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

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/03/18/446768/what-everyone-should-know-about-about-trayvon-martin-1995-2012/

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/17/2700249/shooter-of-trayvon-martin-a-habitual.html

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201203190005

the miami herald piece is highly recommended

Zimmerman told neighbors about stolen laptops and unsavory characters. Ibrahim Rashada, a 25-year-old African American who works at U.S. Airways, once spotted young men cutting through the woods entering the complex on foot, and later learned items were stolen those days.

“It’s a gated community, but you can walk in and steal whatever you want,” Rashada’s wife, Quianna, said.

They discussed the topic with Zimmerman when the watch captain knocked on their door late last year. Zimmerman seemed friendly, helpful, and a “pretty cool dude,” Ibrahim Rashada said.

“He came by here and talked about carrying guns and getting my wife more involved with guns,” he said. “He said I should have a weapon and that his wife took classes to learn how to use one.

“I do have a weapon, but I don’t walk around the neighborhood with mine!”

Actually, he does not walk around the neighborhood at all.

“I fit the stereotype he emailed around,” he said. “Listen, you even hear me say it: ‘A black guy did this. A black guy did that.’ So I thought, ‘Let me sit in the house. I don’t want anyone chasing me.’ ”

For walks, he goes downtown. A pregnant Quianna listened to her husband’s rationale, dropped her head, and cried.

“That’s so sad,” she said. “I hope our child doesn’t have to go through that.”

Travis Williams, a black 16-year-old who wears dreadlocks, said last year a man came to his house and accused him of stealing a bicycle. The police even came and checked the serial numbers on the bike in his garage.

Problems in the 6-year-old community started during the recession, when foreclosures forced owners to rent out to “low-lifes and gangsters,” said Frank Taaffe, a former neighborhood block captain.

“Just two weeks before this shooting, George called me at my girlfriend’s house to say he saw some black guy doing surveillance at my house, because I had a left a window open,” Taaffe said. “He thwarted a potential burglary of my house.”

Taaffe sounded chagrined when he noted that the complex is now majority-minority. Census figures show Retreat at Twin Lakes is 49 percent white, non-Hispanic, 23 percent Hispanic, 20 percent African-American and 5 percent Asian.

Everything about this story makes me so fucking angry I can barely see straight.

otm

I never sign online petitions but I did for this

it's so fucked up

Ta-Nehisi is of course on fire with all this. His latest:

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/03/sanfords-police-chief-is-the-real-victim-of-racism/254723/

I haven't had the courage to listen to the 9-1-1 calls on this, but judging from my fb feed they are fucked up

Zimmerman told police that was him crying for help and that Trayvon started the fight.

so it was him that was crying for help, and he happened to stop crying exactly when he fired the shot - makes tons of sense

The Orlando Sentinel reports that 16 states have adopted laws similar to Florida's since its landmark bill was passed in 2005. Those laws are regularly backed by the National Rifle Association.

leaves out the part where the NRA also drafts the 'stand your ground' legislation

one of the more frustrating parts of this story is that it's pretty clear what that Zimmerman guy was all about, but no one could really step in and stop him before something like this inevitably happened.

Taaffe sounded chagrined when he noted that the complex is now majority-minority. Census figures show Retreat at Twin Lakes is 49 percent white, non-Hispanic, 23 percent Hispanic, 20 percent African-American and 5 percent Asian.

so 49 percent white and 48 percent minority? doesn't add up to majority-minority (or 100 percent, which might be the source of the confusion)... obviously not important at all but just weird from a reporting standpoint.

i think they're citing the figures to correct taaffe's assertion that the complex is majority-minority

would be more clear if they were directly quoting him i guess

what are the other 3%?

I don't get why a civilian just bothering pedestrians (while armed!) is presumed to be fine? isn't the fact that he got out of his car incriminating enough?

it basically seems like you can walk around Florida accosting people and when one inevitably resists you get to shoot them.

it's rather difficult to get a quail hunting license in florida

it basically seems like you can walk around Florida accosting people and when one inevitably resists you get to shoot them.

this kind of fits what I think of Florida tbh

A police officer “corrected” a key witness. “The officer told the witness, a long-time teacher, it was Zimmerman who cried for help, said the witness. ABC News has spoken to the teacher and she confirmed that the officer corrected her when she said she heard the teenager shout for help.” [ABC News]

13. Three witnesses say they heard a boy cry for help before a shot was fired. “Three witnesses contacted by The Miami Herald say they saw or heard the moments before and after the Miami Gardens teenager’s killing. All three said they heard the last howl for help from a despondent boy.” [Miami Herald]

