Trayvon Martin - Is Everything You Think You Know Just Media BS?

As a launch point, let me pick up on this throw-away comment made by Rod Dreher in his own comments section:

I do think Zimmerman was a paranoid guy — I make this judgment based on his frequent 911 calls over the past year — but that doesn’t make him a murderer. 

I can't establish the full context for that remark, but on March 20 Mr. Dreher wrote this:

The Orlando Sentinel reports that in the 13 months prior to the shooting, Zimmerman called 911 an astonishing 46 times. 

And I have no doubt they did.  But that was a widely circulated typo - per the City of Sanford website, Zimmerman made those 46 calls from January 2004 to the present, not January 2011.  Even NPR got this right, eventually, and I have seen appropriate updates by Ta Nehesi Coates at the Atlantic, and elsewhere.

But one could easily blink and miss it, so Mr. Dreher might well be continuing to pin the 'paranoid' label onto Zimmerman based on misreported and widely uncorrected information.

For example, the NY Times - the Paper of Record! - has noted those 46 calls twice. First was their big kick-off coverage by Ms. Alvarez on March 16:

Mr. Zimmerman lives in the predominantly white gated community where the shooting took place. A criminal justice major in college, he often patrolled the streets in his car. In the last 14 months, Mr. Zimmerman had made 46 calls to the police, officials said, reporting everything from alarms and disturbances to reckless driving and, most commonly, a “suspicious” person.

And Ms. Alvarez again on March 20:

Mr. Zimmerman had reported a “suspicious” person to 911 shortly before the encounter, saying a black male was checking out the houses and staring at him. Mr. Zimmerman, a criminal justice major, often patrolled the neighborhood. He had placed 46 calls to 911 in 14 months, for reports including open windows and suspicious people.

Does anyone notice a "Correction Appended" to either of those stories?  There they sit in the Times archives, forever commemorating media misinformation.

However!  The Times did a big calm-down walk-back today where they painstakingly reviewed the evidence.  Zimmerman's life back to grade school was reprised.  Surely they quietly fixed the error there, as they did with Zimmerman's weight (now reported as 170 lbs, down from the widely cited 240)?

If they did, I can't find it.  Which is to say, neither "46" nor "forty-six" is showing up in a search.  The closest they come is this subtle allusion:

Police records over the last several years suggest a man who was quite familiar with 911 dispatchers; who seemed, somehow, to be always in the middle of things. In October 2003, for example, on perhaps his greatest day in civic vigilance, Mr. Zimmerman chased after and assisted in the capture of a man who had stolen two 13-inch TV/DVD players from an Albertsons.

Pretty subtle!  Would Mr. Dreher, or any other previously misinformed Times reader, realize that this meant the 46 calls were over eight years, not the previously reported fourteen months?  Or would they grin knowingly and say "Familiar indeed - 46 calls in fourteen months familiar.  Paranoid much?".

To be fair, I am not even sure the Times editors themselves are aware of the level of BS they have been propagating.  If their goal is to correct the record and report a bit more responsibly going forward, maybe we will see those corrections appended in the next few days.  I should provide a link to the NY Times Public Apologist for anyone who wants to waste their breath.

In the meantime, I welcome other examples of egregious misreporting that have gone quietly uncorrected.  A personal fave was the lefty buzzpoint that the Sanford police never took Zimmerman's gun.  Even Mother Jones blew the whistle on that, eventually.  Others?

Comments

[Jim,MtnViewCA,USA]

Sorry off topic:
Look at these photos. Are they Mogadishu, Detroit, or a combination of the two?
LUN.

[Dave (in MA)]

In October 2003, for example, on perhaps his greatest day in civic vigilance, Mr. Zimmerman chased after and assisted in the capture of a man who had stolen two 13-inch TV/DVD players from an Albertsons

In February 2012, he successfully subdued someone who was in the process of beating the crap out of a Florida man.

[Tollhouse]

That's pretty easy Jim. The Detroit photos still have obvious metal that could be sold for scrap if people were sufficiently motivated. In Mogadishu, they are thorough and thrifty. In Detroit the government will just give you stuff for free.

[Clarice]

The voice identification

The old pictures

The claim that the body stayed in the morgue for 3 days, suggesting the police weren't concerned about identifying him

The MSNBC doctoring of the 911 call

The ABC fandango on the video suggesting there were no visible wounds

The whole "white Hispanic" horsepuckey--Richardson's Hispanic but Zimmerman is "white Hispanic"

[Clarice]

The skittles and iced tea no one has found evidence of.

The parents coming home around 10:30 but not knowing there had been a shooting right near their house.

The senior Martin's gf's child not telling his mother of her boyfriend that Trayvon was out or tat there had been a shooting and police all oer the place while they were out.

[Gus]

Clarice, the height and weights!!! MADE UP.
I saw a magazine in Wal-Mart tonight. Trayvon was missing his WINGS.

