Obama asks 'soul searching' after Martin shooting

All I got to say is this Pres is a frigging big joke on the American people. Yep !
He should keep his nose out of state issues and concentrate on foreign affairs .
It makes me wanna puke !

WASHINGTON — Looking for positive lessons to draw from the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, President Barack Obama said Friday the nation needs to do some “soul-searching,” look for ways to bolster African-American boys and examine state and local laws to see if they encourage confrontations like the one in Florida.

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=GS&Date=20130719&Category=WIRE&ArtNo=130719538&Ref=AR&MaxW=445&border=0

He kinda resembles Mike Larson ! Huh ?

Double jeopardy is wrong. The jury already found him not guilty once. No one should have to stand trial twice.

I’m glad you said that Nick !
I was wondering about you …Naw Just Jokin’

Someone has soul searching to do…

However the professional law enforcement/emergency response folks instructed this guy not to follow the kid. Did he follow the instructions? NO.

Oh the stand your ground law. That sounds like I can stand my ground and defend myself. That’s fine, so this is why he followed (left his area and proceeded into a more dangerous situation) and shot him?

Well he certainly followed Martin because someone elses well being was at stake, right? No, Zimmermans own words “he didn’t look right”. Oh so shoot him then. If you could shoot people for looking a bit out of place, I could go to walmart and open fire on most days.

Our system obviously failed, but its not the rules, just the failure to follow them by everyone.

All that I was not in the court room, no idea how much the jury heard…

You can always go to China !
They do HI’s over there I think !

Hey, I’m not saying america sucks!!! Just this event was a SNAFU, that’s all. I’m also all for carrying a gun, even shooting someone to protect yourself. All great parts of a country I fought to defend, Roy.

Just loads of things went wrong here. If zimmerman was car jacked or even approached by a guy with an intent to hurt him, go ahead and shoot him. But its tough to justify following someone from a safe area into a dangerous area then shooting him, IF it’s not your job. (It was my job for a while too).

BO saying “look for ways to bolster African-American boys and examine state and local laws to see if they encourage confrontations like the one in Florida.”

why bolster “only” african american boys? why not all of them? And I don’t think the laws encouraged this, it was one guy using poor judgement putting himself, unnecessarily in harms way (or his perception of being in danger, which is enough to elicit his reaction).

Thanks you for your good reply .
However,
From my experience the cops always arrive after the fact .

I was a military cop, and you are correct the law enforcement typically is reactive in nature not pro active.

Even with all the mistakes that were made in this situation, there is still only one person who broke the law and that is Martin when he punched Zimmerman’s nose. Up til then, both were stupid but lawful. Martin crossed the line and paid for it.

No soul searching needed.

Here is an excellent article on the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case. There are facts here that some people tend to purposely ignore.
Trayvon Martin was not a “small boy” as has been quoted in another thread.
He was a dope smoking 6’2”! {The autopsy report showed that Trayvon Martin had been smoking marijuana.}
Too bad that the pictures he posted on Facebook of him carrying a gun and smoking dope were not admissible in trial.

Massad Ayoob
« ZIMMERMAN VERDICT, PART 2: THE “UNARMED TEEN”

ZIMMERMAN VERDICT: THE STAND YOUR GROUND ELEMENT »

ZIMMERMAN VERDICT PART 3: “WHO STARTED IT?”

Wednesday, July 17th, 2013

Welcome to the new commentators here, many of whom seem to feel that Zimmerman started the encounter, a concept that concerns many of our regulars as well.

Whenever there’s a fight, no matter the degree of consequences, the first question is always “who started it?”

Zimmerman took the first action, calling police when he observed Martin. He said that he was concerned because the man in the hoodie appeared to be wandering slowly and aimlessly in heavy rain. This is more consistent with what might be called “casing the joint” than with someone in a hurry to get somewhere dry. He didn’t mention Martin’s skin color until expressly asked about it by the call center operator.

