Deconstructing the Trayvon Martin Murder Trial and Aftermath Part 2; the Blogosphere

Update #1 I submitted a much condensed letter of this piece to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, which they published. Here is the letter and the blog exchange that followed.

"So in your book, whoever brings a gun to a fist fight wins." "You are being absurdly simplistic to make such a blanket statement."

Zimmerman had right to self-defense 

In a letter to the editor, Liz Camarie proclaimed the lesson learned from Trayvon Martin's death is no one should be allowed to carry guns? Really? The next tactic of the anti-gun zealots appears to be an attack on the right of self-defense; Peter Klotz implied that self-defense is always racially biased murder and can never be justified. There is a saying that "God created man; Sam Colt made them equal." But the Liz Camaries and Peter Klotzes of the world would prefer the weak fall victim to the brutish. Zimmerman shot Martin because Martin was on top of him, banging his head against the sidewalk. While the prosecution tried to minimize the injuries, one or two more slams of Zimmerman's head against the concrete could have resulted in his death; by shooting Martin, Zimmerman probably saved his own life, but apparently to some, there are lives more valuable than others. Brad Goodwin, Live Oak

Mitch Alsip · Top Commenter · Santa Cruz, California

Brad - So in your book, whoever brings a gun to a fist fight wins. 

 Brad Goodwin · Top Commenter · Santa Cruz, California

You are being absurdly simplistic to make such a blanket statement.The issue was Zimmerman did nothing to provoke Martin other than follow him and call the police. Zimmerman had followed numerous other suspicious suspects of different races yet none resulted in a violent altercation until Martin decided to jump the "crazy ass cracker." At some point when you're being beaten down you have the right to protect yourself. Zimmerman was on his back with Martin on top of him so he could not run away. Martin was slamming Zimmerman's head against the cement; I've had this done to me and it invokes a certain level of panic; in criminal case slamming someones head against the cement is a felony and considered "Assault with a Deadly Weapon". Every incident needs to be taken on it's own merits; certainly people are beaten to death all the time. When an assault raises to the level of a felony and life threatening, the victim has the right to deadly force to protect himself; even if the victim is a White Hispanic and the aggressor is a 17 year old black teenager.

 geepierces (signed in using yahoo)

Brad Goodwin - I wasn't there, were you? How can you say, "Zimmerman did nothing to provoke Martin other than to follow him and call the police" ? We have no IDEA what transpired prior to the alleged events.

Roy McAlister · Top Commenter · Luthier at Self Employedgeepierces, "We have no IDEA what transpired prior to the alleged events" We know there is zero evidence to support your theory that Zimmerman did anything illegal to provoke assault & battery. All evidence and witness accounts indicate neither of these guys broke any laws...until Trayvon committed battery on George. Tell me what non-physical, legal act justifies that level of assault?

 Brad Goodwin · Top Commenter · Santa Cruz, California
geepierces, to say we have no idea what happened is wrong. First we know for a fact that prior to this incident Zimmerman reported numerous suspicious suspects and called the police on them. We also know that during all those reportings, he never contacted or harassed any of them. Zimmerman's defense presented the narrative I presented and called witnesses to show what evidence there was was consistent with Zimmerman's statements after the fact. The prosecution tried to poke holes in the narrative and failed and Zimmerman was acquitted. It makes no sense to suggest another narrative simply because this one is not politically correct and has also not withstood scrutiny in a court of law. In other words, this is the only narrative we have that has withstood scrutiny to use to determine if there was a violation of the law; regardless it is also this narrative the race baiting media and Al Sharpton's claim is the result of racism.

Several days later the Sentential printed a response letter

  NRA's stamp on gun that killed Trayvon Martin

A 190-pound man with a gun tackles and kills a 140-pound kid with candy he just bought at the store. All of America is a witness to this crime and can do nothing. Because the kid was black the KKK will laugh until their hearts are content. The kid holding that sign in the newspaper saying "Am I next?" knows what's going on. The NRA has their stamp on that gun.

