doublegunshop.com - home Forums THE MARTIN/ZIMMERMAN TRAGEDY

trayvon martin was 17 years old when he died. we know he had the body of a man, just under six feet tall and just under 160 pounds in weight. that was also my weight and height when I was 17. presuming he was your typical 17 year old, as was I, he was a big kid with not a lot street smarts, but thought he knew it all and was pretty cool. I aint 17 no mo, but still remember kinda what it was like to be 17. do any of you remember being 17?

too bad Zimmerman did not stay in the car and wait for the cops.

It's too bad that Travon turned and went after Zimmerman. He didn't have to do that. Nor did he have to punch Zimmerman and bash his head on the ground.

I wouldn't have stayed in the car...it was his neighborhood and he had every right to walk wherever he pleased, whenever he pleased.

And nobody had the authority to prohibit him from walking on those streets.

Your average 17 year old..particularly a 17 year old athlete is in far better physical condition that the average 30 something guy.

If some young punk that he was man enough to attack me.....then he was man enough to deal with anything that might happen..including getting shot to death.

and Trayvon was a thug with a criminal history...he was VERY street smart.
Tayvon was the one who should have turned and left....he wasn't a resident there...and it wasn't daytime.

This is a Federal indictment for a hate crime - from the FBI's website:

"WASHINGTON�Yesterday a federal grand jury in Portland, Oregon indicted George Allen Mason, Jr., 23, and his wife, Saraya Sophia Lisa Gardner, 23, on charges related to a the assault of a 26-year-old gay man who was walking his dog with his boyfriend on the streets of Hillsboro, Oregon, which occurred because of animus against the victim�s sexual orientation."

http://www.fbi.gov/portland/press-releas...nti-gay-assault

And another:

"WASHINGTON�The Department of Justice today announced Jamie Larson, 49, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle to a federal hate crime relating to a racially motivated assault of a 50-year-old Sikh man who works as a taxi cab driver."

http://www.fbi.gov/seattle/press-release...ack-on-sikh-man

And another:

"LONDON, KY�Four Harlan County, Kentucky relatives were sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove for their roles in kidnapping and assaulting Kevin Pennington, a gay man. David Jason Jenkins (�Jason�), 39, received 30 years in prison; Anthony Ray Jenkins, 22, 17 years in prison; Mable Ashley Jenkins (�Ashley�), 20, 100 months in prison; and Alexis LeeAnn Jenkins, 20, eight years in prison."

http://www.fbi.gov/louisville/press-rele...cher-county-man

GLS that explanation about why Zimmerman may have turned down the stand-your-ground hearing was informative and made sense - thanks.

Exactly....case closed and Justis served.

Thanks, Mike. I've been out of the Federal game for over 10 years. I see by your links where the Hate Crimes Prevention act was passed in 2009 after I pulled out. I doubt if there is a shred of evidence to prove a Hate Crimes violation in the Martin killing. While not a bar to Federal prosecution, Feds usually defer to bona fide state prosecutions for the same essential conduct under a doctrine the name of which escapes me. (It is not double jeopardy if there is another element under the federal statute absent in the state criminal statute.) In any event, I can't see any US attorney in his right mind attempting to present these facts to a grand jury. There was no testimony or evidence that Zimmerman acted out of racial animus as would be required for a Hate Crimes violation. If there had been, we would have heard it in the Florida trial. Any talk about a federal prosecution is political posturing by a bunch of blowhards. The Civil Rights Act that I referred to was for civil damages only and not criminal conduct.

If this was a civil rights crime OR a hate crime...then EVERY crime against a non-black person by a Black person is too...and should be pursued to the full limit of the law.

Racial profiling is a concept that applies only to law enforcement. You cannot arrest someone because of their skin color, the way they are dressed, etc.. A private citizen cannot be charged with racial profiling. (I wish the media would do their homework) A private citizen can follow and observe another human being; there is no law against this. The only thing Zimmerman could possibly have been charged with was a misdemeanor for discharging a firearm in city limits. This was a case that should never have come to court and wouldn't have but for Obama's un-presidential and inflammatory comment which the lapdog adoring media grabbed and run with along with race baiters (who make money off their comments) Sharpton and Jackson. The media, in their eagerness to stir the cauldron of divisiveness and portray a racist incident, originally identified Zimmerman as white and then invented a new ethnicity by changing it to a "white Hispanic". NBC altered the ER photos of Zimmerman's injuries to fit their original claims that there was no incidence of self-defense. I assure you, if the situation was reversed and Martin had shot Zimmerman, we would not have heard a word from the media, and due to his age, Martin would have received probation and been back on the street in a month. Where was the media when 3 black crackheads murdered a teenage waitress for her tip money? What coverage have they given to the weekly murders in Obama's hometown of Chicago? The media chooses to feature only the stories that fit their agenda which, by definition, is propaganda. What they did not report is the lawsuit the Martin family made against the homeowners association for which Zimmerman was the neighborhood watch captain....settled out of court for 1 million. Ed....anytime I leave my house I am armed; I don't want to return from the grocery store and surprise a burglar in my home and the only thing I have in my hands is the milk and bread.

Let us look at the facts and forget the "what ifs" (I'm amazed how many people on facebook have suddenly received their law degrees since the verdict came in.) "If a frog had wings, he wouldn't bust his ass everytime he jumps." There was no law broken that could result in an indictment...bad judgement and wrong decisions perhaps (I wasn't there, so I don't know) but bad judgements and wrong decisions aren't against the law or most of us here on the forum would still be in jail.

For those who want to label Martin as a thug, what about the wannabe vigilante Zimmerman? Is he any less a thug for packing a gun and wanting to throw his weight? Stay in the car, wait for the cops. You've done your duty. If he does that, this whole thing never happens.