Any thoughts on Zimmerman's aquittal ?

i have a lot of thoughts. i think the media played this one wrong on so many levels starting where the guy altered the 911 tape.
i do not think this is a case of racism. i do not know the legal qualifications, but i am glad he was acquitted of murder, from the evidence they had, they did the right thing.
there are many ways this killing could have been avoided by both g z and t m. neither one did that, they are both guilty. but in the end if t m had not come back to g z, he would not be dead.

i have a lot of thoughts. i think the media played this one wrong on so many levels starting where the guy altered the 911 tape.
i do not think this is a case of racism. i do not know the legal qualifications, but i am glad he was acquitted of murder, from the evidence they had, they did the right thing.
there are many ways this killing could have been avoided by both g z and t m. neither one did that, they are both guilty. but in the end if t m had not come back to g z, he would not be dead.

(tu)

this was a case of self defense that the media tried to use to stir up race divide.

tragic that life was lost, but aside from that really this should never have gone to court.

correct

Self defense really?????? Some stalks me I WILL try to confront them or immobilize them! Which is what Trayvon did. He was going home...Zimmerman followed him...stalked him

Screw what the media says about race, it's not about that to me....he stalked him...he put Trayvon into a situation where he felt uncomfortable and retaliated. You should not be able to get yourself into a situation then claim self defense.

Murder NO...manslaughter YES

If he had not followed him this would not be an issue.

How could Trayvon avoid the situation? He was going home...he ran...should he have let some unknown man follow him home where his little step-brother was? He ran...Zimmerman followed. Trayvon did nothing wrong in my opinion.

We have a gung ho night watchman that did not identify himself and had a bullet in the chamber and I would assume safety off.

Tragic confulence of events.
No-one from either family will ever be the same.
TM is dead and GZ shall be forever haunted by this event.
His life is forever changed and while found not guilty he will continue to be the poster child for this debacle.
GZ did not kill TM intentionally and that was what the jury decided.
Tired of race being brought in where it does not belong.
I agree with speed1dy.

t m had walked away. g z went back to his car. t m then came back and started punching g z. the whole thing is tragic but if you were getting beat like that i doubt you would just allow it. what would you have done?

Speedy I may be a little off but this is the way I understand it...Trayvon was walking back from the store going home....Zimmerman started following him in his vehicle, Trayvon got creeped out and ran....Zimmerman got out of his car to look for him...then according to Zimmerman trayvon came out of the bushes and said "You got a problem?" Zimmerman said no (NOT IM NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH....JUST NO) then he said trayvon said "Well, now you do now" that's when it all started...

Now if it were you and someone was following you...then you try to run and they get out of their car and go looking for you...would you continue home where your little step brother is home alone and possibly show this person where you live (cause you ran and he's still following you and you didnt do anything) or confront him? We dont know what was said between them but a fight started....You really think Trayvon was at fault?

Have to agree with yearasta. Self defense?????? So absurd. If Zimmermans life was threatened , why didn't he run away. That simple. He is the one that approached and threatened the kid. Id like to know what the verdict would be if Zimmerman ended up dead in this situation.
Now, how many people are going to go harass someone on the street, kill them and claim self defense?

they both should have left well enough alone, but they didnt. the latest i have read was that g z did go back to his car and hung up with the 911 operator saying everything was fine. t m had left. after that is when t m came back to fight him. i do not know what was said between t m and g z. at that point everything was fine, why then did t m come back to beat up g z? thats what i do not understand.

i also heard that the original release of the 911 tape had been altered by a news reporter, he has since been fired.

But Trayvon is dead and can't tell his side...but what we do know is trayvon ran, also why does a night watchman have one in the chamber.

I have heard from Zimmerman's mouth so many different versions, I do understand that things could be foggy....but your head pounded into the cement and that's the only injury he sustained (my opinion trayvon hit him and he fell back and hit his head).

I really dont think he meant to kill the kid...he was playing TJ Hooker and things got out of hand and trayvon was killed.

The kid ran

This whole case is obviously very tragic. I believe this was a textbook case of self defense. There is absolutely no evidence that GZ initiated the confrontation. The only person who did anything illegal that night was TM. He committed assault and battery with a deadly weapon when he attacked GZ and slammed his head into the concrete. I am really tired of people saying he was doing nothing wrong....he in fact did do something illegal.