Clay Collins, Soquel

  "You and the media also seems to have missed that in early 2011 Zimmerman participated in a citizen forum at the Sanford City Hall, to protest the beating of a black homeless man by the son of a white Sanford police officer. During the meeting, Zimmerman called the behavior of officers on duty "disgusting" and detailed officers napping while on duty and refusing to take on difficult assignments."

 

Again you have the liberal left exaggerating and fabricating reality. First Trayvon Martin was not an 12 year old kid coming back from the candy store (the Skittles and Coke notwithstanding), we has a 17 year old, almost a man who liked to wear wife beater T shirts, flip off his computer cam, smoke marijuana and party with his girlfriend. These are certainly no reason to demonize or kill Martin, but it does show his level of sophistication. Further as mentioned, Zimmerman's height/weight was 507/ 185 lbs; Martins was 6'/ 160lbs. You and the media also seems to have missed that in early 2011 Zimmerman participated in a citizen forum at the Sanford City Hall, to protest the beating of a black homeless man by the son of a white Sanford police officer. During the meeting, Zimmerman called the behavior of officers on duty "disgusting" and detailed officers napping while on duty and refusing to take on difficult assignments.Wikipedia. There is also the fact that the KKK was a southern Democrat organization that appeared during reformation; this of course was after a bloody civil war fought almost exclusively because the Democrats were against freeing their slaves. There were also Jim Crow laws and voter intimidation that Southern Democrats so often compare to requiring ID to vote, but were also the result of Southern Democrats racism and southern segregation. And lets not forget the 3/5ths rule that forced the North to count Southern slaves as if they were voting free men. What America has been witness to is Democrat demonization, race baiting and fabrication of the facts to create racial distrust and polarization. The poor kid holding the sign will be just one more victim of the likes of Al Sharpton and liberal Democrats that feed and are empowered by spreading the lie of the hopelessness black victimism and black separatism. Are their racial crimes in America? Of course, but just like the boy who cried wolf, if the Al Sharptons and liberal Democrats interject race into every multi-race incident, the real civil rights crimes become buried under a pile of non-related incidents were information has been fabricated, participants demonized, and races separated. Good job Mr Collins, good job

  "There is also the fact that the KKK was a southern Democrat organization that appeared during reformation; this of course was after a bloody civil war fought almost exclusively because the Democrats were against freeing their slaves. There were also Jim Crow laws and voter intimidation that Southern Democrats so often compare to requiring ID to vote, but were also the result of Southern Democrats racism and southern segregation. And lets not forget the 3/5ths rule that forced the North to count Southern slaves as if they were voting free men".

Matt Blechar · Top Commenter

Clay Collins, nothing like throwing out the race card when racism doesn't exist in Martins case. The main fact about this case was that Trayvon was beating Zimmermans head against the concrete endangering his life, Zimmerman acted to save his life with a gun which he had every right to BY LAW. Can we expose and really look at Trayvon for who he was at the time? He was a criminal thug, that used drugs, got kicked out of his parents house, got kicked out of his High School because he got caught with stolen jewelry HE STOLE. Wake up, he wasn't this innocent KID you and all the other race baiters claim he was.

 Will Sharp · Top Commenter

Matt you know only one side of the story because the other person is dead. But only an idiot (or a foxpublican) would think that if the kid had shot zimmerman that he wouldn't have been arrested. And we know that zimmerman decided to get out of his vehicle and confront Trayvon against what he was told by dispatch. Bottom line zimmerman got away with murder because their was a lack of evidence according to the jurors who have spoken out.
And of course since your source is conservative media your unaware that your boy zimmerman was charged with at least 3 assault cases prior to him killing an unarmed 17 y/o.
One of the assault charges was "resisting a police officer with violence". Now what do you think is worse a 16 y/o who got busted with a small amount of pot or an adult with 3 charges of assault? Here's my source for you and other nra dumb@$$es
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/03/27/10894561-zimmerman-accused-of-domestic-violence-fighting-with-a-police-officer?lite

