Trayvon Martin - Why The Ten Day Suspension?

[OVERTAKEN BY EVENTS - SEE UPDATE... and UPDATE II.  and UPDATE III]

Trayvon Martin was up in Sanford, FL on a school night instead of back in Miami because he was on a ten day suspension from school.  Ten days suspensions don't include a death penalty, but one might wonder what, if anything, his suspension indicates about his temperment and inclination to initiate a scuffle.

As to what we know, not much - his school records are sealed and the family is not releasing them.  However, we have seen this:

Still, Trayvon had nonviolent behavioral issues in school, and on the day he was killed, he had been suspended for 10 days from Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School in North Miami-Dade.

“He was not suspended for something dealing with violence or anything like that. It wasn’t a crime he committed, but he was in an unauthorized area [on school property],” Martin said, declining to offer more details.

The high school is considered a magnet school due to its programs in the visual and performing arts.  The student handbook includes disciplinary violations and punishments.

Basically, a Level I violation is punished with a choice from Plan I; Level II violations with Plan II, and so on up to Level V / Plan V.  In addition, repeated violations at one level can result in a penalty from a higher level (violate the dress code often enough and you're out!).

However, the father seems to be saying that Trayvon Martin was on a ten-day suspension for a one-time offense.  That means he committed a Level III, IV, or V violation.

I am ruling out Level V, which looks like pretty extreme behavior:

Most Serious, Dangerous or Violent Behaviors
• Aggravated assault
• Aggravated battery
• Armed robbery
• Arson
• Assault/Threat against M-DCPS employees or persons
conducting official business
• Battery or Aggravated battery against M-DCPS employees
or persons conducting official business*
• Homicide
• Kidnapping/Abduction
• Making a false report/threat against the school*
• Sexual battery
• Possession, use, sale, or distribution of firearms, explosives,
destructive devices, and other weapons.*

Plan V penalties are a ten day suspension, recommendation for expulsion and a police report.  I don't see any way that fits this story.

Level III, on the other hand, overlaps well with the father's description:

Offensive/Harmful Behaviors
• Assault/Threat against a non-staff member
• Breaking and Entering/Burglary
• Bullying (repeated harassment)*
• Disruption on campus/Disorderly conduct
• Fighting (serious)
• Harassment (Civil Rights)**
• Hazing (misdemeanor)
• Possession or use of alcohol and/or controlled
substances
• Possession of simulated weapons
• Sexual harassment**
• Trespassing
• Vandalism (major)

Per the father, Trayvon "was in an unauthorized area".  That is either trespassing or B&E.  Level III penalties cover a range, and do require a police report:

• Parent/guardian contact***
• Suspension from school for one to ten days****
• Permanent removal from class (Placement Review
Committee decision required)
• Diversion Center
• Recommendation for alternative educational setting
• Recommendation for expulsion

The ten day suspension was the maximum; as to whether he received a max punishment in terms of recommended expulsion, your guess is as good as mine, or better.

As I said, no death penalty is included.  And although having a sense of his temperment might make some scenarios seem more plausible than others it would prove nothing whatsoever about how the scuffle between Martin and Zimmerman actually developed. And on the subject of temperment, let's add that Zimmerman had a domestic violence situation with his spouse ending in mutual restraining orders, and an assault charge on a cop that was dropped after he took what sounds like an anger management class.  That was all seven or eight years ago and he is now 28, but who's the hothead?

That said, Zimmerman's claim on his 911 call was that Martin looked suspicious; his updated defense will be along the lines of "the guy who was busted for trespassing or breaking and entering looked to me like a guy who would trespass or break and enter".  Zimmerman's detractors will talk about lucky guesses and stopped clocks.

All inconclusive.  I waste my time so you don't have to.

SINCE IT'S ALL ABOUT RACE: 

Dr. Michael M. Krop HS is 41% Hispanic, 29% White non-Hispanic, 28% Black, and 0.1% Asian.

Is that White Hispanic, the new category created for George Zimmerman, or non-white Hispanic?  Beats me.

UPDATE:  The Sanford PD seems to think that pushback will calm the situation, or maybe save some jobs.  They are now leaking like a sieve to the Orlando Sentinel.  The suspension is a sidebar to the headline, but here we go:

Trayvon was visiting his father's fiancée, who lived there. He had been suspended from school in Miami after being found with an empty marijuana baggie. Miami schools have a zero-tolerance policy for drug possession.

So the father misrepresented the nature of the suspension. 

As to the headline:

Police: Zimmerman says Trayvon decked him with one blow then began hammering his head

With a single punch, Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who eventually shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old, then Trayvon climbed on top of George Zimmerman and slammed his head into the sidewalk several times, leaving him bloody and battered, authorities have revealed to the Orlando Sentinel.

