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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWho is crime-watch volunteer George Zimmerman?
George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who fired the shot that claimed the life of Trayvon Martin on a rainy night in Sanford last month, has been painted as a racist, a vigilante and a murderer.
More than a half-million people have signed an online petition calling for his arrest. He is in hiding, driven from his home by threats.
Little is publicly known about the 28-year-old from Virginia who attended Seminole State College and aspired to become a law-enforcement officer.
But the Sentinel has unearthed new details about the life of the man at the center of this controversy, including an allegation of domestic violence in his past.
As thousands call for his arrest some threatening vigilante justice of their own few defenders have emerged for the embattled neighborhood watchman.
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-03-20/news/os-trayvon-martin-george-zimmerman-20120320_1_robert-zimmerman-domestic-violence-online-petition
CatWoman
(79,302 posts)Zimmerman married Shellie Nicole Dean, a licensed cosmetologist, in late 2007. The next year, he resurfaced in court documents as a credit-card company pursued him for unpaid debts.
Capital One accused Zimmerman of failing to pay more than $1,000. He settled with the company for $2,135.82, records show, to cover his debts with interest, as well as attorney and court costs. However, the credit-card company soon reported that Zimmerman wasn't making the payments he had agreed to.
Zimmerman's employer at the time, CarMax, agreed to garnish his wages. That arrangement was canceled in late 2008 because Zimmerman was no longer employed by CarMax.
It's unclear how Zimmerman was employed when he encountered Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, but he took his role as a Neighborhood Watch volunteer very seriously. Police say Zimmerman had called to report suspicious people on multiple occasions, just as he did when he saw Trayvon. In the past 15 months, he made 46 calls to Sanford police, according to records.
seabeyond
(110,159 posts)neighbors fence.
i open window and yell out.... hey, what are you doing.
and they run
see, neighborhood watch, at its best
one kid i told him i was going to call his mama...... lol
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)Teontae, 17, said he and a close friend who is black would sit at the end of a driveway in the evening and felt uncomfortable when Zimmerman would pass them on a neighborhood patrol.
They used to greet him, but he never responded, Teontae said.
"I think he took his job too seriously," Teontae said, referring to Zimmerman's watch patrols. A student, Teontae said his friend was once confronted by Zimmerman, who accused him of stealing a bike.
Teontae sounds like a nice enough person. He and his friend tried to greet Zimmerman, but he never greeted them back. Zimmerman is an asshole.
Clearly he wasn't fond of blacks. He also called 911 numerous times to report black people even though he witnessed them committing no crime. He simply thought they were "suspicious" and stated he had never seen them before.
CatWoman
(79,302 posts)you beat me to it
immoderate
(20,885 posts)He is the person who most wants to be and the last person who should be a cop.
-imm
Liberal Veteran
(22,239 posts)Yeah, I am not getting a bad feeling about this Zimmerman guy. Everything I have read indicates he is exactly the last kind of person you would want in a position of authority or law enforcement.
CatWoman
(79,302 posts)always good to see you
HipChick
(25,485 posts)does not have the best reputation..
Brooklyn Dame
(169 posts)A loose-cannon zealot punk who had Flori-DUH's law on his side. It's never just the perpetrator who is a danger; it is the systems in place that allow that kind of behaviour that are an equal threat. The ridiculous Stand Your Ground law is a monstrous piece of legislation sponsored and backed by the National Rifle Association that encourages every cop wannabe to claim his moment of glory and, more ridiculously, if there are no witnesses, the shooter merely has to claim that the shooting was in self-defense, and its up to the victim even if the victim is dead to prove that he or she was no threat. What a law. Unreal.
http://borderlessnewsandviews.com/2012/03/a-word-about-trayvon-martin/
Taverner
(55,476 posts)Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)He's an NRA lover, and a diehard Repuke. In other words, a complete pig.
Pacafishmate
(249 posts)Calling for a lawmaker to be arrested for the content of a bill, that's a new one. Can that be called liberal? Your authoritarian side is showing.
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)No, don't bother to answer that. I don't have to be psychic to know the answer to that.
Pacafishmate
(249 posts)There are other gun rights groups out there you know.