Support NeoGAF

[Log4Girlz]

How the flying fuck can Zimmerman be allowed to follow the kid in this car, get out of the car with an armed weapon, kill the kid, and be free?

If the races were reversed Zimmerman would most definitely be facing hard time.

 

[cartoon_soldier]

If the races were reversed Zimmerman would most definitely be facing hard time.

Pretty much

 

[Vicetrailia]

He's being protected by the local police, so unfair.

 

[Loudninja]

Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable Police Conduct

Zimmerman described Martin as suspicious because he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and walking slowly in the rain, police later told residents at a town hall.

A dispatcher told him to wait for a police cruiser, and not leave his vehicle.

But about a minute later, Zimmerman left his car wearing a red sweatshirt and pursued Martin on foot between two rows of townhouses, about 70 yards from where the teen was going.

Lee said Zimmerman's pursuit of Martin did not of itself constitute a crime.

An officer at the scene overheard Zimmerman saying, "I was yelling for someone to help me but no one would help me," the report said.

Witnesses told ABC News they heard Zimmerman pronounce aloud to the breathless residents watching the violence unfold "it was self-defense," and place the gun on the ground.

But after the shooting, a source inside the police department told ABC News that a narcotics detective and not a homicide detective first approached Zimmerman. The detective pepppered Zimmerman with questions, the source said, rather than allow Zimmerman to tell his story. Questions can lead a witness, the source said.

Another officer corrected a witness after she told him that she heard the teen cry for help.

The officer told the witness, a long-time teacher, it was Zimmerman who cried for help, said the witness. ABC News has spoken to the teacher and she confirmed that the officer corrected her when she said she heard the teenager shout for help.

The Sanford Police Department refused to release 911 calls by witnesses and neighbors.

Several of the calls, ABC News has learned, contain the sound of the single gunshot.

Lee publically admitted that officers accepted Zimmerman's word at the scene that he had no police record.

Two days later during a meeting with Trayvon's father Tracy Martin, an officer told the father that Zimmerman's record was "squeaky clean."

Yet public records showed that Zimmerman was charged with battery against on officer and resisting arrest in 2005, a charge which was later expunged.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/neighborho...s-questionable/story?id=15907136#.T19jPPX0_T1

 

[Spat_triate]

If the races were reversed Zimmerman would most definitely be facing hard time.

Approaching a white person while black is tantamount to assault with a deadly weapon. Good ole Zimmy had no choice but to protect himself.

 

[DY_nasty]

This is just ridiculous...

 

[ffdgh]

and the lies slowly reveal themselves.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

There is going to be some very long paid leave in the future for some of these detectives. That'll show them.

 

[Kong Fisso]

Current status: Zimmerman still a murderer and a psychopath.

Patiently waiting for evidence to say otherwise.

Prediction: Not happening.

 

[Big Baybee]

This is fucking sad. Sad. They won't even release the 911 tapes.

 

[SmokyDave]

Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable Police Conduct

Zimmerman described Martin as suspicious because he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and walking slowly in the rain, police later told residents at a town hall.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/neighborho...s-questionable/story?id=15907136#.T19jPPX0_T1

Wearing a hooded sweatshirt in the rain?!

Got to be a gang member.

This story is seriously fucked up. It's as if it's legal to shoot black people in the US.

 

[abuC]

It's as if it's legal to shoot black people in the US.

Been that way for years in NYC.

 

[soundahfekz]

Kharvey and Realink, SMH

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable Police Conduct




http://abcnews.go.com/US/neighborho...s-questionable/story?id=15907136#.T19jPPX0_T1

officers correcting witnesses at the scene?

I said goddamn.

 

[J.ceaz]

Another officer corrected a witness after she told him that she heard the teen cry for help.

I hope this isn't the same witness who made the statement in the original article.

 

[Jim E. Rossler]

In Bizarro Miami, a white trayvonBrad is stalked by a black Zimmerman in a black neighborhood for walking while white (while raining! Only GANG MEMBERS do that), is confronted by zimmerman and shot
Zimmerman claimed self defense, had no previous record, and is not in custody

 

[JCX]

This is the most ridiculous news I've heard in a long time. Local police know they're wrong.