[Clarice]

Trayvon's gf not telling a soul for 2 weeks that she'd spoken to him the night of the shooting and her version of what went down

[Clarice]

"his mother OR her boyfriend"

[jimmyk]

Others?

Well, the other day I dashed off this in response to the video walkback:

Whatever gets reported first gets the staying power, especially if it helps make the race-baiters' case. So we have:

1) Skittles and Iced Tea
2) GZ chased down TM, even after the "police" "ordered" ordered him not to.
3) The police left TM's body in the morgue for 3 days without notifying next-of-kin.
4) TM is 17, but looks like an angelic 13-year-old with a cute smile.
5) GZ looks like a fat unshaven thug.
6) GZ said "f***ing coons."
7) GZ called 911 46 times over 8 months.
8) TM weighs 140 lbs and GZ weighs 250.

Every single one of these appears to be false. But all the retractions and corrections in the world can't get this toothpaste back into the tube, especially when people like Podesta, not to mention Piers Morgan, keep repeating them.

[Gus]

the gold teeth GRILL was my favorite missing MFM item.

[narciso]

You know that last part, why didn't she call
the parents, why didn't they notice what had gone on that night,

[Clarice]

The point is , yes it's all bs, and even when the media has taken baby steps backwards, it has almost always done little to flat out admit error.

OTOH if after review Fla does not press charges, will a media with so much egg on its face, continue to play out the It's Always Selma theme?

[Clarice]

No, narciso. I don't know.I suppose the parent and his gf didn't notice because they didn't come in when they said they did or they were very negligent about keeping an eye on a kid already in enough trouble to get a 10 day suspension.

[Zaggs]

"The ABC fandango on the video suggesting there were no visible wounds"

To add on to Clarice's point. The fact that Matt Gutman (narrating the video) never once mentions that Zimmerman received first aid at the scene. I dont believe he says it during the enhanced video either.

[Danube of Thought]

I'm pretty sure Podesta wasn't involved in the wife-beating thingy. Not sure whether he had a DUI. If we could only arrest him and grill him under oath, per bubu, we might get some straight answers.

[narciso]

My McClatchy fishwrap has been quite nearly
as bad, more so, since the backstory begins
down here,

[Clarice]

I'm going to bed, but I've got the perfect punishment for all these lying bastards. No one will serve as community watch now for that community --it's a miserable job for no pay and you run the risk of lunching, jail and ruin if you do it. Let Pinch and the media fat cats live in their buildings with no doormen until Zimmerman's community can get security again.

[narciso]

Don't go there, Drudge's erroneus comment about Sid vicious, one of whose first publishing ventures was with the late Phillip
Agee, sparked a dragnet through the entire
conservative commentariat.

[Andrew X]

You know what I'd like to see conservative media and politicos announce? I'd like them to announce, say, a $200 reward for the following.....

Find me, anywhwere in the country, a large metropoilitan newspaper or TV news outfit, or a national one or network... just one (let's except FOX).... find me ANY story that was run that favored a conservative idea or narrative.... that was subsequently corrected toward the favor of the left. Go back two or three years if you have to.

Find me just one... just ONE... correction that did not have to fix a story (with political implications) that benefited the left. Just one, just ONE, where the original, incoorect story favored the right. Anywhere. And pass go and collect $200. Just ONE.

I seriously wonder if that money would sit there unclaimed, next to Andrew Breitbart's "Capitol Hill epithets" $100,000.

Because I sure cannot even remember one. Not one. But that's all just a coincidence of some sort, I have no doubt.

[Clarice]

*lYnching**

[Charlie (Colorado)]

OTOH if after review Fla does not press charges, will a media with so much egg on its face, continue to play out the It's Always Selma theme?

Yes.

[jimmyk]

Speaking of Detroit, things are really coming to a boil there:

http://news.yahoo.com/detroit-unions-reject-talks-state-plan-191020777.html

The city unions are in the end-game, kind of like Greece without Germany. So unlike Mogadishu, the situation may improve.

[Clarice]

If I had unlimited subpoena power, I'd call in all the reporters who misreported and compel them to answer how much of the information they published was sourced by the martins' counsel or his staff. How much time they spent independently researching these items before publication and how.

Let's-- as these lazy bums claim they are doing--"make a difference"/

[JKB]

I've not seen a real walk back on the "he kept chasing after 911 told him not to" meme. The 911 tape doesn't support that. When the operator tells him they don't need him to do that, Zimmerman says "ok" then very quickly his breathing calms and the wind noise goes away. He reports the guy ran and he got away. Then starts arranging where to meet the responders.

Also, if you listen to the 911 calls, call 4 on the Sanfordfl.gov page, the lady reports one guy on top of another. The guy on top in a white t-shirt. Instead of reporting, most media have left the implication that the shooting occurred as part of the "chase".

