Trigger-happy Neighborhood Watch Kills Black Teenager

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missesdash

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I'm sure a lot of people have heard about this, but I didn't see a thread.

D.L. Chandler, News One - The curious case surrounding the killing of African-American 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in a gated Florida community has the family of the teen questioning the circumstances that led to his untimely death at the hands of an armed neighborhood watch captain. The twist to this story? The watch captain is a White man. Martin’s family will be filing a lawsuit today, according to the Miami-Herald, and are demanding the arrest of the captain.

Trayvon Martin’s life ended last month during the NBA All-Star Weekend. His brisk walk to a convenience store to buy candy for his 13-year-old brother turned into a confrontation with the armed captain. Martin, who lived in Miami, was visiting his father and step-mother in the gated Retreat town homes at Twin Lakes in Sanford, some 20 miles north of Orlando.

While details are sketchy at best, as Martin was returning home, watch captain George Zimmerman reportedly confronted the teen after a 911 call went out of a suspicious person walking in the neighborhood. While waiting for police to arrive, Martin family lawyer*Ben Crump says Zimmerman approached the boy, who was near the sidewalk near his father’s home.

When police officials arrived, Martin was dead by way of a single gunshot wound and Crump says the boy was unarmed. “What do the police find in his pocket? Skittles,” Crump said. “A can of Arizona ice tea in his jacket pocket and Skittles in his front pocket for his brother Chad.”

http://newsone.com/nation/crime/dlc...-killed-in-gated-community-by-white-watchman/

I've read some updates recently and apparently the confrontation began because Zimmerman was following the kid down the street at night. The boy turned and (rightfully) asked "what's you problem?"

From what I understand of Florida law, self-defense can be claimed regardless of who began the fight. But I have a hard time believing a 200lb 26 year old man armed with a gun felt his life was threatened by a teenager with a pack of skittles.

Sad story.

Seems his biggest mistake was "walking while black."
 
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Pyekett

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Oh, good grief. First I read of it. Thanks, missesdash.

What a nightmare.

These are the incidents I remember when I hear for someone calling for us all to be "beyond race," or whatever the current appropriate term is. That's an option for members of the dominant culture. It is beyond naive to expect it of young African-American men.

You can never, never, never forget you are Black. Not in this culture. There is always someone to remind you, and it doesn't matter what else there is to say about you.

I can't find words to express how terrible that is.

[Added for clarity: Not that it is terrible to be a person of colour. It is terrible to have to know that that is all some will know about you and all they care to know about you. Same for any single characteristic about any of us, I suppose, although this characteristic in particular seems to come with some of the worst punishments.]
 

Mharvey

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Finding it hard to believe this kid could have established himself as being a credible threat. Moreover, neighborhood watch yokels are given two days of training and an information packet. They are not militia, nor are they supposed to actually stop a crime much less a "suspicious person." (even if the had cause to think the kid was). Their job is call the police.

Seems no one's denying this moron was following the kid. In doing that, he already stepped over the line of his responsibility.

Throw the book at the son of a bitch.
 

FoamyRules

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I've heard about this and shamefully this sort of thing is happening way too often even in this day and age. Okay, so Zimmerman is going to claim self defense? Mharvey is actually correct. He stepped out of bounds when he decided to follow this kid. It really isn't his job to prevent a crime from happening. I didn't even know neighborhood watch yokels could carry guns.
 

cherita

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This is a sad story. That watch captain should be arrested. I can't believe he wasn't when this happened. I mean, is it his responsibility to respond to 911 calls? To confront "suspicious persons"? While armed? I'm pretty sure the neighborhood watch's purpose is to call the police and let them handle it.
 

Mclesh

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I feel sick reading this. So sad.

The guy (Zimmerman) needs to be put away because you can't just go around killing innocent people, even if you think they don't belong. Even if you think their skin is the wrong color and they're out walking in your neighborhood at night.

But nothing will bring the poor kid back to his family, and that is the tragedy.
 

rugcat

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The guy (Zimmerman) needs to be put away because you can't just go around killing innocent people, even if you think they don't belong. Even if you think their skin is the wrong color and they're out walking in your neighborhood at night.
I doubt very much if this was a malicious act. It's not like the guy decided to shoot him because he was black and didn't belong there.

What it's about is the perception that black equals dangerous. He felt threatened and panicked, I'd say. That's no excuse, of course. In fact, in some ways it's worse, because it's a far more common mindset than the rare case where a person deliberately sets out to murder someone.