14. The officer in charge of the crime scene also received criticism in 2010 when he initially failed to arrest a lieutenant’s son who was videotaped attacking a homeless black man. [New York Times]

DJP otm

whoah this is the first I'd heard of any of this... creepily, the Zimmerman quotes/descriptions remind me of these e-mails my condo assn periodically gets from one of our members who has taken it upon himself to act as "building security" (to wit):

Be careful this morning folks. I was followed and had to retreat and stand my ground early this morning.While being followed. I returned back to the gate and had to stare this fellow down as he did the same to me.He came no further just stood on the corner and stared.He was pacing the buliding when he saw me come out .I went up the hill a bit to evade him.Few minutes I turned back to head Up York As I continue towards 20th I saw him again and he tried to sneak me,but he realized I had seen him.Turning towards me he tried to approach. I turned and headed back for the gate. Stood there. He came no further,but stared me down as he stood on York. I realized he had to know we are protected.Starred him down.I Wanted him to know We are protected..Could not see his face well ..

I find this guy deeply creepy. anyway, carry on...

shakey, that dude sounds beyond creepy

really hope that guy doesnt have a gun

he "patrols" the "building perimeter" every morning at 4am. nothing suspicious about that, nope.

You should call the cops on him.

it's occurred to me.

Not that I'm suggesting cops wouldn't act just as creepy. But at least it would blow the guy's mind.

actually had a recent case here in Austin that was pretty similar: http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2012/02/03/man_killed_in_early_morning_sh.html?cxntfid=blogs_the_blotter

that story doesn't mention it, but there was another one where a neighbor talked about how paranoid they guy was.

“We are taking a beating over this,” said Lee, who defends the investigation. “This is all very unsettling. I’m sure if George Zimmerman had the opportunity to relive Sunday, Feb. 26, he’d probably do things differently. I’m sure Trayvon would, too.”

un-fucking-believeable.

it seems like zimmerman will eventually go down, but this entire thing is obv severely depressing from start to finish

If Zimmerman isn't at least arrested for this, I will go to Florida and build a jail cell with my own two hands and drag him bodily into it.

time asking the tough questions http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/03/19/trayvon-martins-murder-was-the-motive-self-defense-or-racism/

i have faith that eric holder and the justice department will set this right

http://timenewsfeed.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/trayvon-martin-and-george-zimmerman.jpg?w=600&h=400&crop=1

okay so the guy on the right is a white guy...?

my habitual hunt for the creepiest commentary i can find has revealed some white people who are very angry zimmerman is being called a white person by the media, since he is clearly hispanic and probably jewish.

his father called him a "Spanish-speaking minority" in a press release

I'm not angry really, just confused

lots of hispanic ppl identify as white

that's news to me

ok

wow really wish I just did not bother to google "George Zimmerman Jewish"

I live in a heavily latino neighborhood and have lived my whole life around latinos - literally never heard anyone assert that.

I have met a small number of latino Jews (Arturo Ripstein! total bro) but that's kind of rare.

xp

it's also a german name -- it basically means carpenter

i've definitely filled out forms (maybe even the census?) where "non-hispanic caucasian" was an option

in california they used to say "white not of hispanic origin"

yeah, that's what it is

“We are taking a beating over this,” said Lee, who defends the investigation. “This is all very unsettling. I’m sure if George Zimmerman had the opportunity to relive Sunday, Feb. 26, he’d probably do things differently. I’m sure Trayvon would, too.”

what the fuck is this? by not being outside while black? not going to 7-11 to get iced tea and skittles?

and of course his main concern is the negative attention his department is receiving because of this

My black twitter friends tell me that this case is worse because the 17 year old was killed for nothing more than being black. But is the black 17 year old killed accidently by a drive by shooting any more dead than Trayvon? Again, is that any less tragic??

In my twitter conversations I was schooled on “wealth disparities,” and “racial disparities,” and how I was “someone operating in whiteness” that couldn’t possibly understand.

http://blog.chron.com/texassparkle/2012/03/the-tragedy-of-trayvon-martin/

(More on that “white” part later)

sorry, the way i saw that tweet before posting it cropped the photo to show just head & shoulders

if it was gawker they'd show the picture and blur out george's name.

oops i've somehow conflated two separate threads sorry

For only $5,000, you can own a piece of American history:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/12/us/george-zimmerman-gun-auction/index.html

jesus fucking christ

I would without a moment's hesitation contribute to a GoFundMe to have him killed by a hitman from the classifieds in Soldier of Fortune magazine.

i'll chip in if the hitman uses zimmerman's gun to do kill him

how does this guy keep getting worse

lol

http://gawker.com/racist-mcshootface-drives-auction-price-of-george-zim-1776436650

buried lede:

The most recent seemingly legitimate bid was placed by the user “Brez Morrell,” for $485,000.

holy fucking shit

yesterday i thought, you know, i don't really care about this seller; i really want someone to keep track of the buyers.

