mytmouse57:  And the sad irony is, had it been a white kid -- with exactly the same questions and outcome -- nobody would really give a crap, and it would have just been a little blip on the news.

You really think so?  Zimmerman's being called white (he identifies himself as white, IIRC), but I"m willing to bet ten bucks if he shot some white kid, the "evil wetback" would still be the villain.

arielg:   It may not be relevant to anything, but what was the kid doing in a gated community?

Black kids can't live there?

Girlchristian:  The problem is, that IF Zimmerman's story is correct and that he had turned around, stopped following Martin, and was heading back to his car and then was followed and attacked by Martin then Martin's attack is no longer self-defense.

It's as much self-defense as tailing a kid wearing a hoodie and eating Skittles.

Erey:  Like a neighboor who saw, etc. Zimmerman's injuries appear to be in line with what he said happened.

His neighbors must not like Martin, because the police video shows nary a scratch.  Why is it so hard to believe that the only reason we started hearing about how awful Martin was was due to Zimmerman finally figuring out the entire nation was mad at him?  He made himself out to be an incompetent Terminator and now he's making up crap.  He was beaten to a pulp just like Susan Smith's children were killed by a black guy.

Both never happened.

According to the excerpt quoted in the OP Zimmerman's story was,

"...But in own his version of events, as outlined in the Sentinel report, Zimmerman had given up the chase and was walking back to his sport utility vehicle when Martin approached him from behind.

The two exchanged words before Martin punched the burly Zimmerman in the nose, sending him reeling to the ground. The teenager then began pummeling him and slammed his head into the sidewalk several times, the newspaper said.

At least one witness told police he saw Martin on top of Zimmerman who was calling for help, the newspaper said. It noted, however, that other witnesses had disputed who the cries were coming from.

ABC News quoted a police source as saying that Zimmerman, in a written statement, claimed that Martin also tried to take his gun before the shot was fired." (emphasis added)

Last night ABC News released security camera video of Zimmerman's arrival at the police station on the night the incident took place. I have watched this video several times and he certainly doesn't look like someone who was pummeled and had had his head slammed into the sidewalk several time. There are no signs of blood, cuts, abrasions, or bandages that one would expect under the circumstances he claimed happened. Link

Mar 28, 2012 -- 5:44PM, mytmouse57 wrote:

I think Zimmerman "singled out" Martin because he was there.

That makes no sense and is not an answer. Convenient, though, in order to defend a Have Gun/Will Travel philosophy.

Mar 28, 2012 -- 5:44PM, mytmouse57 wrote:

All indications are, that he was particularly "dedicated" to (obsessive about?) his neighborhood watch duties. Martin was hardly the first person he had eyeballed, followed or made calls about.

His "duties" were of his own creation. He was neither voted to head up a "neighborhood watch" program, nor was he authorized by any of his neighbors to stalk "strangers" as part of a neighborhood watch program.  In fact, it was reported on a news program that he was in violation of Florida state law for carrying a gun in a law enforcement capacity without a permit. 

In his published recordings to 9-1-1, he was always singling out blacks.  That pattern has already been shown.

Mar 28, 2012 -- 5:44PM, mytmouse57 wrote:

There's little doubt in my mind, had Martin been a white kid, Zimmerman would have done exactly the same thing. He did not like strange people in "his" nieghborhood.

Well, the problem with that is that it's only in your mind.  There is little doubt in MY mind that if the kid had been white, Zimmerman wouldn't have lost his head.

Mar 28, 2012 -- 5:44PM, mytmouse57 wrote:

And the sad irony is, had it been a white kid -- with exactly the same questions and outcome -- nobody would really give a crap, and it would have just been a little blip on the news.

That is so totally false I can't believe you wrote that, and if that's what you really and truly believe, that explains your excuse-making for Zimmerman more than anything you write. 

Such a slap in the face to the memory of all those murdered black teenagers.

Mar 28, 2012 -- 5:44PM, mytmouse57 wrote:

But as soon as those magic words "unarmed black" were uttered... well...

Yeah, right. Now I know where you're coming from. 

Obviously this story is zigging and zagging much more than I would have assumed.  I don't know what to think

Nor do I believe that  Zimmerman is an undeniable evil, hate monger.  Granted he is not right probably on several levels.

Nor do I believe Zimmerman wanted to kill a "BLACK" person becuase he hates black people.

I do think that if people really care about murdered black people they would ignore this Zimmerman story and instead focus on black on black crime.  We all know earlier this month 10 people were killed in Chicago, one of them a 6 year old girl all in the course of one weekend.  Also in that same weekend 49 were shot, only 10 of them died.  This in a state that embraces strict gun laws. 

So whereas I can't rely on the media to form oppinions with this particular story I do have some thoughts on the subject. 

The Sanford Police Department doesn't look very Good, eh ... ??

Mar 29, 2012 -- 2:52PM, rabello wrote:

Mar 28, 2012 -- 6:21PM, Erey wrote:

Well the plot thickens!  The way this story is comming out in drips and drabs makes me wonder if this is not some new format of a TV docu drama.  I can't remember the last time I felt so disapointed in the media.

How, exactly, do you think the media should have reported this story, seeing that the police department conducted no investigation, kept the body under wraps for 3 days, took Zimmerman's word at face value and released no information to the public.

The reason the media is even reporting this story is the public outcry over an unjust killing in good ole USA, and the only reason there is a public outcry is that the family of the victim has spoken out.   If it hadn't been for that, there'd be no story, and nobody would have known about a modern-day lynching in Sanford Florida.