They are watching us! (Chicago, Atlanta: school, gated community, gangs)

[Chicago South Sider]

Originally Posted by J. Lundegaard

Stalking is a legal term. That's actually a crime in and of itself. Sorry to say following someone isn't illegal. If it were the entire private detective business would be a criminal enterprise.

If you have a problem with concealed carry (you don't like members of the public having firearms on their person), that's fine. But it was legal in Florida at the time so Zimmerman didn't do anything illegal by carrying one.

Personally, I would never play cop. There are professionals who get paid for that sort of thing. Unless you are invading my 'space' I don't care what you're doing, whether it's legal or not.

[williepotatoes]

Originally Posted by J. Lundegaard

Stalking is a legal term. That's actually a crime in and of itself. Sorry to say following someone isn't illegal. If it were the entire private detective business would be a criminal enterprise.

If you have a problem with concealed carry (you don't like members of the public having firearms on their person), that's fine. But it was legal in Florida at the time so Zimmerman didn't do anything illegal by carrying one.

Nothing but semantics my friend, following someone for the pupose of a confrontation and carrying a concealed weapon is gutless and insidious. If you aren't certified LE or sanctioned security and your playing vigilante on public turf your as dangerous as any criminal to me.

[chrawnick]

Originally Posted by J. Lundegaard

You completely focus on Zimmerman, here, which I think is unfair. Fine, I can agree with you on this: what Zimmerman did is probably legal, but maybe he exercised poor judgment by not taking every action in his power to avoid any confrontation with Trayvon (because he was carrying concealed and he knew that). I guess I'm okay with that. I believe concealed carry instructors tell their students to do everything in their power to avoid any type of confrontation and always choose "flight" or "fight."

On the other hand, I hate how no one wants to hold Trayvon accountable for his actions. So many have made him out to be a little angel. From the evidence (which is out there but just wasn't shown to the jury), it looks like he liked fighting. Think about that for a second. Trayvon was 17 years old but already started to like the idea of using violence against others and watching them bleed. That's disturbing to me.

His text messages, which were pulled from his phone, indicate that he got a taste of fighting and he seemed to like it. One of his friends even warned him to stop fighting or he was going to get suspended again. His half-brother even asked him when he would teach him how to fight. I don't think that's a good quality for a 17 year old to have. But of course, no one wants to comment on that because Trayvon is a little angel.

I'm willing to criticize Zimmerman for maybe exercising poor judgment that night. Are you willing to do the same for Trayvon?

Trayvon was a 17 year old boy.

Zimmerman is a grown man.

All Trayvon UNFORTUNATELY did was walk home.

You don't approach someone in the middle of night. What the HECK is wrong with you?

[J. Lundegaard]

Originally Posted by williepotatoes

Nothing but semantics my friend, following someone for the pupose of a confrontation and carrying a concealed weapon is gutless and insidious. If you aren't certified LE or sanctioned security and your playing vigilante on public turf your as dangerous as any criminal to me.

How about just following someone from a distance to figure what the heck they're doing? Is that gutless? You seem to want to live in a society where only certified LEO can look into whether a crime is going down or make the community safer. That's crazy to me.

[Chicago South Sider]

Originally Posted by williepotatoes

Nothing but semantics my friend, following someone for the pupose of a confrontation and carrying a concealed weapon is gutless and insidious. If you aren't certified LE or sanctioned security and your playing vigilante on public turf your as dangerous as any criminal to me.

Exactly. I wonder how many spineless punks will be walking around Chicago with the Zimmerman mindset. The guy is pathetic.

[J. Lundegaard]

Originally Posted by Chicago South Sider

Personally, I would never play cop. There are professionals who get paid for that sort of thing. Unless you are invading my 'space' I don't care what you're doing, whether it's legal or not.

That's probably a good philosophy to have.

[chrawnick]

Woooow! Trayvon fought a lot.

So the heck what? Who DIDN'T get into some kind of fight as a kid.

It does not excuse Zimmerman's stupidity.

Stop trying to play hero and stay your a** in the freakin' house.

[J. Lundegaard]

Originally Posted by chrawnick

Trayvon was a 17 year old boy.