It is not illegal to check out a suspicious person. It is becoming more common these days that people don't want to get involved with things. Someone gets shot at a gas station and people just walk to their cars and leave. They don't want to get involved. GZ was concerned for the safety of his wife and neighbors that night. He went to check it out. He was not looking to gun down a teenager. I don't believe checking out a suspicious person is wrong. I would hope my neighbors would do the same for me. As a matter of fact, GZ was screaming for help during the attack, and NO ONE HELPED HIM! They must have been of the "I don't want to get involved" mindset.

If TM was indeed afraid that night, why didn't he call the cops? He was on the phone with that girl, so if he were really in fear there is no reason he couldn't call 911. He also had the option of going home, or hiding out somewhere until GZ left. He also had the option of peacefully confronting GZ.

TM was not the boy you saw in the pictures on TV. He was a tall, athletic man. GZ was a short, slightly overweight man. If TM was afraid of him, he would not have attacked him. I believe TM felt he could take GZ in a fight, and went for it. He just never thought GZ would be armed.

And Sheiba, have you even followed this case? GZ could not run away because TM was on top of him smashing his head into concrete....
Also, according to TM girl friend, TM first asked GZ why are you following me? Where do you get the idea he approached and threatened TM?

Whats the point of having a gun if it isn't ready to use? If GZ did not have one in the chamber, TM may have killed him.

but your head pounded into the cement and that's the only injury he sustained (my opinion trayvon hit him and he fell back and hit his head).

Yearasta his nose was hit hard and he had cuts and bumps on the back of his head. GZ was screaming for help for a while and witnesses saw TM on top of him.

The evidence does not support your opinion AT ALL.

Exactly he was punched hard in the face and fell back and hit his head....do you really think If I slammed your head into concrete even once much less over and over all you would get was superficial lacerations?

I really think you should look up zimmerman's accounts of the story.

The prosecution and defense did their jobs. The jury did theirs. Everything else is Monday morning quarterbacking. There is a reason we have a constitution and a justice system.

Ok Yearasta so you believe that TM hit GZ once in the face, GZ fell back and hit his head once on the concrete causing 2 cuts and some lumps on the back of his head, then TM got on top of GZ and straddled him while GZ was screaming for his life. TM was just holding GZ down for a decent period of time, not doing anything to him at that point, and GZ pulled his gun and shot him?

If TM was not intending to harm GZ, then why didn't he just hide out until he left? Why didn't he call the police if he was so worried? What was he holding him down for? Its not like he was holding him down until the police came...he didn't call the police. So in your theory of what happened, what was the reason for holding him down? What was his next plan of action?

You see, your theory makes no sense. Logic says he knocked him down and was assaulting, All of the evidence and witnesses shows that.

LOL ok gringojj you are correct my theory makes no sense at all and george zimmerman was totally in the right for following someone in his car and on foot because he was protecting a neighborhood that he lived in but supposedly didnt know the street name (check the transcripts, zimmerman said he got out of the car to see what was the name of the street he was on) and it was his prerogative to not identify himself as security and totally within his rights to ignore the call from the 911 operator to not follow him. Trayvon was wrong for not running straight home and risk leading someone there and once again zimmerman was totally in the right because a confrontation he could have avoided ended with him getting his ass kicked and having to defend himself killed someone because the man was within his rights to stand his ground after stalking someone...you are correct classic case of self defense.....like eastender said everyone did their jobs and Trayvon Martin was wrong.

LOL Yearasta? LOL? You are laughing? A teenager is dead. A mans life is ruined. LOL?

Its interesting that you dont even defend your theory. The truth is you cant. It makes no sense and you know it. Its easier to just block out the facts and reply with sarcasm.

Do you feel better now? Are you still laughing?

Yep you read me like a book

I watched the Anderson Cooper program this evening with him interviewing one of the jurors.
The verdict was the correct one.

if Zimmerman would have never followed that child there would have been no confrontation.. the kid was walking home and minding his own business... sure wish the prosecution would have done a better job to convict that murderer

GUILTY !!

Please do not say race had nothing to do with this. It is almost like hearing people who claim they do not see color. Social psychology, and sociology statistics will prove otherwise. We base so many decisions about the appearance of someone without even realizing it.

A black 17 year old with a hoodie in a predominately white neighborhood would be out of place for a lot of people. I had a gun to my face with a black man with a hoodie. I am sure if I see any black person with a hoodie on now I will have a PTSD moment.