That is the account Zimmerman gave police, and much of it has been corroborated by witnesses, authorities say.

Zimmerman has not spoken publicly about what happened, but that night, Feb. 26, and in later meetings he described and re-enacted for police what he says happened.

In his version of events, he had turned around and was walking back to his SUV when Trayvon approached him from behind, the two exchanged words then Trayvon punched him in the nose, sending him to the ground, and began beating him.

Zimmerman told police he shot the teenager in self-defense.

Zimmerman seems to be the only living witness to the initiation of the fight.  However, "John" described Trayvon on top beating Zimmerman, who was calling for help, in a Feb 27 Fox 35 Orlando story discussed here.

Well - now we have a clear idea of Zimmerman's story, and we are sure the police have at least one witness to support part of it.

Zimmerman's critics will say that his version does not square with the version offered by Trayvon Martin's girlfriend, who was on the phone with him at about the time the incident ocurred.  I described a bit of my skepticism about the dramatic emergence of this new witness in this post:

So how can it be that Trayvon's girlfriend went undiscovered for three weeks, only to be conveniently found by the Martins' attorney *after* the 911 tapes were released?

...

The police should have gotten her statement before the tapes were out.  The Martin family attorneys are officers of the court in addition to being advocates for the family, but I know what I would tell my client before I deposed her in a case like this, especially with the 911 tapes at hand.  Well, if I were a lawyer and had clients...

In any case, the attorney's story is that the girl was freaking out for three weeks but no one knew she had been talking with Trayvon moments before he was shot until Trayvon's dad leafed through his cell phone records.  Yeah - the young lady never blurted out "OMG! I was talking to him just before he was killed!" to her mother or anyone else.  

She will be speaking with the grand jury if the case gets that far (the latest Sentinel story says it may not), so they can see for themselves.

UPDATE II:  Now the AP is out with a statement from the family:

Family: Pot Linked to Trayvon Martin Suspension

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: March 26, 2012 at 1:27 PM ET

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — An unarmed Florida teenager fatally shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer was suspended from school because traces of marijuana were found in his book bag, a spokesman for the teen's family said Monday.

Trayvon Martin, 17, was suspended by Miami-Dade County schools after the residue was discovered in a plastic baggie in the book bag, spokesman Ryan Julison said. Martin was shot Feb. 26 by George Zimmerman while he was suspended from school and visiting this central Florida town with his father.

"We maintain that regardless of the specific reason for the suspension, it's got nothing to do with the events that unfolded on Feb. 26," Julison said.

Also Monday, state Department of Juvenile Justice confirmed that Martin does not have a juvenile offender record. The information came after a public records request by The Associated Press.

His possible drug use has nothing to do with this except Zimmerman told the cops on his 911 call that he thought Trayvon Martin looked high and now we learn that, like many other high school kids, he enjoys a bit of weed.  Did the cops recover drugs at the scene, or could they have been lost in the scuffle?  Was a tox screen part of the autopsy?  Do some people get paranoid while high (I did, or at least, that's what the voices told me...)?  Could Trayvon Martin have been worried that Zimmerman was trying to steal his stash (the existence of which is speculative)?  Zimmerman's defense attorney should be able to feast on this and raise all sorts of questions and reasonable doubts, as the prosecutor well knows.

Well - this is a bit of a blow to the liberal narrative, but there is no death penalty for enjoying marijuana.

UPDATE III:  The Florida Empire strikes back - the Miami Herald got some police reports on Trayvon Martin - the February suspension was for marijuana, as noted above; the previously unreported October suspension was formally for graffiti, but Martin was found in possession of womens jewelry of dubious provenance and a screwdriver described as a "burgalry tool" (although sometimes a screwdriver is just a screwdriver). They note the nuance:

Multiple suspensions paint complicated portrait of Trayvon Martin

Pushback leaks from police in Miami and Sanford.  Let's include this look at the Martin family attorney, Ben Crump, an Al Sharpton wanna-be who has racked up some important wins.

FWIW:  On the Sanford Initial Police Report (Not the coroner's report) Trayvon Martin is listed as 6' 0" and 160 lbs.  My guess is that they were just guessing, and even people with experience often over-estimate the weight of the preternaturally slim (I speak from experience at county fairs.)

Comments

[Jane]

TM,

Libby, Duke and now Trayvon. No one is better at this stuff than you.

[Ignatz]

--All inconclusive. I waste my time so you don't have to.--

Wouldn't that be more useful as the first line of the post, rather than the last?

[rse]

OT but I didn't want anyone to miss michelle's antics in the wh. The biggest loser workout in the east room?

Really? Actually I think the tug of war in the diplomatic room is worse.

LUN

[Clarice]

Excellent job, TM.

