The Trayvon Martin Case...

**Oneironaut Zero** · 03-22-2012 08:46 AM

Ok, so I'm not sure how many of you had heard about the case of 17 year old Trayvon Martin, who was gunned down by a self-appointed 'neighborhood watch leader', in his father's neighborhood, recently. This took place in the town right 'next door' to the town I grew up in, and in fact, the girl Mary Cutcher than has been on the news talking about it was a friend of mine in High School. If you're not familiar with the incident, it went something like this:

Last month, a 17-year-old, black male was walking back to his father's neighborhood, at 7:30pm, after having gone to the store to get candy and a drink. When he got back to the neighborhood, the 'neighborhood watch leader' called the police and told them that there was a 'suspicious black male' walking around the neighborhood. He uttered a few words over the phone which give the impression of having been racial slurs (but we can't get a clear tape to prove or disprove that). He began to follow the young man (against the direction of the police dispatcher) and ended up getting into an altercation with the boy, which resulted in the boy being shot to death during a scuffle between the two. The shooter, George Zimmerman, is claiming self-defense. Records of the boy's last phone call to his girlfriend state that Trayvon (concerned for his own well-being, as it seems to me) was telling his girlfriend that he was being followed by a strange man, and attempted to walk away quickly, before he was chased down by the man and the altercation started.

Justice Dept. launches probe into shooting death of Trayvon Martin

There were witnesses to this shooting, which have come forward to testify that the unarmed boy did nothing wrong, and that the self-defense explanation of the shooter does not hold up at all. And yet, the Sanford Police Department has refused to arrest, or even investigate the actions of George Zimmerman, clearing him (without trial) of any wrong-doing, and defending him tooth and nail as having done no wrong, himself, in having tracked down, confronted and shot this 17 year old boy who did absolutely nothing wrong or illegal.

Right now, Trayvon's family is having one hell of a battle, simply trying to get a serious inquiry into the actions of Zimmerman - one that would (and should) result in the arrest of Zimmerman, if for no other reason than to subject him to a fair trial. If you would, please sign the following petition (which has apparently become the fastest growing petition in Internet history) so that any and all voices in opposition of this blatant lapse in justice can be heard in some way:

https://www.change.org/petitions/pro...trayvon-martin

As of now, the Sanford Police Department (the same one that I'd posted about, a short while back, when an officer made a false report about a black man 'dragging him through the parking lot by his car' - which never happened, according to the surveillance tape) has completely refused to follow up on this story, effectively clearing Zimmerman of any allegations, and coming forth to defend his integrity as 'a college graduate', in an attempt to push this situation into obscurity as quickly as possible. (It looks like they are just starting to reveal that the SPD Cheif has had a 'no confidence' vote against him - whatever that means, so hopefully this will go right to the source...)

In my opinion, Zimmerman should be behind bars. At the very least, he should be tried in court. Not sure how everyone else here sees it, but I figured I'd spread the story. If nothing else, please sign the petition so, at the least, we can be sure that George Zimmerman has his day in court.

**no-Name** · 03-22-2012 09:14 AM

your observations are pretty much indisputable. this was a murder and a hate crime.

Reading about Trayvon Martin’s killing and am beyond saddened, sickened, and outraged at the continuation of state-sanctioned killing of black and brown youth. I wonder, however, if there another way to push for justice for Trayvon, without appealing to the prison-industrial complex as a means of retribution. Even if the state does prosecute his killer, what does it do to our communities in the long run when we ask for more surveillance, stronger penalization, more brutal justice? In the end, whose bodies will be most subjected to the PIC?

As we demand Justice for Trayvon, I wonder if we can keep the call for prison abolition and real social transformation in mind.

A few resources on the prison abolition movement and the prison-industrial complex’s disproportionate targeting of communities of color, especially women and queer/trans people of color:

one of my favorite blogs writes about the subject here

racism is still very very real, it's not rare and this was not an isolated incident. it never is.

**DrunkenArse** · 03-22-2012 06:09 PM

It sounds like the town of Sanford should just go ahead and make being black illegal so this sort of thing isn't a problem going forward....

