Anyone else been following the Trayvon Martin murder? What a fucking travesty that is. I can't believe Florida's laws make it likely this guy is going to walk.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archiv...killing/254776/

Well, the one thing I read this morning shows that the FBI and Justice Dept. have opened up an investigation, so there might be some justice here. Also, Zimmerman was NOT part of an official Neighborhood Watch and violated every single rule of those programs.

EDIT: Here is the link - http://gma.yahoo.com/trayvon-martin-killin...--abc-news.html

Yeah, I'm hopeful, but it's just infuriating. Did you see what the police chief said?



Stupid Trayvon! Should've stayed home instead of getting Skittles!

Lee is an asshole. I am hoping the Feds do the right thing. Read the link above and you will get even more infuriated. HE FOLLOWED HIM!

Yup. "These assholes always get away." What a fucking piece of shit.

Yep. I really think something will happen now because of all the backlash. I don't always have faith in our government, but when the FBI get involved, they aren't fucking around.

The laws are fucked. Justifiable homicide jumped from ~35 to ~110 after they were signed.


The whole situation... people are claiming it's Zimmerman screaming for mercy in those 9/11 calls. Really? That's the cry of a 32 year old man holding a firearm?

Gah -- I was a little mad when I saw a brief summary of this on the news last night. Now that I know the details I'm furious.

I'm also a little dismayed it took this long to become national news - it was everywhere on the internet the morning after. Not sure why it took so long to hit the news, which makes things worse.

Probably the single incident that makes me the angriest in a long, long time. Legitimately angry.

but yeah, this country doesn't have a gun problem.

ThinkProgress is carrying an ever more enervating list of 'things you should know' about the case.

I wish that I'd known about this case a few weeks ago when I covered Neighborhood Watch and all of the inherent problems with it (there are several) in my Crime Prevention class. Think we'll be talking about it next week.

that too.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201203230002

"Don't let your kid -- you know the old Johnny Cash song, don't take your gun to town, son. Leave your gun at home. There is some things that are almost inevitable. I'm not suggesting that Trayvon Martin had any kind of weapon or anything, but he wore an outfit that allowed someone to respond in this irrational, overzealous way and if he had been dressed more appropriately, I think unless it's raining out, or you're at a track meet, leave the hoodie home. Don't let your children go out there."

Fuck Geraldo Rivera. Right in his dumb face.

Dude, she totally asked to be raped, did you see what she wore to the party tonight?

I know Geraldo Rivera was always a joke and an idiot but was he always a douche too?

Always

Anything to get air time.

I think that I'm going to be using this case as my midterm assignment for my crime prevention class.

Step one: don't wear a hoodie
Step two: ????
Step three: crime prevented

Thanks for the A, Dr. Sed!

Ive got nothing. That's one of the most insanely stupid things I've ever heard.

On top of that, I feel bad for the kids of stupid parents who buy into shit like this.

* kid puts on hoodie* WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!??! YOU WANT TO GET SHOT!??!

There's no fucking responsibility at all anymore.

Well hold on here. Does Geraldo mean all people should stop wearing hoodies or just black people? Because I wore a hoodie a hoodie to the gym last night. Thank god no one acted irrationally and overzealous!

All teenagers, especially minorities.

PHHEW! I'm neither! Gonna go buy another hoodie now!

If black teenagers want to stay warm, they'll need to take a page out of Uncle Bill's book:

That sweater's also an instructional guide - when you're in a gated community, run!

Actually, according to Geraldo that sweater portrays a gang of black people using the extra bone in their foot to jump over the wall of a prison. If you look closely they have guns in their hands.

NEVER RUN! That's what started this whole thing in the first place. Buffy community watch people are like dogs. Run, and they WILL chase you. It's best to poke them in the neck and go "sshhhht".

Things not to do in gated communities:
*Run
*Walk
*Wear hoodies
*Want skittles
*Be black
*Be young

You should also not listen to Duran Duran. That will get you shot in ANY community.

That's just a given. In fact, you should not listen to anything. You should hum Stravinsky while you walk.

Screw you guys!

On a somewhat serious note . . .

While in this instance there seem to be a number of variables at work (most particularly an armed buffed out wannabe cop community watch guy on the lookout for young black folk), I cannot stress enough how "running" automatically triggers law enforcement personnel's instinct that the person is "bad" or that they did or are about to do something "bad".

In my experience, be it street crime or occupy wall street protestors or whatever, if you cooperate and keep your mouth shut you are 99.9% likely to not have any physical altercation with officers. The minute you give the appearance of engaging in a confrontation, the situation gets tense and almost universally ends badly for someone.

I'm not saying there aren't bad people in uniform, because it is obvious that are. But I think it is a tremendous minority and even those officers are likely to to behave properly without provocation (whether or not it is actual or perceived).

Except this wasn't a uniformed agent of the municipality, state or appropriately licensed authority (re:private security). This was a jerk off volunteer with a gun. You cannot blame this kid for getting spooked and running. Fuck I'd probably get paranoid and run or at least walk really fast if some random dude was following me.

EDIT: I will agree though that when it comes to dealing with cops its best to just follow what they say no matter how vile a thought it is. I got pulled over once for speeding and as the cop was walking over, I leaned over to get my info out of the glove box. Before I knew it the cop was yelling at me to not move. I won't deny that I nearly shit my pants when I saw he had his hand on the gun and half drawn. From that day on, any time i've been pulled over I sit with my hands on the wheel until the cop tells me to get my info.

Except this guy wasn't law enforcement in any way.

If the kid were white and this same thing happened, would people be making as big a deal about it?

I would hope so. I'm pretty sure unlawful kills are wrong in all cases.

Thank you, Gerardo. It doesn't happen when the kid is white, that's the point.

Way to go!

What does Rico Suave have to do with this?

I'm betting that was Mike's new phone auto correcting him.

Sure! Totally!



:: totally posted from my new completely awesome DROID MAXX ::

You guys. Mike didn't get a new phone. He just wants us to think he's cool.

The couch, a new phone. It's all adding up!

Nothing like issuing a call to arm the fashion police. You can kill yourself now Geraldo, no one will mind.

Also, didn't the kid not run? Didn't his girlfriend encourage him to run and he thought it better to play it cool? It seemed like he was specifically trying to avoid triggering that response from the guy.

No, because Zimmerman would have been jailed.




Was this a serious post?

Definitely black people. If you're black and wearing a hoodie, you may as well be carrying a gun. That's what he said.

Maybe this needs to be in a different thread, but I'm curious what you make of the Village Voice's NYPD Tapes, then.

Overall I think I agree that bad people in uniform are a minority, but I also think holding them accountable seems to be unbelievably difficult. (Though some might say that's our own fault.)

Nope.