George Zimmerman shooting Martin Trayvon or self defense

"Mr. George Zimmerman was not acting outside the legal boundaries of Florida Statute by carrying his weapon when this incident occurred," Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee said recently. "He was in fact on a personal errand in his vehicle when he observed Mr. Martin in the community and called the Sanford Police Department."

The chief has also said George Zimmerman had no legal duty to heed a dispatcher's warning to stay put instead of following Martin Trayvon on foot. (Chief Lee stepped down “temporarily” this week after receiving a no-confidence vote from the Sanford City Council over his handling of the case.)

We call for an immediate arrest. We want him behind bars," Bryant said, referring to George Zimmerman. "Because you have arrested a lot of black men without probable cause."

People seemed energized by Bryant's talk.

"If there is no justice...," Bryant said.

"There is no peace," the crowd shouted back in response.

Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett addressed the crowd briefly, noting that his two young sons go to school near the church where the rally was held.



"Today when I drove over here, I thought to myself, 'What if…,'" he said, but didn't complete the thought.

Triplett pledged a full review of the investigation, even if he has to pay for it himself. His comments were often interrupted by questions and demands from the crowd, but those people were quickly shushed by others.

Martin Trayvon, a 17-year-old from Miami, was visiting family in the Retreat at Twin Lakes gated community when he crossed paths with George Zimmerman.

The teen was returning from a nearby 7-Eleven with a bag of Skittles in his pocket when he was confronted by George Zimmerman, who had already called the cops to report a "suspicious person" in the neighborhood.

During an altercation, George Zimmerman shot Martin Trayvon. That is not in dispute. The crime-watch volunteer claimed he acted in self-defense, and police have said some evidence supports that claim, though they would not release details.

At least one eyewitness, who said Martin Trayvon was shot behind her home, told a WFTV-Channel9 television reporter that the shooting "could not have been self-defense." George Zimmerman was nonchalant after the shooting, Mary Cutcher told the news station. Police only took a brief statement from her, she said.

The Sanford Police Department on Tuesday turned the case over to the State Attorney's Office, saying it had completed its investigation. Prosecutors must now decide whether to charge 28-year-old George Zimmerman with a crime.

They will likely take several weeks to review the evidence and may do more investigating.

At the church rally Wednesday, Bryant called on people — locally and across the nation — to join him March26 at 4p.m. for a rally and demonstration during the Sanford City Council meeting. Martin Trayvon's mother is expected to attend.

"This is a wake-up call for the state of Florida," Bryant said, "and for any racist who has a gun and thinks it's a license to kill our children."

Those words resonated with Davis, the longtime Sanford resident.

He was raised here and raised his two boys here. He defends Sanford fiercely. This racially motivated shooting, in his eyes, was the exception and not the rule.

But it scares him.

He's afraid for his own 8-year-old grandson who often visits from Chicago. He worries about what could happen if this killing has no repercussion or justice.

"It'd kill me if my grandson came to visit me in an airplane," Davis said with tears in his eyes, "and I had to send him home in a casket."

Or was it self defense:
Stand behind the right of self-defense.

Every person has the right to defend themselves when victimized. If you have it any other way, the criminals win.

Currently, in Sanford, a man is under siege. Why? He defended himself after being attacked. This man sustained injuries in the attack. An attack by a man that was over a foot taller than him, and in far better shape. There is a witness to the attack, John, who has been basically ignored by the media. Is John a racist liar or something?

Why is he under siege? Racism. Pure and simple. The racist members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and others, have basically gotten their own lynch mob together.

Recently, a 14 year old 'youth' in Lakeland, Florida raped and beat a hotel worker. Where is the outrage over that? There is none. If more people defended themselves, that would have never happened.

How about 19 year old Tyrone Woodfork, who shot a 90 year old veteran in the face, raped and beat his 85 year old wife to death in Oklahoma? Where is the outrage? Could it be because the victims were White?

In Iowa, Wisconsin, and many other places... 'youth' flash mobs find it funny to go around beating a certain group of people at fairs. Which group of people would that be? Easy answer. Where is the outrage?

No, instead.. a man LEGALLY defends himself, and suddenly a lynch mob forms... Zimmerman having had to move out of his home due to DEATH THREATS.

Do YOU want to be arrested, or a member of YOUR family arrested, for defending yourselves?

Al Sharpton wants that.