Humans have two instincts. Fight or flight. Young people are more risk takers and Martin picked to fight off this guy following him. I was a kid and a guy was stalking my mom and me with his car. No matter where we turned his car was following us. The house was in the middle of no where so we drove into the yard honking like crazy. The guy took his car and tried to block us in. My dad and brother ran out of the house and the dude sped off quickly as possible. My dad jumped in the car and went after him but lost him. I was freaked out. Imagine if that dude killed my dad and apparently he was part of some crazy neighborhood watch and was following us because we looked out of place. My Aunt was raped by a person who was following her for several blocks. Martin had every right to defend himself.

Neighborhood watch is not for stalking people.

I agree STX2020

What I wonder about is the gun. Zimmerman said it was in his waistband toward his back. If indeed he was on his back with Martin kneeling on top of him, how did he get the gun? IMO he had the gun in his hand, ready to use. If he lied about that, everything else he said is open to doubt, IMO.

This is exactly why police tell you not to follow/confront people. Surely we can all agree if Zimmerman had called in to 911 and then simply waited in his car the entire situation would have been different.

how come there is not this much outrage everyday in america and here when there are murders. where is the outrage about the little boy who was shot in the face in front of his mother? why no outrage when blacks kill blacks?

why was a new term coined by the press white-hispanic? to incite racial divide.

stx2020 the prosecution presented their case. They used all the evidence and witnesses they had. The fact that a lot of their evidence and witnesses proved the defenses case was not because they did a poor job, its because their theory of what happened was not correct. This case should never have even been brought to trial based on the evidence and they new that. I don't know how any prosecutor could have presented the evidence any differently. They were under political pressure to try this case and had to or they would lose their jobs like the Sanford chief or whoever he was who lost his job for not arresting GZ in the beginning.

If GZ had not decided to go to target, if he had decided to drive a different route, if TM had not decided to go get skittles, if he had decided to walk home a different way, theres a lot of things they could have done where this would not have happened. Again GZ did nothing wrong by checking out a suspicious person. The bad decision that led to this tragedy was when TM decided to attack GZ. If he had not done that he would still be alive.

Why is it that people are ignoring the facts and believing scenarios that don't make sense? Why is it so hard to believe that TM was the aggressor?

We already know what Yearasta believes and know it doesn't make any sense. Yet he/she ignores the facts and really wants to believe that their version is what happened. Why is that?

Linda J, you believe that GZ had his gun in his hand. We know from the testimony of TMs girl friend that at the initial confrontation, TM said something to GZ, GZ replied, then there was a thump. We know that after that GZ sustained at least one blow to the face and the back of his head hit concrete. We also know TM was on top of him and GZ was screaming for help. This fight went on for over a minute.

So how do you think this went down if GZ had the gun in his hand? Let me give you a possible scenario. GZ is walking around the houses, gun drawn. If this is true, I don't think TM knew he had the gun because what person attacks a man armed with a gun. We could reasonably assume that TM would have told his friend on the phone that the guy had a gun if he new. So TM walks up to GZ, who has a gun in his hand, and says why are you following me? Rather than point the gun at TM and tell him not to move, GZ responds by saying what are you talking about? So lets say just at this moment GZ brings up the gun. TM sees it and pops him in the nose. GZ falls to the ground and hits his head on the concrete, still managing to hold on to the gun. TM then jumps on top of him and holds him down. Now for about the next 60 seconds, we would have to believe that TM just holds down GZ's arms since he has a gun. If he wasn't holding his arms down GZ would have already shot him since his hands were free and holding a gun. So now GZ is screaming for help, a neighbor opens the door and looks out. Why wouldn't TM have turned to the neighbor and said HELP ME HE HAS A GUN. No TM did not ask for any help. GZ was asking for help. So finally GZ frees his hand from TMs grip and shoots.

Ok so this scenario is possible, but based on the evidence and the facts and just pure logic, it is not very likely.

GZs version makes sense. TM was on top of him with his hands around his shoulder or head smashing into concrete. Its is reasonable to assume that since GZ was in fear for his life, he was twisting his body trying to escape. His hands were free. I don't see how hard it would be to twist back and forth and move your hand to grab your gun. Especially if your life depended on it

Does it make people feel better to believe illogical scenarios?