[wGravew]

So, basically, this guy called the police on 911 once every three months, on the average, over a 8 year period. I call them more frequently than that driving I80 to report accidents. This guy was a Neighborhood Watch Captain. So that means, perhaps, that every three or four months he finds something reportable. Why is that a surprise?

[Clarice]

I don't have time this week-I'm going to be out of town, but I wish someone would run through all these instances of misreporting and put this all in one piece for widespread distribution.
Chaco?

[narciso]

OT, you know I haven't seen Kirikaou's memoir, since he was indicted by the Justice
Department, was it a month or two, in any library or even bookstore,

[Gus]

Danube, we should arrest Podesta. I mean it might help us avoid RIOTS!!!

[elkh1]

Another Richard Jewell: white, over weight, must be loser/suspect/vigilante.

Hope Zimmerman fares better than Jewell.

Wonder if the MSM's persecution of Zimmerman is because of his politically incorrect Jewish name? Would they be more careful throwing that white Hispanic around if his name was more Hispanic or Arabic?

[Dave (in MA)]

Is Pudenda, gallant defender of Ditzy Slits honor, another Cleo sock?

[Clarice]

elkh..I do think that was part of it.. They never figured him for a Catholic white Hispanic, who'd stood up for a black guy when he was wrongly charged and was well liked in the community. Wouldn't be right. DIdn't fit the template.

[David H]

The fact that the cops wanted to arrest Zimmerman but were directed not to by the DA (?) has been soft-pedaled. Frequent references to "Stand Your Ground" though that section of the code is unlikely to be relevant to any defense.

[narciso]

From the original Lizette Alvarez story, yes she came from this neck of the woods, Crump
was much more direct;

Had Trayvon been the person who was the triggerman, they would have arrested him from Day 1 and they wouldn’t have given him bail and he would be sitting in jail,” Mr. Crump said. “Zimmerman is free and sleeping in his own bed at night.”

[scott]

I read a self defense group from TX wants to donate $10k. I think if Zimmerman is charged, more money will come in from similar groups. It would be wise for Zimmerman to have his own investigators tracing Martins movements (and Martin senior for that matter) that evening and getting statements placing him in different locations along his travels asap. I just have a feeling Martin was out of the house a lot longer than it takes to go to the store.

Would detectives have searched Martin senior's apartment when interviewing him? If Zim is charged they have to turn everything over so maybe there is stolen property stashed with TM's belongings? Rank speculation, but Zimmerman is in the legal fight for his life.

[meee-o]

Invention of the new term “white Hispanic” to provide cover the prior “white” identification; the failure to cite the anonymous witness, “John,” who told local TV that Martin was “pummeling” Zimmerman; the failure to report the number of crimes and burglaries in the housing community; NBC’s fraudulent editing of the 911 phone call; the bizarre graphic ABC ran that just happened to obscure the point where the cops were looking at the wound on Zimmerman’s head; the repeated claims that the video showed no injury when anyone neutral would have spotted the cops inspecting the wound; the failure to spot the wound in the video (which various websites immediately spotted); the failure to report that police and EMT personnel saw and reported the wound; the false weights; the false number of times the watch captain called in problems (is four/year really that much for a neighborhood that had seen its share of burglaries?); the breathless race to report what have to be the worst forensic work of all time regarding the voice identification. What have I missed?

[Clarice]

Also the media effort to poison the pot by downplaying Trayvon's school record and exaggerating Zimmerman's priors.

The hint that since his dad was a former magistrate (in Virginia for Pete's sake) was a possible reason for the cops failure to arrest Zimmerman.

[narciso]

this is sandwhiched with comments from another lesser known family attorney, Nathalie
Jackson, and a local defense Attorney, Brian
Tannenbaum that already mischaracterizes 'Stand your Ground'

[DaMav]

Someone needs to nail down NCLR as to whether it considers "White Hispanics" to be a separate ethnic group and if not, why they are not demanding due process for Zimmerman.

It's also interesting that all the handwringing over "vigilantism" never mentions the vigilantism of those offering a reward for Zimmerman "Dead or Alive". Is this not vigilantism of the worse sort?

[narciso]

The compound isn't particularly gated, as I can see, and from an earlier piece, in a Tampa Paper, it was picked because it was fairly integrated

[Mike H. in Spokane]

Actually to normal people it's not a surprise. It's only a surprise to someone manufacturing a story.

[Clarice]

This case deserves to be a special exhibit in the "Newseum" here in D.C. where journalists tell us how wonderful they are and how important a role they play.

[narciso]

The call sheet begins in August 2004, they had to be deliberately lying,

[JT]

How many times do we have to sit by and watch as "White Hispanic Jewish Democrats" gun down innocent young black men? How many more times does this have to happen before the police will finally do something?

[Katie Couric, KK, et all]

No Mas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[meee-o]

Will someone be doing a word search on transcripts of CNN, MSNBC, and ABC newcasts to see how often "white hispanic" was used prior to the embarrassment of running the story about the "white" neighborhood watch captain?