[MarkO]

"I waste my time so you don't have to.--" That's only Krugman columns.

[Captain Hate]

Nice, rse; the White House as a reality show studio. According to that site, some smart people have realized how this appears and are scrubbing the photos.

[Threadkiller]

Your comment was based off of ethnicity not race. Got it.

I can't think of a question right now.

[Rick Ballard]

"his school records are sealed and the family is not releasing them"

The Obama option. I assume that should any record of juvenile misbehavior exist in Miami, the family would do likewise. Would the Sanford Police Department have been barred from obtaining school disciplinary and/or possible juvenile records? I lean towards a belief that they did have access to at least Miami LE records, based upon the "hidden in plain sight" statement on their website: "We are aware of the background information regarding both individuals involved in this
event."

Is there a 'public interest' override provision that would allow disclosure of information which might provide justification for the decision[s] made by the Sanford PD and local prosecutors? Does the right to privacy extend beyond the grave?

[Captain Hate]

The ignorant troll is again inventing words; neither Ig nor I said "racism" yet the dipstick's drug-impaired mind just magically places it there. Just like he was inventing a word in his own post and ridiculing boris for pointing out that he didn't use it.

[Ignatz]

--First; racism. I'm not sure that word has any application, whatsoever.--

Ben,
Since you, narc, CH nor I used the word racism previously I'm not sure how that word came into the discussion.
But I do find it inexplicable why you would associate narc with the Cuban dictator Battista and Senator Rubio when nothing he or anyone else had said had anything to do with Cuban issues. And so what I considered the fairly clear implication from your remark was that any dumb ass Cuban like Battista/Rubio/narciso was incapable of understanding the issues that were up for discussion.

BTW, I reposted that comment only because it referenced what CH mentioned. It was far from the most odious, obscene, repulsive and utterly unjustified comment you made to narciso that day.

[the wolf]

They ought to just admit that they heard the basic facts of the situation and jumped to a conclusion: black teeanager shot by a guy named George Zimmerman. They assumed "George Zimmerman" was a generic stand-on for "neo-Nazi." Then they saw the picture of Zimmerman and they've been trying to backpedal ever since. The "white hispanic" term just brings the absurdity into a specific relief.

[Sue]

Does this make Obama a White-African?

[Porchlight]

It does sound like B&E or trespass are possible reasons for Martin's suspension.

TM says "Level III penalties....do require a police report" which is consistent with Sanford PD's statement "We are aware of the background information regarding both individuals involved in this event."

Question for the lawyers - can these records be opened in the course of an investigation or trial, or are they sealed sealed?

[Rob Crawford]

Dana, have you finished dancing on Afghani graves?

[Rob Crawford]

I cannot believe you folks tolerate the presence of the malignant hemorrhoid posting as "Ben Franklin". It adds nothing of any worth, and detracts quite a bit. His presence here is a like a thick layer of excrement on a Nutella sandwich.

[sbw]

But then, Nutella is like a thick layer of excrement on any sandwich.

[Ignatz]

--No, you didn't say racist, but it was implied--

Perhaps you should read my Humpty Dumpty comment on the other thread. Words have actual, objective meanings. If I call a fellow Italian a wop I have engaged in an ethnic slur; nothing regarding race has been broached.

--judging from the poutrage over those comments, you'd think I stalked him in his own neighborhood, then shot him--

Got it. Not shooting someone justifies ethnic slurs.

--As for my obscenity, I think even Maguire was offended by the chilling indifference to the Martin tragedy which culminated in NK's absence.--

Can't say I noted any chilling indifference to the Martin tragedy by narciso, but again got it.
Alleged indifference and an alleged departure by NK and TM's alleged offense justifies;

Fuck you, you miserable cock-sucker.

Posted by: Ben Franklin | March 22, 2012 at 06:26 PM

Take responsibility for them, then, asswipe.

Posted by: Ben Franklin | March 22, 2012 at 06:39 PM

YOU set me off you execrable example of retro-evolutionary, dystopian, protean swamp-slime.

Need I say more?

Posted by: Ben Franklin | March 22, 2012 at 07:05 PM

The slime aids your escape, turdmeister.

You are really a slippery fellow.

Posted by: Ben Franklin | March 22, 2012 at 07:12 PM

Let me suggest a more reasonable course than attempting to justify the foregoing would simply have been,
"Oops I got a little overwrought on a sensitive issue, or I've had a bit too much tequila tonight, or it's been a long day and I said some exceedingly intemperate and uncharitable things, very personal things having nothing to do with issues. Sorry narciso. Please accept my sincere apology."

Now I've got work to do today so, toodle-oo.

[Jack is Back!]

What would be an "unauthorized area" for a student at his school? A classroom not his own such as a chemistry lab if he is not taking that subject? Or the Principal's office, or an administrative office or the coaches offices?

