Thread: Trayvon Martin

A black teenage boy, Trayvon Martin, gets followed by a white Mexican man, Zimmerman, who thinks he's up to no good while Martin is walking home late at night. Zimmerman tails him in his car. According to Zimmerman's 9-1-1 call, Martin saw Zimmerman following him and was looking straight at him, and Martin eventually ran. The boy was likely scared. Zimmerman continued to follow, but was advised by the 9-1-1 dispatcher to not follow him and police would be on their way.

When police arrived, they found Martin dead, shot in the chest by Zimmerman, and Zimmerman had been beaten by Martin after Zimmerman chased after him. The boy had no weapons on him. Zimmerman was not charged for weeks and many say he should not be charged.

Discuss.

Zimmerman isn't innocent but he'll walk. Prosecutor was too ambitious. Should of settled for something less. Martin wasn't innocent as media portray him and so on. New evidence shown Zimmerman battered with Martin being the first to start physical confrontation.

Definitely not a clear cut case. Would of if prosecutor settled for something less extreme.

No one will ever know exactly what happened, however; from the evidence provided, Zimmerman was definitely the aggressor in this situation and killed an innocent child. It did not have happen the way it did. #1, a watchman should not be carrying a gun #2, why would you provoke a child (following him, etc...) without expecting some type of consequences? I think Zimmerman will definitely pay for what he has done one way or the other! That's my input and I will leave it at that!

Though one time a stranger walked up to me to see what I was doing. I told him I was delivering food, he left me alone. I didn't pound him into the ground.

A young boy being tailed by an adult in a car in the middle of the night would likely trigger one's survival instincts. There's no reason for someone who is not a police officer to tail an innocent boy in the middle of the night and then pursue him on foot. Especially since the authorities had been called, and even they told him not to pursue him.

Shouldn't throw first punch if you can't handle the escalation. I could relate to Martin if Zimmerman physical start the fight.

I wasn't there so I have no idea what happened. However, if I had to speculate, I would say Zimmerman provoked an altercation and killed Martin when he fought back.

These are the only facts I know:
-Zimmerman was the one following Martin.
-He was told to stop following the kid, he did not.
-Kid was unarmed.

Zimmerman's defense is now bringing up this medical report claiming that he was attacked by Martin. Well who was following who? Idk how it works in the suburbs of Florida, but in NY you can be daym sure if I was a teenager being followed and threatened by some creepy older guy, he'd have a few bruises on his face. It only proves that there was a physical altercation.

Bottom line is, no one was there so we don't know. There is too much reasonable doubt to convict so I think Zimmerman will walk. However, the story is making me guess that some over-zealous neighborhood watchman was scared of a black kid and overreacted.

Originally Posted by thxleave

Shouldn't throw first punch if you can't handle the escalation. I could relate to Martin if Zimmerman physical start the fight.

Are you serious? Don't throw the first punch when being followed by a strange man at night if you can't handle the escalation....meaning being shot in the chest by the man who was pursuing him.

Originally Posted by BlueBullet

I wasn't there so I have no idea what happened. However, if I had to speculate, I would say Zimmerman provoked an altercation and killed Martin when he fought back.

These are the only facts I know:
-Zimmerman was the one following Martin.
-He was told to stop following the kid, he did not.
-Kid was unarmed.

Zimmerman's defense is now bringing up this medical report claiming that he was attacked by Martin. Well who was following who? Idk how it works in the suburbs of Florida, but in NY you can be daym sure if I was a teenager being followed and threatened by some creepy older guy, he'd have a few bruises on his face. It only proves that there was a physical altercation.

Bottom line is, no one was there so we don't know. There is too much reasonable doubt to convict so I think Zimmerman will walk. However, the story is making me guess that some over-zealous neighborhood watchman was scared of a black kid and overreacted.

There's no doubt that Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin. And there is no doubt that the police said the confrontation between Zimmerman and Martin could have been avoided. And there is no doubt that the dispatcher told Zimmerman not to pursue him because the police would handle it, but Zimmerman chose to pursue him anyway.

That is not self-defense. If you pursue someone who was not committing a crime and then murder that person, after a police dispatcher told you not to follow him, yet you disobey that police dispatcher and pursue him anyhow, self-defense is not a valid defense.

Originally Posted by thxleave

Shouldn't throw first punch if you can't handle the escalation. I could relate to Martin if Zimmerman physical start the fight.

I want you to imagine a scenario. Scenarios help people gain empathy:

Your father is driving home late at night, and his car breaks down. Unbeknownst to him, he ends up in a part of town where there aren't many white people. He starts walking home on foot in the middle of the night, and a young 20 something black guy who patrols the neighborhood at night spots your Dad. This guy is upset because white drug dealers have been coming into the neighborhood and supplying the local dealers, so he tails your Dad. He slowly creeps in his car following your Dad. Your Dad sees him and gets scared. He sees the look in this guy's eyes and knows he is focused on him and following him. Your Dad starts to walk faster.

The guy in the car sees your Dad moving faster and interprets that as a sign of guilt and figures he was right about your Dad, so he goes after him. This guy is carrying a gun. He gets up close to your Dad and angrily asks him what he's doing there, but is not satisfied with your Dad's answers because he's convinced he's lying. He gets too close to your Dad because he wants to see what your Dad is carrying in his pockets. Your Dad gets scared and starts punching this guy to save his life. The guy shoots your Dad in the chest point blank and kills him.

In this situation, do you still think your Dad shouldn't not have thrown a punch if he can't handle the escalation?