generalspeaking

Bleak Justice

Only in the Peaceable Kingdom is it possible to put the leopard in charge of the sheep, and that's a fictitious place, it does not exist, it never did, and certainly never will; the laws of nature mitigate otherwise.

Put a bully with a bit of a psychotic streak in charge of monitoring a peaceful enclave and then watch the sparks fly. George Zimmerman must have felt pretty full of himself, in authority, able to stop and to question those he felt were not authorized to be present in an area that he was keeping safe from the entry of malevolent stalkers like a 17-year-old kid.

That 17-year-old kid wasn't far from home, just dropped by a neighbourhood convenience store, a 7-Eleven. Walking home with candy and iced tea. His little brother wanted some Skittles and Trayvon Martin was bringing it home for his brother. Don't all teens wear sweatshirts with hoodies? He looked suspicious to George Zimmerman.

And to Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman looked frighteningly threatening. On his cellphone with his girlfriend he allowed as how he was fearful, because this hulking figure was following him and he didn't know why. Run, she advised him. Run home. Get out of there, leave the hulk behind. And he tried, but it didn't work.

George Zimmerman, a resident appointed to his post by his neighbours who think very well of him, asked Trayvon what he was doing there at the gated Twin Lakes community. In response to Trayvon having asked George Zimmerman in a quavering voice why he was following him. His cellphone was on, and his girlfriend heard the exchange.

George Zimmerman for his part, had contacted a patrol car, informing them that a young suspicious looking black male was in the area. There had been eight burglaries in the community in fifteen months. "This guy looks like he's up to no good, or he's on drugs or something. It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about" he told the police dispatcher.

"These a.. holes. They always get away." "Are you following him?" the dispatcher asked. "Yeah."
"OK, we don't need you to do that", the dispatcher instructed. Which seemed around the time that neighbours, hearing a scuffle, called 911. Shortly thereafter, because George Zimmerman appeared to have no intention of letting this one get away, not on his watch, cries for help rang out.

"I recognized that [voice] as my baby screaming for help before his life was taken", Trayvon Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, later told Reuters. She also heard the gunshot that took her son's life. Mr. Zimmerman was not arrested. Florida has a "Stand Your Ground" law, that does not require, as the previous one did, that someone who fears for their life retreat from danger. If someone feels their life to be in danger, they can lawfully "shoot first (ask questions later)".

According to a published St.Petersburg Times 2010 review, reports of justifiable homicides had tripled since that 2005 law was enacted. A majority of those cases were excused by prosecutors or the courts.

"No one could argue that Zimmerman could not have safely retreated and avoided this conflict, and I think that is the critical element here and why these laws are so dangerous. He [Zimmerman], does not have a duty to retreat in Florida." Ladd Everitt, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence

Labels: Security, Social-Cultural Deviations, United States

posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, March 21, 2012