 RealityCheck SantaCruz · Top Commenter · Santa Cruz, California

Will Sharp - At least get the facts straight from your own source. 3 charges are not '3 cases'. And there weren't even three charges. There were two (from the same incident) which were dropped. In the other case, there were no charges, only mutual restraining orders. Then you ignore Martin's priors (dropped, or never brought.)
In the end, both acted stupidly, but only Martin acted criminally, and it was his bad luck that the guy he assaulted was armed.

Brad Goodwin · Top Commenter · Santa Cruz, California

Will Sharp, again you misstating Zimmerman's crimes. #1 he was never arrested or charged with domestic violence; the two simply filed mutual restraining orders and there absolutely nothing that would indicate he committed a crime, since any evidence of Domestic Violence requires a mandatory arrest. #2 the two so-called felony charges and your three cases, were all the result of one incident and one push, where an underage and intoxicated Zimmerman, of a police officer; one push and the charges were later dropped. As you have also said only one person really knows what happened, yet you are content with fabricate your own scenarios to match your world view. Given the fact, which was entered into evidence and not contested by the prosecution, that Zimmerman had called on and followed numerous suspicious persons, yet never harassed or confronted any of them. Zimmerman said he exited his car because he has lost sight of Zimmerman and wanted to see where he went, not to confront him. While this may seem a self serving statement, it is consistent with his past behavior. Your whole attitude is typical liberal fabrication of facts and demonization of anyone or anything that runs counter to their separatist and polarizing world view.

Deconstructing the Trayvon Martin Murder Trial and Aftermath

Having been a police officer and detective for some 26 years, I have seen many criminal trials. Most criminal trials, including homicide trials, developed around the Prosecution presenting a narrative as to what occurred and the evidence that backs up their narrative; the Defense then tries to poke holes in the narrative to create reasonable doubt. The strength of the Prosecution's narrative usually determines whether the suspect is found guilty or innocent. In the Trayvon Martin case these roles were reversed which shows the weakness of the  Prosecution's case. The Defense had a defensible narrative backed by evidence that George Zimmerman, as a neighborhood watch captain, saw a suspicious person (Trayvon Martin), in his gated community and called the police. The police told Zimmerman not to engage the suspect and they would send a patrol car. Zimmerman followed Martin and at some point lost sight of him. Martin than then came up behind Zimmerman, overpowered him and took him to the ground, where he proceeded to pound his head on the sidewalk. Zimmerman, who was legally carrying a concealed firearm than shot Martin one time and Martin died of his wounds. Now, before I continue, I should say this narrative is in dispute by some. There are many who believe that in any altercation between a black and white , the white is always the instigator. Therefore you have a contingent that believe that Zimmerman stalked and attacked Martin, and when Martin got the best of him, Zimmerman shot him. Probably the most compelling argument against this is Zimmerman's past behavior. Zimmerman was well known to the police because he had made numerous calls regarding suspicious people in his neighborhood and not once in all those incidents did Zimmerman ever even contacted one of these people he was calling on. With absolutely no evidence to the contrary, the idea of this counter narrative being a defensible narrative it is nothing more than wishful thinking.

