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Despite round-the-clock media coverage of the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida, most Americans haven’t come to a conclusion yet whether it’s a case of murder or self-defense.
One-third (33%) of adults believe crime watch volunteer George Zimmerman should be found guilty of murder in the shooting death of the Florida teenager, while 15% think Zimmerman acted in self-defense, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. But 52% of Americans are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
About what I'd expect - follows the Bell Curve almost perfectly. Top third have spent the time gathering facts and have come to a logical conclusion, next 50% don't know enough to make a decision, bottom 15% follow the instincts of their reptilian brains...
Why do the police..and these friends appear to be 'protecting this man?
This just tweeted >> TODAY @todayshow
"The video is very grainy... I'm not sure you can see injuries that were sustained." Craig Sonner, George Zimmerman's attny on police video?'' __________________________________________________ _________
NO, Lawyer Sonner, we can't see any sign of any injuries on your client, George Zimmerman!
You are correct. The video taken outside is not grainy at all - very clear, in fact. The front and back of Zimmerman's head show no signs of his head being repeatedly slammed against the pavement or of his nose being touched, much less broken.
This case caught me by surprise a little. I normally like to have more information before I start forming opinions. But the original story of this guy clearly chasing down the kid after the 911 operator told him not to and then shooting him made me think that Zimmerman should have been arrested at the least. However, now more information in coming out about the victim. Apparently he has been accused of theft, possession of burglary tools, assaults and had multiple suspensions from school. So it's not inconceivable that Zimmerman asked the kid what he was doing and the kid gave him a hard time and then attacked him. People in the neighborhood watch programs do have the responsibility of asking people who they don't know they are doing in the complex. This kid didn't live there, so it's likely no one knew who he was.
This case caught me by surprise a little. I normally like to have more information before I start forming opinions. But the original story of this guy clearly chasing down the kid after the 911 operator told him not to and then shooting him made me think that Zimmerman should have been arrested at the least. However, now more information in coming out about the victim. Apparently he has been accused of theft, possession of burglary tools, assaults and had multiple suspensions from school. So it's not inconceivable that Zimmerman asked the kid what he was doing and the kid gave him a hard time and then attacked him. People in the neighborhood watch programs do have the responsibility of asking people who they don't know they are doing in the complex. This kid didn't live there, so it's likely no one knew who he was.
NW volunteers have the responsibility of alerting the police when they see something suspicious. That's why they call it Neighborhood WATCH.
You need to catch up. Trayvon Martin was never accused of theft. His only infractions were those of a high school student during school. On the night he was killed by Zimmerman he was breaking no laws and that's all that matters.
Despite round-the-clock media coverage of the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida, most Americans haven’t come to a conclusion yet whether it’s a case of murder or self-defense.
One-third (33%) of adults believe crime watch volunteer George Zimmerman should be found guilty of murder in the shooting death of the Florida teenager, while 15% think Zimmerman acted in self-defense, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. But 52% of Americans are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
I haven't posted anything about anything about the Trayvon Martin case, but here goes:
On one level, I think you can blame George Zimmerman for this, on the basis that if he didn't get involved, Martin goes to his father's fiancee's house and eats Skittles. It doesn't matter whether there were pictures of Martin looking all "thug" like or whether he was suspended from school for whatever. From what I can tell, it doesn't sound like Martin was atypically badly behaved for a teenager or anything. But even if he was, it wouldn't matter because that night he was wasn't doing anything wrong. For somebody that is biased towards Martin (definitely his parents would feel this way,) it looks like he was murdered for no reason. The attempted character assassination of Martin is wrong, and a lot of it seems racially motivated to me.
That being said, when you look at the actual altercation between Martin and Zimmerman, the picture becomes less clear. It's possible that Martin was over the top in his response - maybe Zimmerman just asked what he was doing and Martin snapped and started beating the snot out of him - and what Zimmerman did was self-defense. I don't know, hopefully the witnesses will provide a clearer picture. But it's also possible that the mitigating circumstances in the first paragraph might not make the claim of self-defense to be valid.
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