 

[Rocket Scientist]

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?! Fucking throw everybody to jail. Fuck everybody. God I knew I shouldn't have entered this thread, why do you keep bumping this shit?! I knew nothing good could come out of it but seeing it every day, I had to click.

 

[TheOMan]

Hmmm - I guess officers correcting witnesses at the scene of a crime is standard operating procedure? Goes hand in hand with letting a guy go free after killing somebody (all you have to do is claim self defense). I said wow.

I'm thinking he has to know somebody in that police department, or has some sort of weird connection.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Hmmm - I guess officers correcting witnesses at the scene of a crime is standard operating procedure? Goes hand in hand with letting a guy who has a record free after killing somebody. I said wow.

Shit would be hilarious if this were an Onion article. This shit actually went down and mr. "squeaky clean" record walks free. After all, with his squeaky clean record, he couldn't POSSIBLY be lying. Certainly not after shooting a hooded colored.

 

[Big Baybee]

This is the worst cover up in the history of cover ups. They are barely even trying.

 

[jaxword]

This is the worst cover up in the history of cover ups. They are barely even trying.

This isn't a coverup. It's a flat out denial. No need to cover up what you can just deny even happened.

 

[Kinitari]

This has gotten enough media attention that it'll go to the state department. I am optimistic that some good will come out of that. Thinking the alternative is too depressing.

 

[ruxtpin]

Wearing a hooded sweatshirt in the rain?!

Got to be a gang member.

This story is seriously fucked up. It's as if it's legal to shoot black people in the US.

Seriously. I was wearing a hoodie in the rain and walking slowly yesterday when I took my dog out.

I must be a gang member.

This whole story is just unreal.

 

[jorma]

In Bizarro Miami, a white trayvonBrad is stalked by a black Zimmerman in a black neighborhood for walking while white (while raining! Only GANG MEMBERS do that), is confronted by zimmerman and shot
Zimmerman claimed self defense, had no previous record, and is not in custody

Isnt this pretty much what the teaparty suggested would happen with a black president? Obama not delivering as ususal...

 

[reggieandTFE]

Hmmm - I guess officers correcting witnesses at the scene of a crime is standard operating procedure? Goes hand in hand with letting a guy go free after killing somebody (all you have to do is claim self defense). I said wow.

I'm thinking he has to know somebody in that police department, or has some sort of white connection.

Fixed.

 

[jorma]

"hey police get over here, i see a black man with a hoodie in the rain"

"ok that is clearly suspicious, we'll be right there"

I mean how fucked up is this? I could never get the police to show up with a lame ass call like that.

 

[MightyHealthy]

With the outrage growing, I'm hopeful that over time, justice will be served.

However, I am most curious about just who George Zimmerman knows.

I'm not sure about Florida laws, but how often do police officers retract "battering an officer" charges? Expunged within less than a decade?

This guy has to be connected to someone, for this type of protection.

 

[Kong Fisso]

"hey police get over here, i see a black man with a hoodie in the rain"

"ok that is clearly suspicious, we'll be right there"

I mean how fucked up is this? I could never get the police to show up with a lame ass call like that.

People waiting outside a bar to kick my ass won't have the police coming here

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable Police Conduct




http://abcnews.go.com/US/neighborho...s-questionable/story?id=15907136#.T19jPPX0_T1

Absolutely disgusting. The guy clearly has connections on the police force for such a gross miscarriage of justice. There is a witness that claims they heard the victim claiming "help!" Is that not enough for an arrest? Why are the police censoring the 911 tapes unless there is something potentially incriminating on them? It's like they're building their defense before they make the arrest.

Time after time posters in this thread demonstrate their complete lack of understanding. I'm done here for the time being and will head back when the results of the investigation get passed on to the state, which should be within a week.

Before I go, I'll make my first two assumptions and share them. The first is, if prosecution is not recommended by the investigation the reason given by the majority in this thread will be that everyone involved is racist, stupid or both. The second is that if prosecution is recommended I'll have to experience the mind numbing stupidity of multiple posters telling me how dumb I must feel for being wrong.

I get that playing Devil's Advocate is your thing, but it loses its charm as a gimmick when you blatantly ignore common sense just to argue the other side. Get over yourself. The fact that you giving yourself an out no matter which way the situation plays itself just shows you don't actually believe what you're arguing.