The Prosecution must now take a defense posture and try and poke holes in the Defenses narrative;  this  reversal almost never leads to guilty verdict, which is why most cases of this kind never go to court. The tactics include, minimizing injuries, overstating differences in statements, minimizing the strength of the evidence and a great deal of conjecture and demonization of the defendant and witnesses. These are all things juries hate the most about trials, especially when it comes from the Prosecution as they are usually held to a higher standard. Examples of this were the injuries to Zimmerman that included a broken nose and two lacerations on the back of his head; to the prosecution this was a bump on the nose and a couple of scraps. The Prosecution called the  Medical Examiner from Jacksonville, Valerie Rao solely as a witness to minimize Zimmerman's injuries. Rao said Zimmerman's head didn't reflect that his head was being slammed with great force into a sidewalk as he claims and her contention was that Zimmerman's injuries were insignificant to show the Prosecution's contention that Zimmerman's life was not in danger. The problem with this is first, Rao never examined Zimmerman but simply looked at photos and the photos of his injuries. The so called  "bump" on Zimmerman's nose showed a somewhat disfiguring injury; his nose flattened against his face. Further there is not necessarily a correlation between the surface injury of a head wound and a resulting concussion. Concussions often do not result in cranial bruising or bleeding, which can be seen in an MRI. Usually doctors have to rely solely on the symptoms articulated by the patient. Further, if a person's head is banged against concrete, any resulting lacerations are a result of the skin being parted between the victim's skull and the sidewalk; it would be malpractice for any doctor to declare a person with similar injuries to Zimmerman, as being insignificant and not worth a thorough examination to determine of the person has a concussion. Below is the common photo showing Zimmerman's injures on top and the more graph photot that was rarely shown on the bottom.

Next you have the prosecutions 3 different  versions of the incident by Zimmerman; by all accounts they were simply minor variations. One variation that was touted by the Prosecution was Zimmerman first said that Martin jumped out of some bushes before we was attacked. Later Zimmerman said he wasn't sure if Martin actually jumped out of the bushes, he just assumed so because Martin seemed to come out of nowhere; an absurdly similar statement. There is also a  question during the fight, when Zimmerman was on the ground and Martin on top of him, whether Zimmerman pulled both Martins hands off his mouth or one when Zimmerman said Martin tried to grab his pistol. Another was a question about Martin's hand position at the time of the shooting and some other minor differences that Zimmerman told a friend. All of these can easily be chalked up to a person trying to recall an incident that will probably the most stressful and horrifying incident in his life. 

So, why would the Florida State Attorney file charges against Zimmerman, , if the above is even mostly correct. Well, even a low information voter would surmise, if they didn't know already, that Trayvon Martin was black and George Zimmerman is not. But from the very beginning racial bias that was ruled out.  The Sanford Florida lead investigator in the case,  Det. Chris Serino, said he thought Zimmerman profiled Trayvon because of his attire and the circumstances — but not his race. The FBI investigated the case and reported that after interviewing nearly three dozen people in the George Zimmerman murder case, they found no evidence that racial bias was a motivating factor in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. If nothing else, it is a fact that Zimmerman had called the police on numerous suspicious subjects in his neighborhood of all races for years and never had a violent encounter for years. Even when Zimmerman called the police on Martin, it took a coaxing from the 911 operator even to get his race.

"Black race victimism  is they way civil rights activist like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson make their living. Their interjection into any incident is designed solely to drive a wedge between races and try to retard any progress in race relations."

Black race victimism  is they way civil rights activist like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson make their living. Their interjection into any incident is designed solely to drive a wedge between races and try to retard any progress in race relations.They latched onto this case as a way to increase their stature and forward their twisted message of racial inequality and victimism through continued  race baiting; i.e. "The only reason Martin is dead is because we was profiled and shot by a white man because he was black"; ignoring the actions by Martin that led to his death.  Again this is absurd as Zimmerman had reported many suspicious persons, many of them black before and the only one that resulted in any altercation at all was the incident with Martin. The simple reason was Martin was the only person that had ever decided to physically take on Zimmerman for following him. Martin's reasoning was explained by his girlfriend Rachel Jeantel. Even though her testimony was carefully coached  by the prosecution and some of which contradicted the evidence, she quoted Martin as  saying on the telephone he was being followed by a “creepy ass cracker”. Jeantel is so immersed in her lower class black culture of drug use and partying that she didn't even realize that “creepy ass cracker” is a pejorative. Just like the "N" word in the South,  "cracker" becomes a non-pejorative only through common usage and immersion in a isolated subculture. The end result was obvious, the fact that is was Martin  attacking the “creepy ass cracker” who was following him not only placed the blame for the incident on Martin, but it showed if there was any racial bias going on, it was with Trayvon Martin acting on it, not Zimmerman.