**tkdyo** · 03-22-2012 07:19 PM

I saw this on the news last night. Very pathetic case of the police blatantly hiding a bigot from the masses. How this still happens in the modern age of information and non-segregation baffles me.

**khh** · 03-22-2012 07:38 PM

I don't understand what reason the police could have for not investigating this properly. It's pretty self evident that when someone who's unarmed is gunned down in "self defence", it needs to be investigated.

**DrunkenArse** · 03-22-2012 07:48 PM

It's simple. It's implicitly illegal to be black in Sanford. So, according to the implicit law, a black person walking in a white neighborhood is breaking the law and is hence behaving in a threatening and illegal manner.

If they just went ahead and explicitly made being black illegal then not only would all confusion vanish but the justice department would remove the mayor and city council and take over to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future.

Explicit is almost always better than implicit.

**Pumpkin** · 03-23-2012 12:50 AM

I heard about this a few days ago. It is so tragic! I hate hearing about young people, like me, getting killed. We all have so many hopes and dreams. I agree, this Zimmerman guy should be tried and put in jail. I just wish racism would go away..

**louie54** · 03-23-2012 02:57 AM

I don't mean to start a race war over here, but am I the only one who thinks that George doesn't really look... white? (Zimmerman kind of sounds like a Jewish name though).

**DrunkenArse** · 03-23-2012 02:58 AM

Looks hispanic. That explains everything. Move along everybody, nothing to see here.

**louie54** · 03-23-2012 03:17 AM

It still amazed that this guy hasn't been arrested yet.

**no-Name** · 03-23-2012 07:10 AM

Originally Posted by louie54

It still amazed that this guy hasn't been arrested yet.

I'm not.

NRB.com

**Xei** · 03-23-2012 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by no-Name

without appealing to the prison-industrial complex as a means of retribution.

lolwat

I can only presume 'justice without prisons' refers to mob lynching. No thanks.

**Oneironaut Zero** · 03-23-2012 02:59 PM

Looks like the Sanford Police chief has "temporarily' stepped down. I love the way they keep putting the emphasis on 'temporarily.' They are going to try to let this blow over without any real action being taken. Part of me wonders what other examples of corruption they'd find in that place, if they did a thorough sweep of the precinct, and if his 'temporary stepping down' was in simply trying to distance himself from the situation, before more of the spotlight was placed on him then there already was.

**DrunkenArse** · 03-24-2012 02:28 AM

He said it was to avoid being a distraction. My feeling is that "temporarily" stepping down is nothing more than a distraction....

**Carôusoul** · 03-24-2012 02:54 AM

A little facebook digging reveals Trayvon was a drug dealer at least on a small scale. Though his page has been taken down i saw one good post on his wall asking where he was because "nigga need plant". Other interesting facts include pictures showing he for some reason had gold teeth.

Im not supporting zimmerman, but people making trayvon out to be some angelic kid seem misled at best. I think he was a thug, based on his twitter and facebook.

Doesnt justify murder, but it is easy to get swept away in a storm of anti-racism and paint him as a saint or martyr. He wasnt.

We dont know what happened. But i think everyone jumping to the concLusion that an innocent boy has been killed in a vicious hate crime are idiots.

That means most of you

**DrunkenArse** · 03-24-2012 02:55 AM

So selling an illegally illegal plant and having gold teeth makes one a thug?

**Carôusoul** · 03-24-2012 03:08 AM

Photos tHrowing gang signs, incomprehensible gangspeak writing online, dealing illegal drugs, yeah, for me thats a thug.

Maybe im just old fashioned and those things are normal now.

**DrunkenArse** · 03-24-2012 03:12 AM

George Bush was a thug. Large shareholders in oil companies are thugs. Some kid on the street hustling twenty sacks is not a thug. Do you know what the "gang" signs meant. You admitted that his writing was incomprehensible so I wont even ask you about that. Do you have any evidence that he behaved in such a manner as to intentionally harm or intimidate a fellow human being? If not then you shouldn't call him a thug.

**no-Name** · 03-24-2012 10:29 PM

Originally Posted by Carôusoul

A little facebook digging reveals Trayvon was a drug dealer at least on a small scale. Though his page has been taken down i saw one good post on his wall asking where he was because "nigga need plant". Other interesting facts include pictures showing he for some reason had gold teeth.