 

[3rdman]

I used to visit Sanford in my college days as they were the nearest county that serves alcohol after 2am...I would never live there...ever.

 

[Mecha_Infantry]

Nope, not doing it

Refuse to believe this can go on in free and just land of America

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

I have to stop clicking this thread, it makes me angrier and angrier each time more bullshit is released. Cops correcting witnesses? Ties to the police department? What a fucking shame.

 

[Derwind]

Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable Police Conduct

http://abcnews.go.com/US/neighborho...s-questionable/story?id=15907136#.T19jPPX0_T1

Correcting the witness? That is amazing.

Witness: "Officer the kid was crying for help!"

Officer: "Nope, you just misheard, here's how it went down..."

/facepalm

 

[Dram]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/12/george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin_n_1340358.html?ref=mostpopular

A volunteer community watch captain who shot an unarmed Florida teenager to death last month had been the subject of complaints by neighbors in his gated community for aggressive tactics, a homeowner said.

George Zimmerman has not been charged in the Feb. 26 shooting of Trayvon Martin, 17, who was walking home from a convenience store in Sanford, Fla., near Orlando. Zimmerman, who patrolled the Retreat at Twin Lakes development in his own car, had been called aggressive in earlier complaints to the local police and the homeowner's association, according to a homeowner who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

At an emergency homeowner’s association meeting on March 1, “one man was escorted out because he openly expressed his frustration because he had previously contacted the Sanford Police Department about Zimmerman approaching him and even coming to his home,” the resident wrote in an email to HuffPost. “It was also made known that there had been several complaints about George Zimmerman and his tactics" in his neighborhood watch captain role.

The meeting was attended by Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee, the detective assigned to the investigation and an unnamed member of the city council, according to the homeowner’s association newsletter. The chief couldn't immediately be reached for comment about the complaints. A member of the homeowner’s association board, who asked not to be quoted by name, said she “hadn’t heard about any complaints” about Zimmerman. Zimmerman's phone number is disconnected and efforts to reach him have been unsuccessful.

 

[wsoxfan1214]

Pathetic. And nothing will come of it because the fucking police department is defending this idiot. Appears racism is alive and kicking in Florida. Surprise, surprise.

 

[Foxy Fox 39]

Paging KHarvey.

 

[daycru]

Zimmerman is a cosplay cop emboldened by seeing the real deal get away with so much. Figured "why not?" And thus far has been proven correct.

 

[Particle Physicist]

With the outrage growing, I'm hopeful that over time, justice will be served.

However, I am most curious about just who George Zimmerman knows.

I'm not sure about Florida laws, but how often do police officers retract "battering an officer" charges? Expunged within less than a decade?

This guy has to be connected to someone, for this type of protection.

I was thinking the same thing. That is a hell of a charge to get expunged.

 

[KHarvey16]

Paging KHarvey.

For?




Also, to Sho_nuff, what I'm arguing is precisely the reason I "have an out". Which is a very strange way to characterize going whichever way solid, good evidence points. Those scientists and their inability to commit! Always have an out no matter what their experiments show!

 

[marathonfool]

More from the ABCnews article.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/neighborho...s-questionable/story?id=15907136#.T1-QPnm6884

Sanford Police Chief Billy Lee said there is no evidence to dispute self-appointed neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman's assertion that he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin out of self-defense.

"Until we can establish probable cause to dispute that, we don't have the grounds to arrest him," Lee said.

Martin had been staying at his father's girlfriend's house during the night of the NBA All-Star game Feb. 26.

The teenager went out to get some Skittles and a can of ice tea. On his way back into the gated suburban Orlando community, Martin, wearing a hood, was spotted by Zimmerman, 26.

According to law enforcement sources who heard Zimmerman's call to a non-emergency police number, he told a dispatcher "these a..holes always get away."

Zimmerman described Martin as suspicious because he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and walking slowly in the rain, police later told residents at a town hall.

A dispatcher told him to wait for a police cruiser, and not leave his vehicle.

But about a minute later, Zimmerman left his car wearing a red sweatshirt and pursued Martin on foot between two rows of townhouses, about 70 yards from where the teen was going.