There are photos and reports he played football but he is not on the Varsity or JV Roster for Football at Dr. Krop. But if he did play high school football for a Dade County team you can bet he worked out and lifted weights as part of team requirements. Football is taken seriously in Florida especially the Dade/Broward area.

And at 17 and 6'3" as reported he would be a handful for an overweight older guy like Zimmerman. [At least he looks overweight to my eye]. More shoes than Imelda Marcos owns are going to drop that is for sure.

[Chadlands]

I'm in South Florida and about 15 minutes ago on the radio 610-WIOD reported Trayvon's 10 day suspension was for marijuana residue on his backpack. This seems to differ from the "unauthorized area" storyline.

[Jim,MtnViewCA,USA]

I can't open the web page due to workplace proxy server, but saw this link with a provocative title. Was he a drug dealer?
LUN.
Other speculation about fighting here:
http://glpiggy.net/2012/03/26/trayvon-martin-the-fighter/

I confess to losing interest....

[Porchlight]

Hmmm. Do they have drug-sniffing dogs at this school? How on earth would they find marijuana residue on a student's backpack in the course of a normal day? Admittedly I am not up-to-date on how modern high schools operate.

Maybe they found him in an unauthorized area and then they did a thorough search and found the residue.

[Jack is Back!]

Here is the latest from the Sentinel.

Seems Trayvon was slamming Zimmerman's head into the sidewalk and confirmed by the mystery witness.

[Rob Crawford]

"With a single punch, Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who eventually shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old, then Trayvon climbed on top of George Zimmerman and slammed his head into the sidewalk several times, leaving him bloody and battered, authorities have revealed to the Orlando Sentinel.

That is the account Zimmerman gave police, and much of it has been corroborated by witnesses, authorities say."

LUN

Clean shoot, period.

[Clarice]

Trayvon seems to have bulked up substantially. Were there traces of steroids in his blood?

[Captain Hate]

Incredible: https://twitter.com/?tw_e=details&tw_i=184300903740866561&tw_p=tweetembed#!/Obama2012/statuses/184300903740866561

[Thomas Collins]

See LUN for an open letter to AG Holder urging him to investigate the New Black Panther Party for criminal conspiracy.

I have argued at JOM strongly against the notion that Obama is not a legitimate POTUS becasue of questions raised about where he was born. However, it is getting to the point where we should consider whether a failure by the DOJ to investigate the attempts to organize a lynch mob against Zimmerman constitute a failure by Obama to faithfully execute the ofice of POTUS, and a failure to preserve, protect and defend the US Constitution. By the way, if a white supremacist group organized a lynch mob against the alleged killers of the Mississippi State student, is there any doubt the Administration would be all over that organization?

[Jack is Back!]

Porch,

The local high schools here where I live in Florida have drug dogs come through from time to time.

Interesting in that Florida has taken a case of drug sniffing dogs to the SCOTUS for a decision. Has to do with a dog sniffing at the front door of a house or apartment and whether that was probable cause for a search warrant. IIRC.

Argued by Pam Bondi the same AG who appointed Angela Corey to take over the Trayvon Martin killing.

[Porchlight]

Here's the tweet Cap'n linked:

Obama 2012‏@Obama2012

Let everyone know whose team you’re on for 2012 with today’s merchandise steal: the college-style hooded sweatshirt. http://OFA.BO/QXiDgb

10:28 AM - 26 Mar 12via web · Embed this Tweet

An Obama 2012 hoodie.

These guys are real, real classy.

[Porchlight]

Oh, and if you click the link in the above tweet, the model appears to be a tall, slim, African-American young man.

[Clarice]

Family says the suspension was for pot possession:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_NEIGHBORHOOD_WATCH_DEATH?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Rob Crawford]

Porch, they can't get hold of the actual bloody shirt, so they're printing up some proxies to wave.

Somewhere, Marcus Antonius Creticus is smiling.

[Thomas Collins]

This is a first for me. I have disagreed strongly with various actions of LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, GHW Bush, Clinton and GW Bush. I have never before questioned whether a POTUS is in effect acting illegitimately and is simply being propped up by the brute force of the Federal Government. This Administration's inaction in the face of the activities by the New Black Panther Party, Spike Lee and others to incite and organize a conspiracy to commit murder against Zimmerman, along with Obama's blatant use of race in his if I had a son comment, raise that question in my mind.

[Gus]

Ben is chickenshit

FIFY

[RichatUF]

CH-

Something declasse, tacky about that link...and I wonder how some struggling college kids would afford one with gas at $4.00/gal.

[Porchlight]

Thanks, JiB - I didn't know about the drug dogs.

Rob Crawford/Thomas Collins, I think you are onto something.