The evidence indicates that Zimmerman didn’t get out of his car until the operator asked where the suspicious person was, and where the police should meet Zimmerman, the complainant.
Taking that as a request for information, Zimmerman obligingly got out of the car to gather the intelligence that seemed to have been implicitly requested of him.

He was, after all, the elected (not self-appointed) captain of Neighborhood Watch, and his function as Eyes and Ears of the Police had been drilled into him and the other Watch members through the Police Department itself. When the call-taker asked if he was following the man, Zimmerman replied in the affirmative. He was then told, “You don’t have to do that.”
The evidence indicates that he stopped following Martin at that moment. His former rapid breathing returned to normal and wind noise from his phone stopped, consistent with his testimony that he stopped following and had lost sight of Martin.
The dispatcher did not “order” him to stop following, and later admitted in court that he had no authority to do so. Nonetheless, it was clear that Zimmerman was simply following Martin to keep him in sight and report his whereabouts, not “pursuing” with any intent to “confront.”

Putting together the timelines of the calls – hard evidence – and the testimony of the prosecution’s “star witness” Rachel Jeantel. When Zimmerman lost sight of Martin, the latter was a very short distance from home. Yet in the four minutes thereafter, he had to have left that location and gone toward Zimmerman’s. Even Jeantel admits that the first words of the confrontation she heard were from Martin, before the phone went dead.

Keeping an eye on someone from a distance is not against the law. Leaving the safety and mobility of your vehicle when suspicious unknown people are around may not be the best tactical move, but is no evidence of wrongdoing or intent to confront.

Who struck the first blow? Virtually all the evidence supports Zimmerman’s account; no evidence contradicts it, and no evidence supports the theory that Zimmerman assaulted Martin first, in any way.
If as some conjecture Zimmerman had drawn the gun at the first, why did he wait until his scalp had been split open on the sidewalk and his nose smashed before he pulled the trigger? And if Martin really believed he was in danger from the man watching him, why didn’t he simply call the police from the phone he was already speaking on?

Within the totality of the circumstances presented in court by the prosecution itself, it would seem that saying “Zimmerman started it” is like saying that a woman was raped “because she asked for it.”

It’s about evidence, not about “what-ifs.” The simple fact is, no matter what some want to believe and no matter how much the brainwashers of the media have twisted the facts, there is no solid evidence to support any theory other than that Martin didn’t like being watched, attacked Zimmerman violently, and was shot in self-defense by the man whose head he had been smashing against the sidewalk with potentially lethal effect.

There are more issues, of course, and we’ll explore them here shortly.
{End of article}.

  • Here are some comments from people who read the article.
  1. a crime watch coordinator Says:
    July 17th, 2013

Zimmerman’s’ lawyers forgot the most important thing, yet they won. A gated community is PRIVATE PROPERTY. A homeowner certainly has the right to question anyone who walks into their yard. Instead having 250 people stop a person from walking through their community, they appoint or someone volunteers to be the crime watch coordinator. Zimmerman had every right to stop Martin. When questioned, all Martin had to say he was going to visit his father. All Zimmerman would do is look up the name and address to confirm Martin was truthful. Case closed, Zimmerman goes back to finish his supper.

  1. Ken Weaver Says:
    July 17th, 2013

That was an excellent summation, the best I have read yet; and one the large majority agree with. Only the uninformed and the vast majority of blacks disagree with your views and the evidence submitted at the trial.
Sadly, they are more interested in vengeance than in justice.
If these people are truly interested in preventing black children and young men from being shot, May I suggest they start in Chicago.
Chicago, Obamas home town, the city where more children and young adults are murdered with firearms every month than the servicemen and women who lost their lives fighting for our country.

Ken Weaver

  1. Sian Says:
    July 17th, 2013

And now you hit on my main point of suspicion of the whole dang affair.
TM had every opportunity to avoid a confrontation if he wanted. He could have called 911. He could have gone to any door and yelled for help. He could have easily made it to his father’s GF’s house. There is no doubt that he could have continued to evade and outrun Zimmerman indefinitely. A man who, by all evidence, never pursued past the point of keeping the suspicious person in sight while reporting to the police call center.
But TM did none of these things. Why is that?

