I haven't seen anyone on AFF talk about this event, but these are my thoughts:

This situation is a pitiful, shameful portrait of our justice system, and it infuriates me that Martin's death is treated like a mere toy to be manipulated.

The footage of this case, and the manner in which we are drawing it out makes me convinced that this is about race. The painful truth is that racism is rearing its ugly head in our justice system. I have seen, heard, and read about men (majority black men) who were convicted of minor crimes, and given hefty sentences. Meanwhile, this man is still walking free after such a violent crime to a child. And, no, I am not jumping on a bandwagon, it is plain and obvious here. So, where do you think justice is? why should it take massive protests, only to still not see any justice?

I am not certain why this even occurred, furthermore why justice isn't done. One thing is for certain, and that is that someone lost their life for no good reason at all.

By the way, it does raise concern about my minority brethren on the spectrum. It seems like others will only further manipulate and dismiss all seriousness due to the double minority status. Albeit they will make it seem like it isn't about such, when in reality, we know it must be.

Anyway, I am interested in others' thoughts.

The shooter needs to be charged. Let a jury decide.

This ^

The state it happened in (I forgot which one exactly) allows you to shoot to kill if you feel threatened. However, if you listen to the 911 recording, it's obvious that the shooter did not feel threatened, and that the shooting was about race. Martin was actually running away, and the shooter said that he was pursuing, and throwing racial slurs in the mix. It's even more obvious when you consider that Martin was armed with I believe a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea (or something like that). How can you mistake those for a weapon?

I just feel sorry for the family

From what I understand two witnesses saw the two wrestling on the ground......asked Zimmerman what was going on, they then went and called 911, that was when the shooting happened.

Evidently the police ignored their statements, until the following tuesday.

I did only hear that report once on the news.

This kind of thing has happened before in that county, involving a sheriffs son, a couple of years ago.

So you can understand the tensions amongst the people living there.

I also heard that Zimmerman isnt justifying it under the stand your ground law. But is claiming self defense.

I do not think the New Black Panthers offering a bounty for him is helping at all, either.

Charge him and let a jury decide. But charge him with something.

Agreed! Good question.

I think this notion that he 'felt threatened' by a teen only about one THIRD of his size, armed with skittles is a load of nonsense. I am really not sure what sparked this nasty goal in Zimmerman's mind, but he is wrong beyond all belief and I would love to see him charged.

He had no excuse as far as I can see. The 911 dispatcher, told him not to follow him. He should have turned his car around immediately, and it should have been over with right then.

Trayvon was the one who should have felt uncomfortable with someone following him like that.

I have so much sympathy for his mother and father.

This post was last modified: 03-26-2012 02:46 AM by skyblue1 .

A neighborhood watch, was never meant to take the place of actual law enforcement.

A 24 year old with a 9mm gun on neighborhood watch is a recipe for disaster for an individual to take the law into their own hands, making  judgements that they were not properly trained to make, on street patrol.  The recipe for disaster was fulfilled in this case.

If the 24 year old, was engaging a real criminal with a real weapon, it's likely his bravado would have spelled doom for him, and the criminal would have escaped unscathed.

A good lesson for the many others likely armed and engaged in neighborhood watches, to watch and let lawenforcement do the legwork; anything else is a lose-lose proposition.  It's likely the 24 year old will do some time over what appears to be at least a mistake in judgement.

It's a sad story.

Unfortunate too, that the president as an African American could not express sympathy in a heartfelt personal manner for the young man that died, without being accused of doing it for political motivation.  It was another unusual comment by Obama, but the kid could have passed for Obama's son, if he had one.  

And if it were possible to profile someone as not likely committing a crime, the kid appeared to meet that profile, in the full context of his life.  

It appears he was a well liked kid in school that had not experienced much prejudice; confident enough as a young african american to go out at night in a hoodie in a gated community, without fear of prejudice.  

That has to feel like a dagger in the soul of liberty for some; it appears that Obama's sympathy for the young man went well beyond the youth and his family.  Not likely that many of those critical of his comment, could fully understand that sentiment.

I felt the presidents comment was appropriate.

note: in most neighborhood watch programs, guns are not allowed, also following people is not allowed.

This post was last modified: 03-26-2012 03:06 AM by skyblue1 .

President Obama's comment was very appropriate, and agreeable. However, I do not appreciate Newt Gingrich twisting it into something entirely false. He tried to suggest that Obama was being racist, suggesting that if Trayvon was white, it would be OK.

I agree.

And then there were also comments like those from Jeraldo Rivera that suggested that the hoodie was in part, responsible for the shooting.

Reminds me of the argument that short skirts are responsible for rape.

I don't watch TV, but heard the young black man described as a large young black man over 6 feet tall, describing him as an individual that could intimidate someone, by a preacher that likes to talk politics on a talk radio show.  That bothered me more than Gingrich's comment or Jeraldo's comment, in that it was a personal misrepresention of the young man.

After seeing pictures of the kid, it was clear that he was not an intimidating looking individual.

First impressions are usually wrong sometimes....

I've been watching CNN's coverage of it.  A lot of their discussion in this case centers on the law itself (it is a law called the "stand your ground" law, in the state of Florida).  It has been criticized because it takes away any requirement upon persons to make certain that they have no other option than to use deadly force in self-defense cases.  For this reason, officers of the law and of the court are reluctant to press charges in any case of a shooting death whatsoever, because it is now much more difficult to prove that the death was unlawful.

However, other things were reported that make it seem like the police were not just reluctant but were actively taking the side of the white man over the black kid.  Such as not just dismissing statements, but correcting eye-witnesses with statements that reflected more favorably upon the white shooter, even though the eyewitness testimony is borne out by such facts as the phone call.

Florida.

Trigger happy guy... disobeyed orders not to pursue. Now it seems he is a racist too.