My guess: the term was never once used before that by any of those networks.

[narciso]

FRom the March 20th, Alvarez piece;

A lawyer for Trayvon’s parents, Benjamin Crump, said at a news conference on Tuesday that Trayvon was speaking to his girlfriend on his cellphone minutes before he was shot, telling her that a man was following him as he walked home.

Trayvon told his girlfriend he was being confronted, Mr. Crump said. She told him to run, and he said he would “walk fast.” Trayvon was headed to the home of his father’s girlfriend after a visit to a convenience store, carrying Skittles and a can of iced tea.

Trayvon asked, “Why are you following me?” Mr. Crump said. The girl then heard a faraway voice ask, “What are you doing around here?” Mr. Crump added. Then Trayvon’s voice falls away.

[Clarice]

No record of skittles and tea found; no evidence that he actually bought any; no record of anyone seeing him with skittles and tea. Creative lawyering?

[Darren]

The Sanford PD says Mary Cutcher's testimony to reporters is different than the sworn statement she gave them the night of the shooting. Cutcher is the most damaging witness for Zimmerman in her description of what happened.

[jimmyk]

The girlfriend is reported to have said that TM told her on the phone that he'd "lost" whoever was following him, which also squares with GZ's story. He was, what, 100 yards from the house? We're supposed to believe that GZ somehow cornered TM after losing sight of him, in the one minute or so it would have taken TM to get home. If this did go to trial I have a feeling the girlfriend wouldn't fare too well under cross examination.

[xbradtc]

I can actually believe Martin's dad and his girlfriend didn't notice the police activity in the community. In a lot of these dense communities, much like the one where I live, if it isn't right next to your house, you won't notice the lights.

[Darren]

@narciso

Contra Crump's statement, Zimmerman hasn't been back to his own bed in weeks most likely. He is free on his own recognizance...unless he is recognized, has to show ID in a public place, etc. I think the guy is in legitimate fear for his life, they should take up a collection for Level IV body armor before they talk about a legal defense.

[xbradtc]

He is free on his own recognizance...

that would imply he is under some form of civil restraint. AFAIK, he's not. He's just "free."

[jimmyk]

This local news report on Cutcher is really unbelievable. Cutcher refers to TM as "the little boy." Later she says that even if Martin was beating up Zimmerman, that's no excuse to shoot someone "half his size."

Yeah, she's credible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skNKVjSxQys

[Exurban]

How about the bagful of rings and other jewelry the high school security caught him with (after they saw him spray painting graffiti over closed circuit cameras)? Godd roundup of that here. That didn't get very damn much coverage.

That link also has Martin's @NO_LIMIT_NIGGA Twitter avatar (with lyrics to the song) and a before and after of the photoshop job done on the picture of T.M. in a hoodie.

[elkh1]

narciso: he says she said trumps a video of a bleeding head?

Why are you so ready to believe the "phone call", and not a video or an eyewitness? How did Zimmerman hurt the back of his head?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Is Gold Teeth Grill the name of an actual place? I ask because my daughter posted from the Smokey Bones and Fire Grill in Orlando earlier and I thought that a weird name.

Is Pudenda, gallant defender of Ditzy Slits honor, another Cleo sock?

I don't think so. He appears to be a Balloon Juice student.

On gated communities in this area: They aren't anything fancy. My daughter had an apt. in one when I visited her there (since bought a house) and it seemed all the apt. complexes were gated. Gated meaning you needed a keycard to open the gate to drive in, no guard or anything. Anyone could walk in.

[Gregory Koster]

David Halberstam's tome THE POWERS THAT BE has an anecdote about Nixon & Haldeman trying to smear Jack Nelson, then reporting for the Los Angeles TIMES, by whispering that Nelson was a drunk. When Nelson discovered this, Halberstam has him say, "You can't ruin a reporter's reputation by calling him a drunk."

Now you can't ruin journalists's reps by calling them liars. Don't expect the exposure of all numerous shortcomings, fibs, and lies, about this incident to embarrass any journalist.

Off topic: I note an ad at the top left of JOM at this minute, plugging Bill Press's latest compost about the dastardly plots against The Won:

THE OBAMA HATE MACHINE by Bill Press.

How witless of Press & his publisher not to realize that for a great many people, this title is going to imply an expose of Sharpton, Holder & Co. They will be dam confused when they begin reading. Or, like me, they'll laugh loudly.

[jimmyk]

In a lot of these dense communities, much like the one where I live, if it isn't right next to your house, you won't notice the lights.

xbradtc, if you see the map,

http://justoneminute.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b2aa69e201676468b143970b-pi

you'll see that the crime scene is practically right there: just a few doors down, and not just police lights, but TV camera crews, a whole circus. It's a bit hard to believe they missed it.