This is all just sick.

[DebinNC]

* Sounds like Trayvon was playing the "knock-out game" made famous by the black flash mobbers last spring/summer. The object is to deck the unsuspecting vic in one blow to the face, thus Zimmerman's broken nose.

* There's a FR thread featuring tweets to Trayvon from his older bro a couple of weeks prior re his taking a swing at a school bus driver. At 17, he probably didn't ride the bus, but if he was doing some after-school weed selling/buying, the bus could be the "unathorized area" Mr. Martin mentioned, and bus drivers are "school personnel". Taking a swing at one isn't a crime, as Martin said, but it does merit a long suspension, which is what 10 days is.

[Clarice]

Don't miss this--our post racial president's re election committee is selling hoodies with Obama's name on them
Obama 2012‏@Obama2012
Let everyone know whose team you’re on for 2012 with today’s merchandise steal: the college-style hooded sweatshirt. http://OFA.BO/QXiDgb

10:28 AM - 26 Mar 12via web · Embed this Tweet

[DebinNC]

In our county, hoodies are okay but raising the hood inside the school building is prohibited for obvious security reasons. Imagine watching the tape afterward and trying to figure out which of the ten Obama-hooded miscreants is beating the crap out of the bus driver or raping the young girl in the restroom...when faces are hidden and Obama hoodies are worn by almost everyone.

[jimmyk]

Taking a swing at one isn't a crime, as Martin said, but it does merit a long suspension, which is what 10 days is.

Taking a swing at a bus driver isn't a crime? From an online legal definition: "An assault is carried out by a threat of bodily harm coupled with an apparent, present ability to cause the harm. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in either criminal or civil liability. "

[Gus]

The RAY LEWIS addition to the protests is a really really nice touch.
Ray knows a little about killing black people.

[sbw]

Our schools do not allow gang identifying clothing.

[Thomas Collins]

"some have more fairness than others"

Your reference to Animal Farm, BFF, is on point (albeit perhaps not in the way you intended it). Under a society polluted by the critical race theory form, the alleged killers of the MSU student will receive "more fairness" than Zimmerman.

[Captain Hate]

Ray Lewis, at the very least, was guilty of obstruction of justice in the stabbing murder of two black males. He made out of court settlements with their families for undisclosed amounts of money in later civil suits. Speaking of suits, the white one he was wearing on the night of the murders, which was supposedly covered with blood, has never been located.

[jimmyk]

In any case, the attorney's story is that the girl was freaking out for three weeks but no one knew she had been talking with Trayvon moments before he was shot until Trayvon's dad leafed through his cell phone records.

Aren't cell phone records one of the first things police look at? Hard to imagine they wouldn't have seen that he was on the phone and immediately interviewed whoever was on the other side of the call. Unless she was on a prepaid phone and they couldn't identify her.

[Jack is Back!]

Even in Frederick's local Catholic school the previous principal changed uniform suppliers and we now have hooded zippered sweat shirts instead of the regular unhooded ones for P.E. My wife was so incensed she told the school to try and renogiate the contract.

The public schools in our county have just agreed to uniforms for all schools but in a liberal way - they will continue to allow "tight jeans" (whatever the helll that means). Each school gets certain colors to set them apart.

[Frau Steingehirn]

"his (Trayvon's) school records are sealed"

The Obama rule, established in his bids for election, state that the *public* has the right to know. Transparency has long been his stated high priority. Let there be light...

[jimmyk]

I'm curious how schools deal with the guys who wear their pants gangsta-style, with the belt line down near their crotch. I read somewhere the origin of that practice is from prisoners who aren't allowed to have belts.

[DebinNC]

Taking a swing at a bus driver isn't a crime?

Well, that was my opinion based on zero info. :) I should have made it a question and not a statement.

Here, police occasionally do a sweep of lockers, cars, bookbags at school. If the "hit" is very insignificant, nothing happens. If police decide the amount is large enough charges are warranted, the school follows up with a 10 day suspension. As I've said, a 10 day suspension is a huge red flag where I live.

[Rob Crawford]

Well - this is a bit of a blow to the liberal narrative, but there is no death penalty for enjoying marijuana.

You do realize this snark is juvenile, right?

jimmyk:
Aren't cell phone records one of the first things police look at?

What keeps being missed in discussion of this is there really wasn't much need to do much of an investigation. This isn't CSI: Sandford; they don't have infinite resources, and in this case, they knew all the important facts: identity of victim and shooter, motive, and a corroborated sequence of events.

It was a horrible situation, but not a mystery.

[fdcol63]

Shhhhhhh! Don't tell the gangstas that the low pants fad was started by white cops to make it easier to catch them fleeing when their pants fall down and trip them. LOL

[Thomas Collins]

See LUN (via Instapundit) for Professor Jacobson's latest on the Zimmerman/Martin matter. Prof Jake's posts don't top TM's coverage, but they have been good.