Something very bad is going to happen to this man sooner or later

Is it, though? He seems to have coasted a fair distance on being an unrepentant murdering ultradouche. I half expect Trump to name him as his VP pick at this point.

sustained lol @ "racist mcshootface"

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/05/17/george-zimmerman-taunts-trayvon-martin-s-parents-they-didn-t-raise-their-son-right.html

Zimmerman genuinely disgusts me. He is like a villain in a bad movie, or a stooge on his way to getting whacked.

How has someone not hunted him down and killed him yet?

Because that's his level ffs

And?

No matter how awful a person George Zimmerman is, I feel that it's wrong to root for his death. I prefer to use that energy to root for someone amputating all of his limbs and selling him to a travelling sideshow as the Human Worm.

eventually America will find the right violent solution to all its problems

I don't want him dead I want him contrite

ashamed

regretful

human

i want him dead tbh

He's already human. How's that working out for you?

I'm not super proud of how much I want him to suffer and die, it's not a quality in myself that I feel righteous about, but I'm not terrifically ashamed of it, either. people overuse the term "garbage" to describe people who have noxious opinions or w/e but this murdering racist shitbag should suffer and die imo.

He's already human. How's that working out for you?

well, you know what I mean. The kind of human who might express remorse for awful things they have done.

No matter how awful a person George Zimmerman is, I feel that it's wrong to root for his death. I prefer to use that energy to root for someone amputating all of his limbs and selling him to a travelling sideshow as the Human Worm.

I feel comfortable cosigning on to this.

On the one hand, I don't really want anyone to die. On the other hand, he's clearly an extremely dangerous racist, who has already murdered one boy, and the justice system won't do anything about him...

I half expect Trump to name him as his VP pick at this point.

This might be the saddest... not lol certainly, more like resigned head nod... I've ever experienced on ILX. Our country is just so noxious and ugly right now.

well, you know what I mean.

yeah but Dan's line might be the best ILX post I've read in years

I'm not sure how I'd feel if he was murdered. Someone would have to commit a murder and maybe be convicted in order for it to happen, and that's not something I hope for anyone.

Maybe it could be reasonably disguised as an act of nature.

i think i'd most want to see him in prison

i think i'd most want to see him in prison

^^^^^

Likelihood of him becoming a martyr to racists if murdered? Though he's doubtless already a martyr to racists.

RIP Alton Sterling. Executed at point-blank range. This is so fucked up.

Jesus fuck

Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. claims that both officers’ body cameras fell off during the incident

two trained police with a taser can't take down an unarmed man? fuck outta here

what can we fucking do to stop this shit

America found a new hero today:

http://www.wftv.com/news/officials-george-zimmerman-punched-in-face-for-allegedly-bragging-about-killing-trayvon-martin/417278308

give that man a medal

Uhhh, the last bit of the 911 call they played made zero sense. Given that several people gave a different account of what went down, and given that Zimmerman is basically human vomit, I'll just assume that he's lying.

it's almost like he's done this before...

Is he applying for a job in the new administration?

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/nier-lover-george-zimmerman-kicked-out-of-florida-bar-after-racist-clash-with-waitress/

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/george-zimmerman-homeless-suffering-ptsd-report-article-1.1615673

lol sorry didn't realize how old that was

worldssmallestviolin.gif

Words cannot express how much I hate this man and want him dead.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article238030539.html

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer acquitted of homicide charges in the 2012 fatal shooting of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, is suing Martin’s family, prosecutors and others involved in the case he claims rested on false evidence, according to a copy of the suit sent to the media Wednesday.

Zimmerman is represented by Larry Klayman, a high-profile legal crusader tied to conservative causes and the founder of Judicial Watch before splitting with the activist group.

The suit in Polk County Circuit Court cites information in a documentary about the case that accuses the Martin family of engineering false testimony, and the director has scheduled a press conference this week in Coral Gables to coincide with a film screening there. The suit seeks $100 million in civil damages, alleging defamation, abuse of civil process and conspiracy. A copy of the suit was distributed to media Wednesday by the movies’ director, Joe Gilbert. The case does not yet appear on the online docket of the Polk court system.

isn't Klayman the fella who tried to sue Obama because he felt threatened as a white man