Originally posted by Lovol
Seeing as that this section is somewhat dead already, I thought I'd give it a go. Some of us have been having the Trayvon Martin incident talk in the shoutbox for about a week now. It'll be more organized here, I guess.
Try to refrain from racist words or remarks, as I will too. So just post your opinions about the situation below, as I'll post mine too.
In my opinion, I think that this Trayvon Martin situation is a bunch of crap. Honestly, all of the ghetto black people are just pulling out the race card, etc. I had even saw a picture of a guy selling a shirt saying "Pussy ass cracker." And in school, since I live in the county this happened in, I saw this ghetto black girl with a sign saying "Arrest that cracker." I mean, it's a real shame that all of the ghetto black people pull out the race card no matter what. This is just like the OJ case. They all say he's innocent when clearly proven otherwise with more than a sufficient amount of evidence. Sad thing is - Zimmerman isn't white.
Not to mention Trayvon's history. He was suspended in school for having been caught with a weed bag in his bag? I mean... He's obviously not the angel everyone has been giving him accreditation for. People just really need to see the factual side of this seeing as that Trayvon was around the area trying to act like a thug. He was probably planning on doing other bad shit anyway. Not to mention, beating up Zimmerman was enough to get his ghetto ass shot.
Trayvon is guilty and deserved to die.
/end
Lovol, I really find this interesting, seeing as you're from the same area as Trayvon.
In my opinion, Zimmerman is guilty. He used a lethal weapon during a hand to hand fight. Now, lets take a few things in...
Zimmerman is not a cop. He was a neighborhood watch person.
Zimmerman was big. Although he doesn't look "ripped" he is not a small twig.
Trayvon was in 9th grade, or there about. Lovol correct me if I'm wrong.
Regardless of how "suspicious" Trayvon looked, he shouldn't have been followed that closely. Simply watching were he went would suffice.
Also, with a hoodie and jeans on, and him walking away, Zimmerman couldn't have seen that he is black before pursuing him.
That means this is not a hate crime, IF it is a crime. Now imagine if you were walking home from a gas station, and a big man started following you. You legally have no where to go. You can't trespass into someones yard to escape, unless he's seriously pursuing you. Now I'm a decent sized kid, 190 lbs, 5 ft 11, and I can tell you if a man is following me, and I have no escape route, I'd confront him, if it's my last resort.
Since it's impossible to prove whom confronted whom first, or who instigated this, let's assume Zimmerman was not at fault by following Trayvon, and Trayvon DID throw the first punch. The real issue, which I find very interesting, would be Zimmerman's use of deadly force. (A gun)
Now let's take a legal look at this.
The Florida law states... In Florida you may lawfully use deadly force, BUT ONLY to defend your life. Florida is one of a handful of states in the US that has "no duty to retreat" doctrine written into the state's laws. (i.e.: If you are in, or at, a place that you may lawfully be, and are accosted or trespassed upon and threatened with deadly force you may retaliate in kind.)
Now the real deciding factor in this case is "threatened with deadly force". Is a fist a deadly force? If a fist is considered deadly, then there will be no consequences for Zimmerman, if the race card isn't pulled in the trial, which is B.S. If a fist is considered harmless, then Zimmerman will rot in hell.
Personally, I believe they were both at fault, and I feel playing the "drug dealer" card, as many do, is wrong. They claim he is a bad kid cause a kid on facebook asked him for some "plants". In all honesty, who doesn't smoke. Whether he was high or not, if he wasn't harming anyone or anything, he should have been allowed to proceed without interruption, IF he was not harming anyone or property.
Also, I'm in Naples on the South West coast of FL, there was a killing a lot like this that went down, I saw it on this site a month or so ago.
Opinions?