By the way, I'll risk being accused of being a TM suckup (which some of my comments on TM's comments on Palin would refute) and state that TM's coverage of the Zimmerman/Martin case deserves a Pulitzer.

[Thomas Collins]

See LUN (via Instapundit) for Professor Jacobson's latest on the Zimmerman/Martin matter. Prof Jake's posts don't top TM's coverage, but they have been good.

By the way, I'll risk being accused of being a TM suckup (which some of my comments on TM's comments on Palin would refute) and state that TM's coverage of the Zimmerman/Martin case deserves a Pulitzer.

[Sue]

And in case we didn't get that the first time, TC reposts. ::grin::

[Thomas Collins]

Given that I was nominating TM for a Pulitzer, Sue, that probably deserved one of my patented triples! :-))

[Rob Crawford]

Shhhhhhh! Don't tell the gangstas that the low pants fad was started by white cops to make it easier to catch them fleeing when their pants fall down and trip them.

Not to mention the untied/unlaced shoes...

state that TM's coverage of the Zimmerman/Martin case deserves a Pulitzer

Meh. He's mostly covering ground covered days ago by Weerd Beard over at weerdworld.com, but with more reliance on the press and less reference to primary sources. Amusingly, one of his earliest posts ended with:

Will you idiots STOP being so stupid? I don’t want to be defending Mr. Zimmerman! I really don’t, but you racist biased pricks are leaving me no choice!!!!

[NK]

And now... Krugman: apparently krugman has penned his observations about the killing. Oy Vei. Now TM can cover 2 bases at one time, Zimmerman-Martin tragedy and Krugman the inane fool.

[Jim Ryan]

Yes, TM, I, for one, would like to read another Krugman post of yours.

[Thomas Collins]

I'll be fair and check out Weer'd World. But I'm sticking to my unabashed praise of TM. He immediately got up an MP3 version of 911 data, and his posts have been very informative. Plus, he has done what few journalists do, that is, frankly admit his predilection that he thought Zimmerman should be charged with something, while being scrupulously fair in presenting the whole case to us.

My my, my TM adoration is off the charts today.

[Threadkiller]

Tough to stomach but a fun trip down memory lane.

It has it all. Apologies, dirty bankers, recovery, healthcare, and a shout out to both Blacks and Latinos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh-yR1HWkbM

I guess they don't act stupidly when they are voting for him.

[Captain Hate]

Tammy Bruce is hammering what these dumbbells were yammering about here: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kyle-drennen/2012/03/26/nbc-did-controversial-dick-cheney-really-deserve-heart-transplant

She also said that being denied a heart transplant because you're "too old" is what you'd get with Bammycare

[sbw]

"with the belt line down near their crotch"

Not allowed in our schools - safety issue. :-)

[fdcol63]

I'm still at a loss as to why Zimmerman should be charged with anything.

[Threadkiller]

fdcol63, you have it all wrong on the pants. It is all about plausible deniability.

When they finally get caught they simply proclaim: "These ain't my pants! Whatever shit you find in them ain't mine!!"

If the pants don't fit, you must acquit.

[fdcol63]

Thanks, TK, I see now. LOL

[Frau Steingehirn]

"Does the right to privacy extend beyond the grave?"

There was a time during my life when death ended the right to privacy. IIRC that right was established to protect "important" people such as FOB.

To repeat myself, Jorge Zimmerman has been given the Whole Palin and vetted thoroughly and in the twinkling of a news cycle. It proves the ability of the press to expose a life in its minutiae can still be provoked under the appropriate circumstances.

[fdcol63]

Unfortunately, when the MSM destroys your credibility and reputation, there's nowhere to go to get it back.

[Frau Steingehirn]

Enron adviser Krugman, NK and Jim?

[jimmyk]

What keeps being missed in discussion of this is there really wasn't much need to do much of an investigation. This isn't CSI: Sandford; they don't have infinite resources

Fair enough, but looking at cell phone records isn't CSI-level stuff, and I would have thought some investigation would be prudent when you've got a dead unarmed kid--if not right then, certainly when the s*** hit the fan.

[FRONT TOWARD LEFT]

And on the subject of temperment, let's add that Zimmerman had a domestic violence situation with his spouse ending in mutual restraining orders…

If there's anything to this, the Lautenberg Amendment makes Zimmerman a prohibited person, and his even touching a gun would be a federal felony.

[Extraneus]

If that were the case, FRONT, his guns would have been confiscated until the order expired or was otherwise terminated.

[Ignatz]

--Krugman the inane fool.--

NK has a tendency to drop an occasional "s".