It's another reason why walking around with a loaded gun for "protection" (legal in Florida, I'm sure) is really not a good idea.
 

missesdash

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I doubt very much if this was a malicious act. It's not like the guy decided to shoot him because he was black and didn't belong there.

What it's about is the perception that black equals dangerous. He felt threatened and panicked, I'd say. That's no excuse, of course. In fact, in some ways it's worse, because it's a far more common mindset than the rare case where a person deliberately sets out to murder someone.

It's another reason why walking around with a loaded gun for "protection" (legal in Florida, I'm sure) is really not a good idea.

Exactly. Someone on another site said he took his gun and went to investigate because "not everyone is afraid of the world." But his actions were clearly based in fear. The kid was walking down the street, he's clearly very young and harmless looking if you've seen the pictures and about half of Zimmerman's size.

But he was an unfamiliar black male. And that is terrifying for some people.
 

Mclesh

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Exactly. Someone on another site said he took his gun and went to investigate because "not everyone is afraid of the world." But his actions were clearly based in fear. The kid was walking down the street, he's clearly very young and harmless looking if you've seen the pictures and about half of Zimmerman's size.

But he was an unfamiliar black male. And that is terrifying for some people.

This reminds me of something I heard recently, "The opposite of love isn't hate, it's fear."

Fear motivates people and nations to do terrible things.
 

backslashbaby

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OMG, just look at the pictures of the cute young guy. Who in their right mind would look at him and think 'dangerous criminal'?

'Gated community' said a lot to me about this case, although that is admittedly a stereotype itself. What a horrible tragedy for the boy's family and loved ones :(

Zimmerman looks tough/angry, imho. I bet his own personality is the biggest reason for this to have happened :( eta: along with racism, of course! That appears to be a given considering the circumstances.
 

DancingMaenid

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I heard about this a couple days ago. What a tragic story.

I agree that Zimmerman likely wasn't acting maliciously, which in a way makes it even more tragic to me. This is a man who may honestly have thought he was doing the right thing, which is really scary. I think the most dangerously hateful people are a minority. It's often the people who don't realize they're prejudiced or who think they're doing the right thing who can end up doing the most harm.
 

Monkey

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The whole thing makes me sick to my stomach. So sorry for the families involved, especially the family that lost their little boy.

And the shooter? Clearly he's a fearful person. He lives in a gated community and carries a loaded weapon even there. It's a damn shame he took it upon himself to approach a child that intimidated him when he could have simply waited behind locked doors for the police to discover there was absolutely nothing wrong.

You know, I always tell my children that a scared animal is more likely to attack you than an angry one. This is one animal that might be too fearful to leave in the general populace.
 

FabricatedParadise

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This is somewhat local to me. The local news is reporting that the police are refusing to release the details (the shooter's statement, etc.) I do personally think that race had at least something to do with it and it's horrible that this happened. But, given the news coverage the story is receiving, I highly doubt this will slide as "self-defense". As I understand it, the shooter has a prior history of violence.

http://www.baynews9.com/content/new...s/articles/cfn/2012/3/10/family_of_fatally_sh
 

Don

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I added it, sorry. Is that one of the rules here? Or were you just curious? I may have forgotten to link some of my other posts.
I'm replying 'cause it's late and who knows who's around this time of evening.

I went and read the "READ THIS BEFORE POSTING HERE" thread so I could come back and point out where that was mentioned, but either I'm too tired to read straight or it's not there.

In any event, we've had discussions about that before. The general idea is to include a cite / link to an original source whenever possible. This gives the rest of the room something to sink their teeth into, so to speak.

A bit about your position on the topic is recommended as well. Just dropping a link to some controversial subject on the floor and running away before it explodes is considered a bit on the trollish side.

There are a couple of other good sticky threads at the top of the forum worth reading as well.

I'm sure one of the mods will be along to tell us what I got wrong sooner or later. :)
 

GeorgeK

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The Captain, the Watch Captain didn't know who lived in the community that he's in theory supposed to protect, apparently with lethal force? Was he on loan from Mooks-R-Us?
 

GeorgeK

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The boy didn't live there. He had family there.

That still is inexcuseable. I realize you weren't making excuses for him. I just feel like all aspects of our society are being taken over by the incompetent. I feel old.
 
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