"In the months leading up to the shooting, Zimmerman had called police numerous times to report incidents. On February 26, the night Martin was shot, Zimmerman called 911 and said there had been break-ins in the neighborhood and there was "a real suspicious guy" who "looks like he's up to no good.""

I don't remember where I read it so can't supply a link. He was taking his "neighborhood watch" title too seriously.

Zimmerman was also charged with resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer in 2005. Charges appear to have been dropped. He took criminal justice courses in college, carried a concealed weapon, and was the self-appointed "block captain" of his HOA. Previous to this shooting, some residents had been complaining that Zimmerman was following them and harassing them. Apparently he patrolled the neighborhood nightly, driving around and calling 911 constantly.

nd he was the "self appointed" captain of the neighborhood watch

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/17/v-fullstory/2700249/shooter-of-trayvon-martin-a-habitual.html

He was waiting for his opportunity . . .

A gated community wasn't "secure" enough for him?..

Though I personally believe that most redneck gun-lovers are, at heart, "chickenshits"

You can even read it in a lot of the posts on DU.

My point, which is probably close to yours, is that the reason half of these people

have guns is BECAUSE they're chickenshits.

Cowardly weenie.

WTF does a gated community need a "neigborhood watch" for, anway?

Isn't the gate doing it's job?

He'll be getting plenty of attention, that much is for sure.

Everytime the Sanford police chief says something about the case I get angrier.

If it takes national attention to get justice in this case then that is what it will take.

Those 911 tapes with the cries for help in the background are haunting me. I just hope there will be some type of justice in this case and if it takes the Feds to get involved then so be it.

I was upset about the case before I heard the tapes. Now I'm distraught.

And he reminds me so much of Trayvon so I have been trying to think how my mild-mannered son would have reacted if faced with similar circumstances and all I can think is that he would have reacted the exact same way. Okay, I have to stop because the tears are coming back. Boy, does my heart go out to that mother.

I don't have any understanding of these types of boundaries

I did NOT want to listen to those tapes. I am now so sorry that I did.

My son is grown, but I still live in constant fear.

Heavens. I'm crying again.

than other whites.

these laws are going to end up with a lot of people of color dead. i am pretty sure that was the intent.

I haven't seen any actual scientific data to support it, and it looks like a racial smear to me.

Thanks in advance for bringing enlightenment to the forum.

the data on shooting paradigms? who is being smeared?

here is one article, there are many others: http://denvergov.net/Portals/326/documents/interpersonal_relations.pdf

Is that clear enough for you?

According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Statistics for 2010, it looks like black people are murdered far more frequently by other black people than by white people.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/tables/10shrtbl06.xls

"Police officers were compared with community members in terms of the speed and accuracy with which they made simulated decisions to shoot (or not shoot) Black and White targets. Both samples exhibited robust racial bias in response speed. Officers outperformed community members on a number of measures, including overall speed and accuracy. Moreover, although community respondents set the decision criterion lower for Black targets than for White targets (indicating bias), police officers did not."

Last edited Tue Mar 20, 2012, 01:56 AM - Edit history (1)

edited to be clearer, and that any race bias is wrong, no matter who.

straight from the article. unless the article is wrong.

Just because the man is half latino doesn't mean the he's not racist. His comments and his behavior lends one to believe that he didn't consider a 17 yr old black male to be worthy of his innocence or his life. It's also quite clear that he didn't feel that the boy belonged in HIS community, even though the boy had every right to be there as zimmerman did... and without asking anyone anything about who lived there (one would think that the "captain" of the neighborhood watch would find that little thing out...), he singled out this young man and murdered him.

He probably gave himself the bloody nose and cut on the back of his head to make it look like there was a scuffle. He's already been proved to be a liar and someone who can't follow simple orders, so I wouldn't be surprised.

watch.

What I don't understand is why the guy was able to continue to be such a menace to his community. I mean, over 40 calls in one year, with the calls being resolved that the person belonged in the community. He clearly has a track record of crying wolf and disturbing his neighbors.

If he's of actual Spanish descent, he's Caucasian, with perhaps some Northen African varieties some generations back.

If he's of Mexican or Central/South American descent, he's probably got a majority of native American genetics with a variable mix of Spanish, African or other Western European flavor.

With his last name, very possibly a direct connection to some Germanic ancestors. Lots of Nordic/Dutch/Germanic flow to the Southern Americas over the last few centuries.

All irrelevent, as racism is no excuse for crime, merely a poor explaination.

Racism/bigotry folks is nothing more than finding ways to separate "US" from "THEM" in a way which makes "US" believe ourselves superior to "THEM".

Zimmerman whatever his bloody background is A WHITE, AMERICAN, GUN OWNING, SELF APPOINTED VIGILANTE who shot a BLACK KID while he was begging for his life.

his family supposedly describes themselves as "Hispanic". Not losing sleep over either. I just think that people saying it's a white/black issue is not really true.

All I really care about is that an innocent young man lost his life to an idiot who should be behind bars, period. I wanted to cry today when I saw his mother on the news today crying and asking why Zimmerman had not yet been arrested.

Zimmerman), black Hispanic, or even "other."

For example, Salma Hayek is "Hispanic," even though her racial background is semitic (i.e., the background of many people in the Mideast, including Arabs. (I believe her parents were immigrants from Lebanon to Mexico.)

If a German immigrant (for example, one named Zimmerman) to a Latin American or Central American country has children who are then raised speaking Spanish as their native language, then the children are Hispanic, even though racially they are white.

In countries of Central and South America, white Hispanics generally have higher social status than "indios"--i.e., those of indigenous (Native American) racial background, and also, probably especially, higher than the staus of black Hispanics, most of whom are the descendants of slaves brought over from Africa.

Ethnicity, which derives from one culture and/or culture of origin, is only loosely related--and sometimes not at all related--to race.

You might have chance to shoot one of those...."others."

That's more than the local "authorities" could muster...

Why did someone have to die for a State law to come under the Fed's scrutiny? People knew there was going to be problems when it passed. You add the loose concealed weapon permits and you get an accident waiting to happen.

Thanks for the thread, maddezmom.

(Tampa Bay Times) has been surprisingly sparse. I wonder why.

He is the classic kind of person that would, in my opinion, fail the psychological test if he tried to become a cop. I doubt he has any guilt or remorse, or actually cares (except maybe worrying that he might be arrested).

It was intended to be a comedy, but I still think Zimmerman matches the character of the protagonist in that movie.