Zimmerman is a grown man.

All Trayvon UNFORTUNATELY did was walk home.

You don't approach someone in the middle of night. What the HECK is wrong with you?

I'm not even sure where to begin:

1. Trayvon was 17. For the love of God, stop calling him a "boy." You can enlist in the Army or Marine at 17 and be shipped off to the mountains of Afghanistan to fight the guerrillas. Can we at least settle at young man? Trayvon was also in good shape and was 3-4 inches taller than Zimmerman, who was out of shape. Even Chicago South Sider recognizes that Zimmerman was weak and not intimidating.

2. "All Trayvon UNFORTUNATELY did was walk home." You don't what he did, and neither do I. Just asserting that he was just walking home doesn't make it true. Zimmerman has the injuries to prove that someone was kicking his butt.

3. "You don't approach someone in the middle of night." Generally, yes probably good advice. But I've been approached by lots of people in the middle of the night living in Chicago. I don't immediately sucker punch them and attack them. Even the bums that have approached me at night on my street and started their spiel asking me for money, I don't immediately attack. It's not illegal to approach someone.

[mjtinmemphis]

Originally Posted by J. Lundegaard

You completely focus on Zimmerman, here, which I think is unfair. Fine, I can agree with you on this: what Zimmerman did is probably legal, but maybe he exercised poor judgment by not taking every action in his power to avoid any confrontation with Trayvon (because he was carrying concealed and he knew that). I guess I'm okay with that. I believe concealed carry instructors tell their students to do everything in their power to avoid any type of confrontation and always choose "flight" or "fight."

On the other hand, I hate how no one wants to hold Trayvon accountable for his actions. So many have made him out to be a little angel. From the evidence (which is out there but just wasn't shown to the jury), it looks like he liked fighting. Think about that for a second. Trayvon was 17 years old but already started to like the idea of using violence against others and watching them bleed. That's disturbing to me.

His text messages, which were pulled from his phone, indicate that he got a taste of fighting and he seemed to like it. One of his friends even warned him to stop fighting or he was going to get suspended again. His half-brother even asked him when he would teach him how to fight. I don't think that's a good quality for a 17 year old to have. But of course, no one wants to comment on that because Trayvon is a little angel.

I'm willing to criticize Zimmerman for maybe exercising poor judgment that night. Are you willing to do the same for Trayvon?

Travon was a minor. Zimmermann was clearly the aggressor by making the first move walking towards Travon. 2nd Travon isn't here to defend himself against what people are throwing at him.

The problem with guns and being responsible isthere is little room for poor judgment. I'm sure you would agree?

[J. Lundegaard]

Originally Posted by mjtinmemphis

Travon was a minor. Zimmermann was clearly the aggressor by making the first move walking towards Travon. 2nd Travon isn't here to defend himself against what people are throwing at him.

The problem with guns and being responsible isthere is little room for poor judgment. I'm sure you would agree?

"Zimmermann was clearly the aggressor by making the first move walking towards Travon."

I don't agree with this. Neither you nor me know what happened. Zimmerman supporters have their side of the story (Trayvon popped out of the bushes and attacked Zimmerman) and Trayvon supporters have their side of the story (Travyon was innocent little child carrying skittles and was attacked and killed by racist monster Zimmerman). All I know is that Zimmerman's side of the story, coupled with his injuries, Travyon's past, and what witness John Good said (that Travyon was on top of Zimmerman punching him), easily raise a reasonable doubt as to Zimmerman's guilt. The jury agreed.

"2nd Travon isn't here to defend himself against what people are throwing at him."

True. I know it's hard to speak poorly of a minor who is dead, but if we want to have a conversation about what happened that night and decide if Zimmerman is guilty or not, it has to come out. I think we do a disservice by refusing to acknowledge that Trayvon isn't perfect.

"The problem with guns and being responsible is: there is little room for poor judgment. I'm sure you would agree?"

I somewhat agree. Anyone who uses firearms, or especially those who carry them in public, need to exercise extreme caution and have good judgment. The good thing is that most concealed carry license holders are a law-abiding group who usually don't get into trouble. Gangs who are illegally possessing guns for nefarious reasons are a totally different story.