Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman verdict

[Catwhoshatinthehat]

Someone following you doesn't give you the right to attack them.  If you're life is in danger or you feel threatened you will respond but bashing someone's head into the ground after you've already hit them is past the point of self defense. 

[arch stanton]

If Travon knew Zim had a gun I'm betting he would have done something different.  He picked the wrong dude to jack.

Maybe that's why he was hiding the gun. You can't goad someone into a fight if you play the gun card too early.

[tdawg87]

Does that end the threat? He still doesn't know who he is or why he's following him.

Is it a fact that he was following him? I'm not playing devil's advocate I really don't know. I've heard different things, one of which being that he was heading back to his car when Trayvon attacked him.

[Kevin]

How do we know Zimmerman even had the opportunity to identify himself? According to Zimmerman, so take it for what it is worth, as he was returning to his car, Martin approached from his left rear and confronted him and punched him. 

 

If true, and no one can prove its not, kinda hard to identify yourself when you're being beaten up.

[Kevin]

Is it a fact that he was following him? I'm not playing devil's advocate I really don't know. I've heard different things, one of which being that he was heading back to his car when Trayvon attacked him.

 

 

Correct tdawg. Prosecution says he continued to follow him. Zimmerman claimed he was heading back to his car. So yeah....

[tennischmp]

Point is no one really knows what happened. All we know is Zimmerman wrongly profiled Martin, confronted him, a scuffled ensued, and Martin was killed. Zimmerman claims self defense and gives his account. If the jury believes him then they rule not guilty which is what they did.

[Jay]

So many people angry about the verdict, none of whom were in the courtroom. People being manipulated by the media and so-called civil rights activists.

[Kevin]

Well it's easy to say he was wrongly profiled after the fact. However during, it's not so easy. Especially for those who weren't involved and not knowing the complete details of the history of the neighborhood.

[Lifetime]

He didn't profile anyone. An unknown person was walking through the backside of a community that had been having robberies, he was unknown and therefore suspicious. Zimmerman followed him, he didn't confront him. Zimmerman called police. He was confronted by Martin, not the other way around.

[Lifetime]

Facts as I understand them are that a man who refused to identify himself was following the kid around. Does he not have the right to defend himself in this situation? Should he have waited for the guy to shoot him first?

wait, so you have the right to attack someone because they are following you? Who said he refused to identify himself or that he was even close enough to identify himself prior to being accosted? It doesn't sound like you actually have "facts" of the case.

[arch stanton]

You are correct. Zimmerman was unknown to Trayvon Martin therefore suspicious.

[Glen]

Almost everybody on this board is suspicious to me, since I don't really know most of you.

[Kevin]

So you know for a fact arch that gz had an opportunity to identify himself but didn't?

Taking that into account, why didn't martin identify himself instead of attacking gz?

[TobiasFunke]

Just curious, at what point did GZ overstep his bounds? Does anyone have a problem with him calling the police? Obviously getting out of the car set things in motion but there is dispute about whether he headed back to his car or if he followed Martin the entire time.

When he confronted Trayvon is when he officially went too far. Following him I guess you can say he was doing his due diligence as a neighborhood watch guy (and I say that very liberally) but confronting the kid for walking through his neighborhood is the line that was crossed in my opinion.

[arch stanton]

So you know for a fact arch that gz had an opportunity to identify himself but didn't?

Taking that into account, why didn't martin identify himself instead of attacking gz?

Yes, I do know for a fact that George Zimmerman knows his name and has the verbal skills to communicate it to another human. Perhaps if he had spoken to him instead of following him he might not have felt the need to fire a lead projectile into his chest from close range.

[TobiasFunke]

He didn't profile anyone. An unknown person was walking through the backside of a community that had been having robberies, he was unknown and therefore suspicious. Zimmerman followed him, he didn't confront him. Zimmerman called police. He was confronted by Martin, not the other way around.

If you were being followed by an unknown and suspicious person, you wouldn't want to turn around and confront the person? Maybe get defensive about it?

[tdawg87]

If you were being followed by an unknown and suspicious person, you wouldn't want to turn around and confront the person? Maybe get defensive about it?

Typically that would be a bad idea considering that person may have a gun and mean you harm. Confronting them would just make it worse. The best idea is to get out of there, and fast.

I'm not sure what Trayvon did could be considered "getting defensive". Then again we will never know for sure.

[Glen]

So you know for a fact arch that gz had an opportunity to identify himself but didn't?

Taking that into account, why didn't martin identify himself instead of attacking gz?

 

 

How do we know he didn't?

[tdawg87]

Yes, I do know for a fact that George Zimmerman knows his name and has the verbal skills to communicate it to another human. Perhaps if he had spoken to him instead of following him he might not have felt the need to fire a lead projectile into his chest from close range.

How do you know that isn't exactly what he tried to do?

[Lifetime]

You are correct. Zimmerman was unknown to Trayvon Martin therefore suspicious.

so he should attack him then, even though he was not being threatened in any way?

[arch stanton]

How do you know that isn't exactly what he tried to do?

I don't know that or anything except what Zimmerman says because he's the only side that will ever be heard for eternity. Dead men tell no tales. History is written by the victors.

[Lifetime]

When did he confront Travon?

When he confronted Trayvon is when he officially went too far. Following him I guess you can say he was doing his due diligence as a neighborhood watch guy (and I say that very liberally) but confronting the kid for walking through his neighborhood is the line that was crossed in my opinion.

[tennischmp]

so he should attack him then, even though he was not being threatened in any way?

No one knows who attacked who

[arch stanton]

so he should attack him then, even though he was not being threatened in any way?

You claimed to have stalked someone with a baseball bat for the crime of walking through your neighborhood but you don't allow Trayvon the privilege of feeling threatened by being followed by a strange man?

[Spirit]

What I'm getting out of all this is that no one knows what happened.