I support what they're doing at all.....although yes, the comment made by the prosecutor was sadly ironic.

Zimmermann's attorney pulled out a new wrinkle and said Trayvon broke his nose, and pointed out Zimmermann's injuries.....

....like why are people still pointing to this as some kind of smoking gun? I don't think most are disputing that at some point, there WAS indeed a scuffle between the two prior to the shooting.

Yeah, seriously, from Martin's perspective, he's being stalked around the neighborhood by what, for all he knows, is a sexual predator or kidnapper, so he decides to take action. But Zimmerman's supporters have painted themselves into a corner here, because the next thing they're going to have to say to condemn Martin's actions is that "Stand Your Ground" is Not For Black People.

The Miami Heat take a stand.
http://www.thenation.com/sites/default/files/user/17/miami_heat_hoodies_ap.jpg

It didn't seem possible, but now we take a turn for the even more absurd and stupid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3C-P0Rm1Ow&feature=g-logo&context=G217dc1eFOAAAAAAACAA

Like I don't even....

like even if 'goon' was what he said, does he not realize the violent 'thug' connotations of the word goon?

can be a term of endearment in certain contexts, but certainly not when coming out of the mouth of a dude who has called FUCKING 911 ON THE GUY.

"'goon' is apparently a term of endearment in the high schools these days"

lol

like are we just bending over backwards to make this go away by insulting everyone's intelligence now?

oh wait...

i dont know any ilxors under the age of 30 who use 'goon' as a term of endearment any more

dude didn't realize his own daughter was clownin him to look stupid on national tv

^bingo

zimmerman's not racist; he just hates blah people

give it two weeks, dude will get the Nobel Prize

is he implying that zimmerman used a term of endearment for martin before killing him

that's what fucking makes no sense!

"ahh, he's a good kid. shame I have to plug him."

they're seriously gonna go with the "zimmerman was lonely and just wanted a friend" defense

the old Lennie Small strategy

he just didn't know the strength of his gun! he thought a bullet was a term of endearment!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMkzdn2TDuI

otm

"aw shucks, those fuckin goons <3"

A good friend and I will call each other goon when we get mock-exasperated at each other but that's b/w us.

"I Shot Him But It Was Intended To Feel Like A Kiss"

"a racial epitaph"

A good friend and I will call each other goon when we get mock-exasperated at each other but that's b/w us.

k3vin k3ll3r

huh?

i was joking that the friend Alfred called 'goon' was you

At this point, I could totally see Zimmerman taking the Martin family to civil court for damages over his broken nose. And probably for all the pain and suffering caused by having his named dragged through the mud.

brb gonna go eat my weight in TUMS

i was joking that the friend Alfred called 'goon' was you

I always call you "tool"

;)

^literary critic nails my internet persona

Zimmermann's friend said Zimm thought this murder would just 'blow over'.

"Ahh hey, it's been a week. My son's dead, but you learned your lesson, right?"

Little Bunny Foo Foo to thread.

yeah, i mean, goon is only one letter off from an outdated racial epithet but i don't think zimmerman meant to call martin a gook.

new york state senator eric adams wears a hoodie: https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-State-Senator-Eric-Adams/80559174013

also trayvons school released his suspension records, as if that had any relevance whatsoever to this incident

I thought the implication was the cops obtained it and leaked it

fantastic concern trolling from businessinsider.com (don't have a link handy, read it earlier today)

also trayvons school released his suspension records, as if that had any relevance whatsoever to this incident

OK, as much as it pains me to say it, the water has been officially muddied enough that I'm not sure who the fuck to believe. Police say they have a witness who claims Trayvon, after he saw that he was being followed, snuck up behind Zimmerman and punched him in the face. Which does not justify killing him, but certainly shifts the balance of power a little, if it's true. And it's a big if. But I don't know why to trust the innocent passerby scenario any more than any others at this point.

Josh you took the same line with DSK iirc. "Hang on, wait a minute, let's consider what we absolutely know to be true".. Am I remembering that right? I have a lot of time for that hard-boiled approach to crime especially since it can yield such dramatically satisfying twists but at the same time I'm not a cop or a journalist reporting this story so I'm really pretty comfortable completely convicting GZ in the court of my own opinion. In a way I'm surprised he hasn't been jumped repeatedly, the guy was a racist nutter, actively threatening his own neighborhood with a loaded weapon night after night

how do you sneak up BEHIND someone and then punch them in the face

alley-oop punch

http://www.herosandwich.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/fnf-plasjoker.jpg

seems like ANY possible version of the night boils down to "unarmed black teenager shot to death by paranoid racist vigilante"