 "..we also have the President personalizing the incident by saying "Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago"; one wonders if that means a 17 year old Barrack Obama would have beat down a "creepy ass cracker"".

With the acquittal of Zimmerman, Al Sharpton and the other race-baiters have turned their attention to a federal civil rights trail for Zimmermann. Even though there is simply no basis for such a trial, is is probably a 50/50 proposition that one may occur. First you have the Attorney General, Eric Holder and his infamous speech in 2008 when he said, "Though race-related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we average Americans simply do not talk enough with each other about race..", in other words average Americans tend to ignore racial inequality. we also have the President personalizing the incident by saying "Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago"; one wonders if that means a 17 year old Barrack Obama would have  beat down a "creepy ass cracker" because he was following him. So the chances of a federal trail based solely on the racial bias of Holder and President Obama is likely.

I would also be remiss by not commenting on the media that has been part and parcel of the race baiting, trying to drum up protests from the black community at large; the media even invented a new racial identity for Zimmerman, calling him a White/Hispanic. First the media as a whole continued to use photos of Martin taken when was 13-14 and not the 17 year old want-to-be as his later photos and facebook entries showed before they were expunged.

You also have NBC "News" doctoring Zimmerman's call to the police making it appear that Zimmerman was racially biased; as mentioned earlier the police dispatcher had to prompt Zimmerman to describe Martin's race. In totality you have the media at large trying desperately to create the allusion of a racial incident. The media continues this allusion by slanted coverage of the Al Sharpton organized "Justice for Trayvon" protest rallies by not reporting the protests are only drawing a few hundred protestors in large cities and only couple of dozen protestors in smaller cities. Further there is also a disconnect between many of the protest rallies and even President Obama, regarding the Stand Your Ground laws in Florida and elsewhere. The fact is the Zimmerman defense never claimed immunity from the Stand Your Ground law, but it has become a rallying point nonetheless and I would not be surprised if Al Sharpton is perpetuating this ignorance to use it as a protest issue that is more provocative than the nuance of a self defense motive. 

Finally there are the civil rights activists that are calling for large and nationwide protesters to pressure the Federal Department of Justice to file a federal civil rights case against for Zimmerman.   The tactic seems to completely ignore the rule of law that is supposed to protect individuals against the tyranny of the majority, or the loudest group; or the tyranny of criminal trials based on populist pressure or politically expedient rational. In other words those believing the their protests will force a federal trial are hoping the very laws that protect civil liberties will be violated in this case.

Update 

In a strange turn of events Zimmerman came across a traffic accident where he assisted extracting a family from a rolled over SUV and put out a fire with his own fire extinguisher. Zimmerman Saves Family of Four in Florida Car Crash; the end result of being saved by Zimmerman is the family is in fear for their safety from the left ling wackos that will not allow any information to go unchallenged and demonized if it runs counter to their race polarization narrative. 

Islam; a Religion of Misogamy and Fascism

The elephant in the room with Eastern Islam and Sharia law is the misogamy that purveys the society; where else in the world does a female rape victim have to first overcome the presumption that the rape was her fault; where rape is a form of punishment carried out by holy clerics? Or women caught unaccompanied in public are either considered a prostitute and raped on the spot or detained by the police and subjected to an inspection to show they are still a virgin? There is also the existence of honor killings, where the man of the house is free to kill the women of the house if one (or more) dishonors him by not bowing to any of his demands.   Those that pretend to talk for the Muslim world say this is a radical form of Islam and practiced by only a small minority of Muslims. The reality is something quite different; in all middle eastern countries were  Islam is pervasive, Sharia it is law of the land. Even if a Muslim is not a member of a "radical" Islam they are afraid to speak out against it. It is also well known that the Muslim Brotherhood gives one message of acceptance to the western world, but tells the Eastern Islamic world of the need destroy the West and replace it with Sharia law. The end result of this is the increase of Sharia law and  the rise misogamy in Western Islam.