[xbradtc]

jimmyk, was there a tv camera crew the night of the shooting? I haven't seen any local footage from the night.

I'm not saying there wasn't. I'm saying I don't know.

[xbradtc]

And I was in our clubhouse downstairs when we had someone have a fatal heart attack. I never even noticed the EMTs until I walked upstairs to get a soda.

[Danube of Thought]

I predict that when the smoke clears after this case, a huge amount of fun will be had looking into the origins--and frequency of usage--of the term "white Hispanic."

How often was the term used by the NYTimes, WaPo, NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN and NPR before February 27, 2012? How often afterwards?

Why?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I have a few problems with the reporting, which make me question some of the police action, either rightly or wrongly. For instance, why did no one check Martin's cell. The GF says she tried to call him back. Why did the police not answer?

Patriot4Freedom last night posted that they took Zimmerman back to the scene for a walk-thru of events leading to the shooting. When?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Another instalaunche. If this keeps up, TM and GR need to get a room. :)

[FRONT TOWARD LEFT]

A wannabe thug is dead. I don't care about the color of his skin. He might have dealt drugs. He might have been a burglar. He might have taken a swing at a school bus driver. Or it might be that he just wanted his peers to think that he did these things to impress them. That system of values is foreign enough to me that there is no way I can imagine myself in his shoes. If I could picture myself in his life, I'd wash my mouth out with buckshot.

Martin was the serpent's egg. I won't rejoice over his death, but I won't shed any tears. Odds are that good people will now be spared from tomorrow's crimes by that up-and-coming young thug.

Zimmerman's life is ruined. That sucks for him. Somehow, I cannot get worked up in the least bit about a registered democrat facing the consequences that he faces. Every time this piece of work cast a vote for a democrat candidate, he gave his stamp of approval to schemes designed to steal the fruits of my labor from me. I'm fine with it if he gets the lethal injection. Again, no rejoicing over his situation but no tears, either.

All this utterly irrelevant noise about "stand your ground" and the limits of using deadly force in self defense is a launching pad for attacks on citizens' freedom to protect themselves from the predators created by the no-fault subsidization of bad choices that we call the welfare state. This is the only part of this mess even the least bit tragic.

[FRONT TOWARD LEFT]

For instance, why did no one check Martin's cell. The GF says she tried to call him back. Why did the police not answer?

Crump and the reporting on this case have swung so far out over the edge that I would not be at all surprised if the girlfriend's story is a complete fabrication.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

“SANFORD, Fla. — FBI agents on Monday were questioning potential witnesses in the Trayvon Martin shooting, confirming to NBC News that the agency had begun a “parallel investigation” that focuses on whether the teen’s civil rights were violated.

Agents are seeking information on George Zimmerman’s background and whether he was racially motivated when he pursued Martin after calling a 911 police dispatcher about his presence in the community, an FBI official told NBC.

This is what failure to report the 911 call properly has wrought.

[daddy]

Piers Morgan said that CNN had taken some of the Zim recordings, slowed them down, removed background clutter, and that after all that he (Morgan) said he could hear on the doctored tapes Zim using a racial expletive in reference to MT. Zim's brother responded that that was BS and did not happen. (Not "Paul is dead", but something offensive).

Is that supposed racial slur still being propagated as fact by CNN, or has that also gone under the bus? Sorry I haven't been able to follow as closely as I'd like so can't add much if anything.

[FRONT TOWARD LEFT]

Is that supposed racial slur still being propagated as fact by CNN, or has that also gone under the bus?

If they had that, they would lead with it on HLN every time they returned from a commercial break.

[Not Likely]

" A wannabe thug is dead"

Let's just shoot every teenager that smokes marijuana and uses contemporary slang. Right?

You people are repulsive.

[Gus]

""You people"" are repulsive???

Feckin' clown. Which people??? Exactly whom are you "PROFILING" clown boy??

[Gus]

Daddy, this has become the LIBTARD THEATER of the ABSURD.

If you slow down the Whitey Zimmerman 911 call and play it backwards, it says.............................
PAUL IS DEAD. I BURIED PAUL. I AM THE EGGMAN....COO COO CA CHOOOOOOO.

The TRUTH no longer matters. In fact, the TRUTH stopped mattering the moment SKITTLES TRAYVON MARTIN.....STARTED LOOKING LIKE .....Barry Hussein White-Black Obama's MAKE BELIEVE SON.

This shit is disgusting.

[Not Likely]

Idiots just like you.

[Dave (in MA)]

Let's just shoot every teenager that smokes marijuana and uses contemporary slang. Right?

No, just the ones who are bashing our heads against concrete. The ones who aren't could be future Presidents for all we know.

[Gus]

Thanks. That level of intelligence needs no rejoinder. If you had something of substance or intelligence to add you would have added it.
No one has suggested shooting every 17 year old marijuana smoker. No one has suggested shooting every 17 year old kid with tattoos and teeth "grillz'.
Not likely, you are entitled to be an idiot. You have the right to spout bullshit at your own whim. But. You are a clown.
Welcome to school Son.