I didn’t know they were on private property. You got me there. My bad.

Zimmerman was a repeated drug user BTW. His drug of choice is way worse than weed and causes way more violence, death and overdoses than weed.

Yeah that Trayon was an angel. :sarcasm:

http://www.rightsidenews.com/2013071432888/editorial/us-opinion-and-editorial/trayvon-martin-burglary-tools-and-pcp-style-drug-cocktails.html

I find it unbelievable that Obama compared himself to a person like travon.

I doubt I spelled his name right but as much as I dislike Obamas politics he degrades himself and anyone who has worked as hard as he did to go to an ivory league school and accomplish as much as he has done with a self described thug.

Obama busted his a s s to accomplish what he has done in his life even though I disagree with his politics and to compasre himself to someone who was in no way heading the way he did in his life is discusting.

Obama IS a role model and from what I have seen about the way the kid represented himself he was no where near the man Obama is or was as a young man.

It saddens me to see someone who has obtained greatness even though I disagree with just about ALL of his politics to compare himself with someone who represented themselves as a low life thug.

By the way at his age I was also a low life thug “or at least acted as such” so I know exactly how he felt and how and why he attracted Zimmerman like he did.

At that age I would have made the same dumb a s s mistake.

Folks need to learn to accept their consequences for their actions :frowning: as sad as they may be

As soon as I heard the story I knew that the kid went on the offensive because even though I am not brown in my skin color I was a dumb a s s just like he appears to have been.

It is a shame a young man had to die but he made the mistake that got him killed just as I would have likely done :frowning: If anyone was in Zimmerman’s situation even though I believe he should have not proceeded as he did the fact is that he was ATTACTED by a young punk and feared for his life. I hope other young men realize they cannot attack folks no matter how they feel they have been treated or profiled. IF YOU ATTACK SOMEONE THEY MAY DEFEND THEMSELVES AND YOU MAY DIE AS A RESULT OF YOUR ACTIONS. I was the same type of bad a s s. You couldn’t tell me nothing and I was the type of kid that he appeared to be and am just lucky that because of my martial arts training I NEVER STRUCK FIRST OR ATTACKED anyone and only defended myself.

I wish that the young man did not have to pay with his life but totally understand how the victim felt and why he defended himself.

Michael the whole problem “is” someone did lose their life. Ultimately, no matter what anyone says or thinks about this issue, some facts remain. Mr. Martin was walking through a neighborhood causing no problems. Without Mr. Zimmerman’s actions he would still be alive. Doesn’t matter who started the confrontation. Oh by the way I wonder would Zimmerman have even been following Martin if he didn’t have a gun. Guns don’t kill people but people with guns do. Yes I do own guns by the way.

Yep, right until baby Tray assaulted Zimmerman.

Trayvon confronted Zimmerman, not the other way around. Trayvon punched Zimmerman, not the other way around. Trayvon pinned Zimmerman down, not the other way around. Trayvon bashed Zimmerman’s head into the sidewalk, not the other way around.

Trayvon was “walking through a neighborhood causing no problems” up to that point. As soon as he CHOSE to confront and punch Zimmerman, he was causing a problem.

I’m amazed that even with all the facts and photos laid out for people to see, they still want to paint Martin as an innocent bystander. Innocent people call 911 when they think they are being followed, they don’t circle back to assert their manhood.

That is what got him killed.

Which is why the tragedy happened and as I said I was just like the kid at his age. I could have been Trayvon a lot easier than Obama. Obama was busy making something of his life.

That’s pretty good Mike.

:slight_smile:
I think it to be true even though I do not like our Presidents politics.
And I was a punk who thought nothing could touch me at that age and would have definitely ran my mouth all though I did not start fights I damn sure did not avoid or back down from them.