Lee said Zimmerman's pursuit of Martin did not of itself constitute a crime.

Witnesses told ABC News a fist fight broke out and at one point Zimmerman, who outweighed Martin by more than 100 pounds, was on the ground and that Martin was on top.

 

[J.ceaz]

Witnesses told ABC News a fist fight broke out and at one point Zimmerman, who outweighed Martin by more than 100 pounds, was on the ground and that Martin was on top.

I'm pretty pissed off right now.

 

[justjohn]

Surely it's time the black community over there took the law into their own hands? If this blows over then they are nothing but a bunch of spineless cowards.

 

[K.Jack]

Orlando Watch Shooting Probe Reveals Questionable Police Conduct

http://abcnews.go.com/US/neighborho...s-questionable/story?id=15907136#.T19jPPX0_T1

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/12/george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin_n_1340358.html?ref=mostpopular

A volunteer community watch captain who shot an unarmed Florida teenager to death last month had been the subject of complaints by neighbors in his gated community for aggressive tactics, a homeowner said.

More from the ABCnews article.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/neighborho...s-questionable/story?id=15907136#.T1-QPnm6884

Holy fucking shit. America.

So dude used his "position" to bully black residents? And it had been complained about before?

 

[Blue Submarine No. 6]

Nope, not doing it

Refuse to believe this can go on in free and just land of America

If you really believe America is either of those things, you are delusional beyond redemption... so go ahead and believe anything you want.

 

[empty vessel]

Correcting the witness? That is amazing.

It's actually pretty standard behavior. Police are not neutral interviewers. They have agendas. They build cases (whatever case that might be).

I blame police procedural shows for projecting an image of police as professionals seeking out truth. That couldn't be further from what police actually do every day and in every case.

So for everybody expressing amazement at the police conduct on display here, just know that it is the norm. Only the objectives change, not the conduct.

 

[Foxy Fox 39]

For?




Also, to Sho_nuff, what I'm arguing is precisely the reason I "have an out". Which is a very strange way to characterize going whichever way solid, good evidence points. Those scientists and their inability to commit! Always have an out no matter what their experiments show!

This is actually the response I expected and I typed it up...But deleted it instead for that short paging post. I understood what you were trying to argue. But sometimes playing the fence (or in your words being "unbiased") means that you're being willfully ignorant about the situation.

For instance this hyperbolic statement: "Well, I wasn't alive during WWII so I really don't know what happened. Something else totally could have happened and Hitler could have been the (edit) good guy. Personally, I don't really know."

Yeah that statement is fine I guess (Rene Descartes) ...but its being ignorant of all information (or lack thereof) given.

You have extremely suspect circumstances. The cops obviously weren't doing due diligence. The guy randomly tailed and confronted an innocent (i.e. not up to mischief) minor after dispatch told him not to. The guy has a record for assaulting an officer. A 17 year old is dead. All he had on him was some snacks.

You put that info (and much more) and can come to a likely conclusion that the guy murdered a teenager in cold blood. Do we know for certain? No. Of course not, but its extremely likely due to the suspects past, the information given, the information withheld, and the actions of the police department.

To play the fence so haphazardly as you did is extremely disingenuous.

 

[Kettch]

Lee publically admitted that officers accepted Zimmerman's word at the scene that he had no police record.

Hahaha.

Yeah, no reason to doubt his claim of self defense. The guy was so truthful at the scene!

-Kill unarmed minor.
-Lie to police.
-Never get arrested.

 

[DY_nasty]

It's actually pretty standard behavior. Police are not neutral interviewers. They have agendas. They build cases (whatever case that might be).

I blame police procedural shows for projecting an image of police as professionals seeking out truth. That couldn't be further from what police actually do every day and in every case.

So for everybody expressing amazement at the police conduct on display here, just know that it is the norm. Only the objectives change, not the conduct.

That's a pretty big generalization.

Either way, that whole department should be turned inside out.

 

[Big Baybee]

Hahaha.

Yeah, no reason to doubt his claim of self defense. The guy was so truthful at the scene!

-Kill unarmed minor.
-Lie to police.
-Never get arrested.

-Be white