Im not supporting zimmerman, but people making trayvon out to be some angelic kid seem misled at best. I think he was a thug, based on his twitter and facebook.

Doesnt justify murder, but it is easy to get swept away in a storm of anti-racism and paint him as a saint or martyr. He wasnt.

We dont know what happened. But i think everyone jumping to the concLusion that an innocent boy has been killed in a vicious hate crime are idiots.

That means most of you

okay, he was a drug dealer.
this is still a hate crime. it would not have happened if trayvon were white.
it's not an isolated incident, either. there is still plenty of inbred racism, a lot of it extreme and extroverted.

this incident is a good example we can use to show how rampant it is.

**Xei** · 03-24-2012 10:34 PM

Still want to know what 'justice without prisons' means.

**no-Name** · 03-24-2012 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by Xei

Still want to know what 'justice without prisons' means.

so do I. I was definitely not fully lucid while writing that, and I have no idea what I meant. I'mma stick to it though, because I prefer social justice over the court system. non-violent, necessarily.

**DrunkenArse** · 03-24-2012 10:44 PM

I think that 'justice without prisons' is bullshit. However, In the US prisons are more often than not profit making operations. As profit making operations, their primary goal is profit. So references to the 'prison-industrial complex' are accurate. They are not interested in rehabilitation and many people come out of them more violent than they where when they entered. They perpetuate the problem.

So if 'prison' is taken to refer to the sort of thing that currently exists in the US then I am all for 'justice without prisons'. I would prefer some other sort of place to send violent people so that they can either be rehabilitated if at all possible or humanely separated from the general populace if not.

If prison is precisely such a place then of course 'justice without prisons' is a dubious notion.

The point is that 'punishment' is a useless concept that does more harm than good. It may deter sane people from things like murder but sane people don't murder anyways. It's the people that have been misshapen by living in an environment radically different from that which evolution created them for that become violent criminals and punishment does nothing but reinforce their sense of not belonging and the feeling that the world is against them.

The way to deal with a violent crime is to make sure that the perpetrator doesn't do it again, not to place blame and seek retribution. Retribution is neither synonymous with justice nor useful.

**no-Name** · 03-24-2012 11:28 PM

Originally Posted by PhilosopherStoned

I think that 'justice without prisons' is bullshit. However, In the US prisons are more often than not profit making operations. As profit making operations, their primary goal is profit. So references to the 'prison-industrial complex' are accurate. They are not interested in rehabilitation and many people come out of them more violent than they where when they entered. They perpetuate the problem.

So if 'prison' is taken to refer to the sort of thing that currently exists in the US then I am all for 'justice without prisons'. I would prefer some other sort of place to send violent people so that they can either be rehabilitated if at all possible or humanely separated from the general populace if not.

If prison is precisely such a place then of course 'justice without prisons' is a dubious notion.

The point is that 'punishment' is a useless concept that does more harm than good. It may deter sane people from things like murder but sane people don't murder anyways. It's the people that have been misshapen by living in an environment radically different from that which evolution created them for that become violent criminals and punishment does nothing but reinforce their sense of not belonging and the feeling that the world is against them.

The way to deal with a violent crime is to make sure that the perpetrator doesn't do it again, not to place blame and seek retribution. Retribution is neither synonymous with justice nor useful.

whoop whoop there it is
that's absolutely perfect

**Black_Eagle** · 03-26-2012 06:22 AM

After listening to the tape of Zimmerman talking to the cops before running and killing Trayvon, I have come to believe that this was not a hate crime, but rather, a crime of incredible, incredible stupidity. That said, I think he's guilty of murder.

Edit: Also, hatecrimes are bullshit. They're fucking thoughtcrimes.

**greenhavoc** · 03-26-2012 04:36 PM

Originally Posted by no-Name

your observations are pretty much indisputable. this was a murder and a hate crime.

This guy over reacted, clearly, but if the suspicious boy would have been white, then would this have still been a hate crime? I despise people like you.

Let me show you what a real hate crime looks like

Can you imagine what would happen if a group of white people, in this day and age, put up a dead or alive bounty for a black guy?

How bout a group of Muslims doing the same thing to anyone?