In the United States our constitution guarantees freedom of religion and in some cases the rule of law is relaxed to accommodate religious practices. But nowhere should a religious standard of laws (Sharia) ever replace the protections of our Constitution. The United States should not use it's position in the world to physically  intervene in the workings or overthrow the leadership another sovereign nation. But that does not mean we can not voice our displeasure with these archaic laws and withhold financial support until women's rights are strictly enforced and  government sponsored  misogamy is no longer tolerated.The fact President Obama continues to court and excuse this horrid treatment of women by Muslim countries is a travesty of human rights.

Mom! Where Is My Democracy?

 It should have been no surprise that the new Islamic regime in Egypt would crumble. More than any country in the world the Egyptian people are intent on a Democracy (over 1/4 of the adult population went to the streets to demand the ouster of Morsi) but unfortunately they don't understand how to set one up. For a Democracy to work  the people must have individual rights protected by an unimpeachable constitution that limits the power of the government. What occurred in Egypt with the Muslim Brotherhood, was more like a fascists plebiscite as they have in Venezuela;  where the people vote to re-confirm or replace their dictator. The Egyptian people are very religious (nearly 90% are Islamic Sunni) and while they favor Sharia law, they must have a rule of law that supercedes their religious beliefs. Further, the Egyptian people have rationalized pervasive misogamy using Sharia law such that  hundreds of women are being raped and/or beaten simply for participating in the Tahrir Square Demonstrations (and as mentioned before women who complain must first prove it wasn't their own doing). Oliver Ellisworth one of our Founding fathers said " The primary objects of government are peace, order, and prosperity of society. To the promotion of these objects, good morals are essential. Institutions for the promotion of good morals are therefore objects of legislative provision and support." Until the Egyptian people mature to the point that they no longer fear women and the power they hold over men they will never have the Democracy they crave.

President Obama's Foreign Policy Legacy in Pictures; Egyptians Protest Obama!

I recently wrote how Obama's foreign policy legacy is to undermine current governments and inserting terrorists government President Obama's Foreign Policy Legacy . In the current insurrection in Egypt were the Egyptian people by the millions, are protesting the Muslim Brotherhood fascist Islamic government (almost by definition any Islamic government based on Sharia law is misogynistic fascists). Here is another story the main stream media will not show, and that is the Egyptian people are laying the blame square on the Obama administration for backing the Mohammed Morsi regime; the media will report the fall of the Morsi regime, but not the hatred the Egyptian people have for Obama.
The photos below say it all. 15 Photos From Tahrir Square Protests

What is really questionable is if President Obama really understands what a Democracy is; it is certainly more than 1 vote, 1 person, 1 time. A Democracy is one person one vote and usually coupled with the rule of law; however if a government, whether voted in or not, ignores the will of the people, it is the peoples responsibility to take the country back. ...to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. The US Declaration of Independence..Yet President Obama speaks as if 12 million people taking to the streets, that largest public demonstration ever recorded, were simply a small band of Morsi protestors.  "The goal of any political process should be a government that respects the rights of all people, majority and minority; that institutionalizes the checks and balances upon which democracy depends; and that places the interests of the people above party or faction," he (President Obama) added, noting that those protesting Morsi's government must be heard. So, the Egyptian military is operating according to the will of the people, beyond the control of the Muslim Brotherhood, NATO and President Obama and that's the real problem. It is a sobering thought that both Hitler and Mussolini were democratically voted into office. If you are President Obama had the people taken their country back before the aristocracies they caused  it would have been a crime against democracy rather than the crimes against humanity that followed.