[Ignatz]

--If there's anything to this, the Lautenberg Amendment makes Zimmerman a prohibited person, and his even touching a gun would be a federal felony.--

There has to be a conviction or a current restraining order not an expired one. Whether it is expired or not I don't know.

[Ignatz]

And if the conviction is later expunged the person is no longer a prohibited person.

[macphisto]

>When they finally get caught they simply proclaim: "These ain't my pants! Whatever shit you find in them ain't mine!!"

or, as i saw on COPS recently, "i just bought these pants at a thrift store! i don't know how that meth got in the pocket!"

[Sue]

Trayvon's mother is trying to trademark his name.

[Nick]

You pull a gun because you're losing a fist fight, you go to prison. You shoot someone in that situation, you go to prison for a long time. You kill someone in that situation, you go to prison forever.

The kid was a 6'3" and 140 pounds, a string bean, versus a 230 pound grown man.

[boris]

You spew a buch of ignorant drek you go in the troll blocker list.

[jimmyk]

Really, Nick? If the guy is on top of you and bashing your head repeatedly onto the pavement, and has already broken your nose with a surprise attack? "Losing a fist fight" makes it sound like this was some kind of duel on equal footing, as opposed to a surprise attack from behind.

But nice try, thanks for playing.

[Thomas Collins]

If the reports on the eyewitness accounts are to be believed, "the kid" was pounding Zimmerman's head into the ground. Any one of those poundings could have resulted in a traumatic head injury with no room to retreat. Plus, whatever were the dimensions of "the kid", "the kid", according to the eyewitness accounts, was clearly able to inflict deadly force. Once again, according to the eyewitness accounts, "the kid" attacked Zimmerman.

This is better than Bonfire of the Vanities. Hispanic kills black under circumstances that appear to be self-defense but justify an investigation, and it's all due to whitey hegemony. Sickening, just sickening.

[Cecil Turner]

You pull a gun because you're losing a fist fight, you go to prison.

Hey, is this "make up your own laws" week? Cool, cuz I got a couple . . .

[fdcol63]

I know many blacks are tired of being automatically assumed "suspicious" or "guilty" by whites, but by the same token they need to understand just how tired many whites are of being automatically assumed "racist" and "bigoted" by blacks and the liberals in the MSM.

Seeing everything in the prism of race will never allow for Dr. King's dream of people being judged solely on the content of their character.

[FRONT TOWARD LEFT]

There has to be a conviction or a current restraining order not an expired one. Whether it is expired or not I don't know.

I understand that the conviction can be expunged (in your later comment). I also do not know how this stuff works under Florida law.

My point is that the dog is not barking. If Zimmerman's rights were restored after a conviction, then the outrage stokers would be all over whoever restored those rights. If the restraining order was because of domestic abuse, then the outrage stokers would be all over why he was not charged.

Without any details, the Zimmerman restraining order and assault charge paint him as a hotheaded wifebeater with a chip on his shoulder. Maybe he is, but the outrage stokers have stopped short of getting any more deeply into the details. Why is that?

[Porchlight]

I think it was noted in prior coverage that Zimmerman has a prior arrest but no convictions on his record.

[fdcol63]

" ... but the outrage stokers have stopped short of getting any more deeply into the details. Why is that? ..."

Because they didn't need to in order to manipulate the anger of the black community and create a cause célèbre and racial protests.

[James D.]

Every day this horrible story is in the news, more poison seeps into our national "bloodstream" - and it's 100% the usual leftist characters who are injecting that poison.

None of us - and far more importantly, none of the race-hustling vermin trying to use this case to get themselves in the news, raise some more money, and rile up the Democratic Party base - really know exactly what happened between Zimmerman and Martin.

And it shouldn't matter. This isn't, and should not be, national news. There is no universal conclusion to be drawn from Martin's death. There is no national policy or federal law that would have prevented it, or that ought to be changed in its wake.

We've got eleventy zillion dollars in federal debt, energy prices going through the roof, the Democratic takeover of health care being debated in the Supreme Court this week, the possibility of a general war in the Middle East, and on and on and on...

And what's the number one topic in the news, that the Democratic Party toadies in the MSM are breathlessly covering 24/7? That a Hispanic man shot a black teenager in Florida and how President Zero feels about it, and how it's all the fault of white racism throughout the country (and, per Krugman in the NYT today, the the Koch brothers as well). Sickening doesn't even begin to describe it.

[fdcol63]

What's sickening is that Americans have been so dummed down, gullible, and easily manipulated enough to allow it.

[bgates]

The kid was a 6'3" and 140 pounds, a string bean

I don't know...I've heard of a guy who was so similar in appearance to Martin that he may as well have been a blood relative who was incredibly strong.