[Gus]

How big was Whitey Zimmerman?
What is Whitey Zimmermans' race?
What does Whitey Zimmerman look like?
Trayvon was just carrying SKITTLES and ICED TEA.
Trayvon was a nice NICE boy, and we know this because the LIBTARD MAGAZINES show his ANGELIC FACE.
Whitey Zimmerman had no WOUNDS to his HEAD or NOSE. We KNOW THIS BECAUSE ABC said so!!!

This shit is sooooooooooooooooo easy.
Either Zimmerman had injuries or NOT.
How many shots were fired will be KNOWN.
The heights and weights of both "protagonists" WILL BE KNOWN.
Obama weighed in and said SKITTLES BOY would look like his son.
Obama said he wanted all aspects of this case investigated. BULLSHIT.
The facts as they start to come out, DO NOT MATCH the MEDIA'S DESPERATE ......RACE-DIVIDING-TEMPLATE.

There is ZERO CHANCE of the TRUTH EVER being the END RESULT of this.

[Sylvia]

Rightwing talking points that say the Skittle and Iced Tea were never found, but they were found in Zimmerman's pockets.

Rightwing talking point that a witness saw TM on top, bashing in Zimmerman's head. What the witness said was that he only saw one person on the ground and that he could not tell anything about that person. He said he could not see another person. When the cops asked him if the person he saw had a white blcak or red shirt, he said he guessed red but could not be sure. What he could have seen instead was GZ red jacketed arm hitting TM. Either way it's not much to go on.

We have a female witness saying "the guy with the white T-shirt was on top". That is a contemporaneous desciption to 911. GZ was wearning a white or light gray T shirt. TM was wearing a dark gray hoodie. I think THAT nugget of info is VERY important, because she sounded definite. Was TM wearing a white T as well? Was his jacket found zipped or unzipped.

btw I do notice that in almost every pic of TM, we see he is wearing a red T. Must be a fav color of his. TM could have been wearing a red T under his shirt, we don't know.

We have a guy who saw the whole thing, "John" probably the brohter of the girl who called in and said her brother saw everything.

He said he did not see any big struggle going on, looked like wrestling. That is why GZ's brother changed the story from Gz's head being bashed on, to TM tried to get his gun, which would be harder to spot.

He said the big guy got up and walked away. He said he did not actually see him get up, but the guy who was shot must have been below because he did not see that body move after the shot.

To confirm this, GZ has no spot of blood on him, so must have been above TM. This is confirmed by another witness who saw GZ straddling above TM right after shot. This must have also been when GZ frisked TM's pockets and took the skittles and iced tea.

The evidence is there, GZ was on top. We first have to confirm that TM was not also wearing awhite T shirt that night.

Btw, my theory was that TM probably thought GZ was going to rape him. Probably GZ tried to tackle TM and get him face down, like cops try to do, and was lying on top of him. Which is why TM was found face down and GZ had no blood on him.

[Gus]

Your theory is silly. So are you. Believe what you want, and vote for Obama.
You have ZERO idea of the facts, and when the FORENSIC facts are known. You'll talk your pathetic drooling libtard Pap.

[Aaron B. Brown]

As someone who grew up in South Florida, and knows the rest of Florida pretty well, I can tell you that the shooting and murder of black folks is so common, that the vast majority of such instances have gone ignored by the local news media for decades. Even in urban areas like Miami, a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time, could be shot down by the police officers (usually white or Hispanic) with virtual impunity. Occasionally an officer was charged, almost never convicted of anything, regardless of whether the subject was unarmed or engaged in any criminal activity whatsoever. And this trend continues virtually unabated today.

Miami police chief blamed for deaths of 7 black men in 8 months
http://www.thegrio.com/news/miami-police-chief-blamed-for-deaths-of-7-men-in-8-months.php

U.S. Justice Department to investigate shootings by Miami police
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/16/2505941/us-justice-department-to-investigate.html

When I was in my teens, Black teenagers were still being found hanging from trees in Dade, Broward, Collier, Monroe, Hendry, Palm Beach etc. Counties well into the late 70s, always conveniently declared a suicide by local police investigators, even when said youth (black boy) was threatened with death, by the father of the white girl he was dating.

The only reason this Trayvon Martin story became news is because he was clean. If he had any kind of arrest records, history of criminal activity or a troubled background, no local or national news ever picks this story up. Looks like Zimmerman just pick the wrong black kid to hunt down and shoot. If Martin had prevailed in the conflict, if say he'd gotten Zimmerman's gun away from him and shot him dead with it, Martin would've been immediately arrested and charged with murder. No doubt the so-called conservatives in America would be calling for his head, and he would likely be convicted and receive a life sentence or capital punishment, by a jury of his 'peers'.

