melthebell   862 #1 Posted July 14, 2013 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23304198  not sure what to make of this tbh, alledgedly the victim was completely unarmed yet he was shot in self defence  protests have taken place already against the decision, and he'll have to keep an eye out on revenge attacks, if that was me id be very scared Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
francypants   441 #2 Posted July 14, 2013 I don't know whether he's guilty or not, but if I was him I'd be getting out of America very quick. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Resident   1,185 #3 Posted July 14, 2013 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23304198 not sure what to make of this tbh, alledgedly the victim was completely unarmed yet he was shot in self defence  protests have taken place already against the decision, and he'll have to keep an eye out on revenge attacks, if that was me id be very scared  If someone was beating the living hell out of you and you had a gun, wouldn't you use it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
manxbiker   10 #4 Posted July 14, 2013 "stand your ground" law, which allows a citizen to use lethal force if he or she feels in imminent danger  Feeling in danger is considered justified in shooting someone I was in florida when this Law was brought in caused a great deal of discussion Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Rupert_Baehr   10 #5 Posted July 14, 2013 (edited) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23304198 not sure what to make of this tbh, alledgedly the victim was completely unarmed yet he was shot in self defence  protests have taken place already against the decision, and he'll have to keep an eye out on revenge attacks, if that was me id be very scared  Completely unarmed up to the point when he tried to take the security guard's gun (yes, Zimmerman was the security guard) and tried to shoot him with it.  Fortunately for Zimmerman, there was a witness to that bit.  ---------- Post added 14-07-2013 at 15:19 ----------  "stand your ground" law, which allows a citizen to use lethal force if he or she feels in imminent danger Feeling in danger is considered justified in shooting someone I was in florida when this Law was brought in caused a great deal of discussion  No it isn't!  'Feeling in imminent danger' is grounds to use lethal force if the people tasked with investigating the incident agree that you had reason to feel in imminent danger.  If they disagree and you shoot somebody you will be treated exactly like any other criminal who shoots somebody without good cause.  ---------- Post added 14-07-2013 at 15:38 ----------  As the article said: "The case sparked a fierce debate about racial profiling in the US."  Initially, the media decided to portray it as 'white guy (majority) shoots black guy' (minority.)  Then somebody pointed out that Zimmerman is an hispanic (minority) so it was 'man from minority ethnic group shoots man from different minority ethnic group.' - That didn't go down too well with the racists who were trying to set up Zimmerman, so they invented' a new ethnic group - 'White Hispanic'.  That didn't go down too well with a number of hispanics, who are proud of their heritage and who argue that their skin colur has nothing to do with it.  (The Governor of the State of New Mexico is a gentleman by the name of 'William Blaise Richardson lll" (You can probably guess which Ivy league group he comes from.  He is known as 'Bill Richardson, the Hispanic Governor of New Mexico' - Woe betide any newspaper man who refers to him as 'the white hispanic governor of new Mexico.)  After they were unable to play the race card, the journos (very ill-advisedly) doctored a recording of a conversation between Zimmerman and the local Police. The doctored version was a complete fake (and I expect some newspaperman will be sued - and hopefully prosecuted, convicted of attempting tp pervert the course of justice and imprisoned.  ---------- Post added 14-07-2013 at 15:47 ----------  There have been a number of instances where people who were shot (quite lawfully) under the provisions of 'stand your ground' have threatened revenge.  Somehow, I expect the local police will have a pretty good idea of who is likely to do what.  It may be that offences against tourists (carjacking, muggings and random shootings) go up in the Sanford area but the police will crack down on that. Edited July 14, 2013 by Rupert_Baehr Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
geared   302 #6 Posted July 15, 2013 There have been a number of instances where people who were shot (quite lawfully) under the provisions of 'stand your ground' have threatened revenge.  Wasn't there a case in Texas of a bloke who shot two burglars in the back, after they'd robbed his neighbours house and were trying to escape?  Mind you this came from the same news source that was pushing the story that the kid was armed with a bag of sweets and Zimmerman was a trigger happy nut................. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
altus   537 #7 Posted July 15, 2013 Completely unarmed up to the point when he tried to take the security guard's gun (yes, Zimmerman was the security guard) and tried to shoot him with it.  Zimmerman wasn't a security guard - he was a neighbourhood watch volunteer. A security guard might be expected to confront someone they suspect of wrongdoing but surely it would be more appropriate for a member of a neighbourhood watch to report it to the police and leave it up to them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
lizmachin   10 #8 Posted July 15, 2013 Zimmerman wasn't a security guard - he was a neighbourhood watch volunteer. A security guard might be expected to confront someone they suspect of wrongdoing but surely it would be more appropriate for a member of a neighbourhood watch to report it to the police and leave it up to them.  That would be dependent on whether the US version of neighborhood watch were the same as that in the UK, which it isn't. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
quisquose   10 #9 Posted July 15, 2013 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/14/open-season-black-boys-verdict  "There is no doubt about who the aggressor was here. It appears that the only reason the two interacted at all, physically or otherwise, is that Zimmerman believed it was his civic duty to apprehend an innocent teenager who caused suspicion by his existence alone."  I can't disagree with that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
taxman   12 #10 Posted July 15, 2013 Zimmerman was told by the police not to follow Trayvon Martin but he decided to ignore them. The only reason there was a confrontation was because Zimmerman chose to create one.  What happened when Zimmerman confronted him we will never know because we only have Zimmerman's account of it. Which is very unfortunate for Trayvon Martin. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
SAAB_   10 #11 Posted July 15, 2013 http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/14/open-season-black-boys-verdict "There is no doubt about who the aggressor was here. It appears that the only reason the two interacted at all, physically or otherwise, is that Zimmerman believed it was his civic duty to apprehend an innocent teenager who caused suspicion by his existence alone."  I can't disagree with that.  You were there when it happened? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
mafya   243 #12 Posted July 15, 2013 If someone was beating the living hell out of you and you had a gun, wouldn't you use it?  If someone was beating you up and he had a gun wouldn't you try to disarm him by taking the gun off him so he couldn't shoot you? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...