On the other hand, if the weight difference did mean something, can we conclude Zimmerman was winning the fist fight and therefore could use his gun? Or is there a strict "no guns during fist fight" rule (did Congress pass the Bruce Lee Bill while I wasn't looking)?

[Cecil Turner]

My point is that the dog is not barking. If Zimmerman's rights were restored after a conviction, then the outrage stokers would be all over whoever restored those rights. If the restraining order was because of domestic abuse, then the outrage stokers would be all over why he was not charged.

It's not barking because it won't hunt. The restraining order petitions were filed by both parties:

In their petitions, both included other allegations of violence.

Zuazo claimed that three years earlier, Zimmerman had attacked her when they were driving to counseling. She claimed she popped her gum in his face, spurring him to call her names and smacking her mouth with his open hand.

In January 2002, she also claimed, Zimmerman got upset because she got home too late. They tussled. He threw her on the bed. She smacked him. Zimmerman left for the night.

For his part, Zimmerman claimed that in November 2002, she attacked him with a baseball bat after she discovered he went to a concert without her.

In the end, an Orange County circuit judge ordered them to stay away from each other for more than a year.

I'm not sure if that qualifies as a "restraining order" under the Lautenberg Amendment, but in any event it had clearly expired. There was no conviction, and there's obviously no grounds to remove Zimmerman's gun rights.

[Captain Hate]

What's sickening is that Americans have been so dummed down, gullible, and easily manipulated enough to allow it.

That is the real tragedy of this. rse's been working of that hypothesis and its implications for a while.

[FRONT TOWARD LEFT]

Because they didn't need to in order to manipulate the anger of the black community and create a cause célèbre and racial protests.

I'll take it a step further and say that getting into the details just might break the spell of the "hotheaded wifebeater" painting that the outrage stokers want everyone to see.

Zimmerman's past has been injected into the news stream in stories breaking the surface nationally a month after the shooting. The coordinated narrative is that Zimmerman is a mall ninja with an itchy trigger finger. Oh yeah, and he's a violent, arrest-resisting wifebeater. And--don't forget--CNN says he used a racial slur that got caught on the 911 tape.

The narrative is working. People I know in real life who I would expect to be on the right side of this (i.e. withhold judgment until enough facts are known) are pronouncing Zimmerman guilty of at least manslaughter.

[Jim,MtnViewCA,USA]

Due to RatherGate, I cancelled newspaper subscriptions, stopped watching the TV news, stopped listening to PBS radio, ..., despite the danger of confirmation bias.
Because the news was delivered faster and more accurately by blogs. And the media had such an obvious agenda.
This issue seems similar and will presumably drive another wave of people away from the MSM.

The Magus: "...she put the Daily Worker down — she read the Worker 'for the truth' and a certain other paper 'for the [f'ing] lies'"

[fdcol63]

I think instead of "coon(s)" he said "goon(s)".

[Ignatz]

--I'm not sure if that qualifies as a "restraining order" under the Lautenberg Amendment, but in any event it had clearly expired. There was no conviction, and there's obviously no grounds to remove Zimmerman's gun rights.--

It would qualify but as you say, Cecil, it expired long ago.
If he had an unexpunged misdemeanor conviction or a current restraining order on him he'd already have been charged not to mention he would not have been able to renew his CCP.

[Ignatz]

The Strategic Air Command no longer exists.

[Gus]

Right Nick 17 6'3" 17 year old stringbeans couldn't hurt you if they jumped you and punched you in the face. Right Nick?? Use your brain.

[Extraneus]

I don't know what NewsCore is, but this is the photo they're going with today.

[Porchlight]

People I know in real life who I would expect to be on the right side of this (i.e. withhold judgment until enough facts are known) are pronouncing Zimmerman guilty of at least manslaughter.

Some commenters here at JOM did the same, early on. Let's hope cooler heads prevail as more details come to light.

[Enlightened]

Seriously - this incident has become scary beyond the pale. The New Black Panthers have put a bounty on Zimmerman. Every thug in town will try to get that bounty and become the new Larry Davis, a murderous thug, yet hero to the folks that aided and abetted him, and to this day think he was another of whitey's victims.

Ben Franklin - You just continue to be a fucking idiot. If a 100 lb woman can beat the shit out of a 200 lb would-be rapist without the aid of PCP you really want us to believe an angry black kid can't do the same to an overweight man whose nose he had already broken? Shut up and stick to the swamprot over at the lib cesspools you hang out with.

[Threadkiller]

You may have to cancel your blog time too, Jimmy.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/03/thats-weird-forbes-article-calling-obama-the-manchurian-candidate-disappears-down-the-memory-hole/

[centralcal]

Well, Trayvon with his gold teeth and tattoos looks not quite as innocent as the photos the media are showing. And the arm that is shown with the tats is not a skinny little arm either!