Zimmerman won't be charged, and if he is ever charged he will never be convicted by a a jury of His 'peers' up there in suburban Orlando. Even if a video were to surface showing conclusively Martin begging for his life and Zimmerman executing him, he is likely still acquitted, by a jury of well-chosen sheep, willing to follow a judge's instructions to the letter. Such is the nature of the legal system in much of Florida, justice, real justice is few and far between.

And I have no doubt that the same people commenting here in support of Zimmerman, if they were to see a video which showed him committing obvious premeditated murder, they would still find some way to excuse him, just as they would excuse themselves if they committed such a murder. Such is the nature of the conservative mind in America today, Justice like ideas of right and wrong, morality, honor, truth etc. all these considerations are immediately rescinded, jettisoned out the window, whenever such trivialities come into conflict with their ideology or racist beliefs.

Likely Zimmerman has already gotten some quiet offers of employment from law enforcement arms of local municipalities, who love gung ho go-getters types like himself. The kind who know how to provoke people (targets) by the numbers and create a situation where they can shoot someone down, and have it declared a 'clean-shoot' before the subject has even been identified. This is always easier pull off when it's one of THOSE black folks, you know the type, the kind that doesn't know how to show proper respect for of their betters and have have the unmitigated temerity to wander into the wrong neighborhood. Such… conscientious officers, shall we say, are always in demand in Florida.

No doubt the corporate owned Tea Party movement is already eyeing Zimmerman as a possible candidate for elected office in 2014. He's obviously they're kind of guy. *wink wink* Who knows in another 15 or 20 years Zimmerman could be the Tea Party candidate for president, who will be condemning abortion in the same breath he screams for the death penalty for 'those F--ing Coons!' Just another fine upstanding Real American.

[sk]

Holy shit Sylvia... I literally cannot stop laughing... that was great. You should write comedy professionally!

[Gus]

Oh dear. It's Whitey and the COPS who keep killing all these young black men.
How do I know?? Aaron B.Brown told me.
Yes 50% of the annual murders in the U.S. are black on black, yet blacks make up only 17% or our population.
Yes Aaron, it's not a BLACK on BLACK problem, it's a THE MAN and WHITEY.
How pathetic. Another Obama shill, pissing himself. Aaron B Brown. What a pathetic blubbering loser.
HOPE AND CHANGE Aaron B Brown.

Hahahahahahhahahahhahaaha. What a pathetic loser.

[xbradtc]

And I have no doubt that the same people commenting here in support of Zimmerman, if they were to see a video which showed him committing obvious premeditated murder, they would still find some way to excuse him, just as they would excuse themselves if they committed such a murder.

Nah. He's Hispanic.

We'd toss him under the bus.

Don't you know? We're racists.

[xbradtc]

You know, if as many whites were violent racist killbots as race pimps like to claim, there wouldn't BE any minorities in America.

[Gus]

xbrad. This is round 3 of the Barry Obama farewell tour!!! Sandra Fluke laughingstock tour, then the Trayvon looked just like me except for the GRILL BIG EARS and TATTOOS, then we have the SUPREME COURT is NAUGHTY BAD unless.......
It's funny. It's desperation.

[Ari Tai]

re: man's life in ruins. Has already happened, right? He's running for his life and his future will be determined by others, not by him. He’s no longer free – and is a slave in everything but name.

Will be interesting to see how brutal this gets around the election. I expect we’ll see another set of Willie-Horton-like ads to reinforce the Hispanic/Latino community existing biases and separate them from their traditional party vote towards one more reflective of their conservative values (religion, family, friends, hard-work, respect-for-others – and their property, freedom from violent crime and equality before the law). Likely funded by immigrant Cubans who have had enough.

The left will cry foul and attempt to get the ads off the air and the internet. Univision will refuse to carry. But Latino AM radio will. Marco Rubio will denounce but the SuperPacs will keep on running ads thru election day. The dems will claim this is the reason they lost the Latino vote and the election.

Might even change the tide of decay seen in some Latino neighborhoods – pride leads to expecting better of one’s family and neighbors.

[Gus]

xbrad, Obama hitched his skinny ass to his ................."if I had a son" Trayvon.
Not so much a "biggie", except, Obama as always injects HIMSELF and his RACIAL innerds into something. The CAMBRIDGE POLICE ACTED STUPIDLY. How fucking stupid and revealing was that???
Obama is a dimwit. He CONSTANTLY exposes himself for the EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED, man/child with DADDY, issues. His FATHER...DUMPED HIM at age 2. Yet.....DREAMS FROM MY FATHER.......
Obama has SERIOUS issues.

[xbradtc]

It's desperation, but it's not funny.

People will get hurt. For no good reason. I don't wish that on anyone. And I don't really give a shit about Martin's appearance. Kids today, whatchyagonna do?

I mean, I understand the pushback against the media portrayal of him from a 5 year old pic, vs. what current pics look like. But how he looked is beside the point.

[Sylvia]

"Holy shit Sylvia... I literally cannot stop laughing... that was great. You should write comedy professionally!"

So should you. Oh wait, you do, and it's called JOM.

[xbradtc]

xbrad, Obama hitched his skinny ass to his ................."if I had a son" Trayvon.

Yeah, I actually think that was Obama trying to project empathy with the common man, "I feel your pain" kinda stuff, for parents who have just lost a child. I don't think he was intentionally trying to rile up the likes of Sharpton and Jackson. But, of course, he's not nearly as slick as Slick Willie.

[xbradtc]

Slyvia, there's about 1500 comments on various threads showing information that tells us that your pet theory is retarded. You might wanna catch up on the latest news before spouting off.

[Gus]

Ari. George Zimmerman is a marked man. No matter what the TRUTH shows.
Sharpton,Jesse Jackson, and even Obama are CONSUMED with their own POWER, FUTURE or whatever. This entire issue and incident has been enflamed for political, racial and financial advantage.
Our MSM is so biased, that it can no longer even pretend to be objective.
If you asked a jury of 12 LIBTARDS any QUESTION, the collective answer would be NONSENSE.

[Gus]

XBRAD. I have to give you PROPS dude. You said that Opie the Kenyan Konman dimwit was trying to show EMPATHY!!!

Well, unfortunately, the TRAYVON......LOOKS LIKE ME......comment..... showed how RACIAL and how SELFISH....me. me me Obama is.

The Trayvon SKITTLES Martin Controversy, has been MADE UP....GINNNED UP..

Obama has never UNITED anything. Obama has NO skills.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

There is no getting around the fact that while Bambi was claiming Trayvon as his long lost son, the New Black Panthers were putting a $10,000 bounty on George Zimmerman and trying to mobilize 5000 followers to go find him.

[Gus]

Sara, I love you because you are so logical and smart.

[Marc Bressler]

If having one white parent makes GZ a "white Hispanic", then our president is a "white African-American."

[Stan]

Here's the reality liberals cannot even remotely fathom!!!

If Trayvon is NOT suspended from school in Miami.
Then Trayvon is in school in Miami instead of in Sanford.
If Trayvon is in school in Miami and NOT in Sanford.
Then Trayvon would still be alive.

Notice a pattern here.

It all started with Trayvon.

Decisions have consequences (sometime deadly)

End of story.

[Jane (Bad says Obama sucks)]

OT:

The king's uncle, illegal alien and liquor store worker was given a "hardship license " yesterday. He's still illegal of course, but in MA no worries! I'm sure his nephew is proud.

[bunkerbuster]

There's been plenty of misinformation spewed by the right as well. Most of it has been in the form of invented scenarios painting Martin as a criminal, when we have no evidence that he was up to anything other than walking while Afro-American.
Conservative media have also flubbed numerous details:
April 2 Washington Times says Zimmerman was arrested:
``Anti-gun lobbyists assert that Florida law prevented Zimmerman from being arrested. This too is false, since he was arrested and taken into custody at the police station.''
That's misleading, at best. The law prevented Zimmerman from being formally arrested. He was questioned and released against the wishes of the lead investigator and, apparently, before key evidence could be secured. To point out that the police briefly detained him for questioning is to woefully misrepresent the assertions that he wasn't arrested.

Tom, and many others here, initially claimed that the police didn't have enough evidence to arrest Zim. Presumably, they didn't just make this up wholecloth, but got it from conservative media sources they trust. Now, reports say the lead police investigator sought an indictment and said he didn't buy Zim's story. The prosecutor overruled him, reportedly.

Michelle Malkin's blog featured a photo of a young Afro-American man showing a shirtless boy in sagging shorts giving the finger to the camera purported to be of Martin. It was later withdrawn with an acknowledgment that it was NOT Martin.
Drudge also used a fake photo of Martin looking gangsta and continued to do so after being told it was a fake.
The only salient difference between mainstream professional media coverage and right wing talkosphere is that the professional media have been trying to get the facts straight, whereas the right-wing media are focusing on heaping as much dirt as possible on Martin.

[Jim Ryan]

Aaron Brown, if you keep doing that you might grow hair on your palms or go blind.

[tommy mc donnell]

aaron...19 out of 20 black murder victims in america are murdered by blacks. blacks murder whites 2 1/2 more often then whites murder blacks. whites are FIFTY times more likely to be the victim of a black crime then blacks are to be the victim of a white crime. you wouldn't know any of this because the democratic party-media complex doesn't report it.

[egoist]

Rush had several on 4/2/12. 1 was that the police interviewed Z for 6hrs before releasing him.

I can imagine that 46 calls in 8yrs if you're a regular neighborhood watcher.

Anyway, I expect that they'll overturn CCW eventually, based on this platform.