Sanford, Florida (CNN) -- A lawyer for the man at the center of the Trayvon Martin death investigation said Florida's "stand your ground" law doesn't apply to the shooting that killed the unarmed teen.
"In my legal opinion, that's not really applicable to this case. The statute on 'stand your ground' is primarily when you're in your house," said Craig Sonner, attorney for George Zimmerman.
"This is self-defense, and that's been around for forever -- that you have a right to defend yourself. So the next issue (that) is going to come up is, was he justified in using the amount of force he did?"
Trayvon Martin, 17, was killed February 26 as he walked to his father's fiancee's house in Sanford, Florida, after a trip to the convenience store. Police say he was shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who says he was acting in self-defense.
Trayvon Martin was unarmed, carrying a bag of Skittles candy and an iced tea, according to police.
The 2005 law allows people to use deadly force anywhere they have a right to be if they have reasonable fear an assailant could seriously harm them or someone else.
It also eliminated a long-standing "duty to retreat" in the face of imminent harm, asserting that would-be crime victims have the right to "stand their ground" and "meet force with force" when attacked.
Although a grand jury is scheduled to convene April 10 to look into the case, authorities have declined to arrest George Zimmerman, sparking a national debate over the law and concerns about racial profiling.
The Sanford Police Department said officers were prohibited from arresting George Zimmerman the night of the shooting because physical evidence and testimony supported his claim that he acted in self-defense. The police department gave the explanation to City Manager Norton Bonaparte, who included it in a letter to the community about the case, posted on the city's website.
Authorities say they still have no information to contradict George Zimmerman's story. He said while he was patrolling his gated community, he saw Trayvon Martin walking in the neighborhood and called 911 to report a suspicious person.
George Zimmerman told the dispatcher he was following the boy, but the dispatcher told him that wasn't necessary. Moments later, several neighbors called 911 to report a commotion outside, and police arrived to find Trayvon Martin dead of a gunshot wound.
"George Zimmerman's statement was that he had lost sight of Trayvon and was returning to his truck to meet the police officer when he says he was attacked by Trayvon," the police said in the letter posted by Bonaparte.
Sonner says his client was injured that night with a broken nose and a serious cut on the back of his head. He said the injuries "were from Trayvon Martin, I assume."
The family of George Zimmerman, a white Hispanic, says he has been wrongly described as a racist.
George Zimmerman's attorney said he doesn't see anything that indicates his client is a racist.
Sonner said George Zimmerman and his wife served as mentors to two teenage children of an African-American woman. Though funding was cut for the program under which they cared for the teenagers, the couple continued their efforts on their own, taking the 13-year-old girl and 14-year-old boy on outings to a mall, a science center and a basketball game. They also helped in a fund-raiser for a predominantly African-American church, the lawyer said.
"I do not believe that's the indication of a person who's a racist," Sonner said.
President Barack Obama praised Florida Gov. Rick Scott's decision to create a task force to review the "stand your ground" law and said it would be important to "examine the laws and the context for what happened as well as the specifics of the incident."
The president also obliquely addressed the racial component of the case, saying it struck home for him because, "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon."
The teenager's parents, Tracy Trayvon Martin and Sybrina Fulton, said in a statement that it was "humbling" that Obama talked about their son. "The president's personal comments touch us deeply and made us wonder: If his son looked like Trayvon and wore a hoodie, would he be suspicious, too?"
Trayvon Martin was wearing a hooded sweatshirt when he was killed.
Sonner said he and George Zimmerman have not discussed what happened the night Trayvon Martin was shot, though he said George Zimmerman has talked with authorities -- unaccompanied by counsel -- whenever they have asked him to do so.
The case has prompted a Justice Department investigation, which is in the fact-finding stage.
Sonner said he advised his client to keep a low profile, as "I believe his life is in danger."
"This case is spinning out of control," he said. "I hope there's a way to rein things in so it doesn't become an issue of a racial battle. I hope that things come back so that there can be a time for justice and for healing and not for just skipping the whole judicial process and going straight to sentencing."
Police are holding the gun used in the shooting as evidence, he said.
"Whatever transpired that night, it's unfortunate that there's a young man in the prime of his life that was left dead," Sonner said.
Heated debate has erupted over whether George Zimmerman used a racial slur during the 911 call, which was released this week.
A top CNN audio engineer enhanced the sound of the 911 call, and several members of CNN's editorial staff repeatedly reviewed the tape but could reach no consensus.
Whether George Zimmerman used such language before shooting Trayvon Martin is key, according to CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
"It's extremely, extremely significant because the federal government is not allowed to prosecute just your ordinary, everyday murder," he said. "Two people fighting on the street is not a federal crime. However, if one person shoots another based on racial hostility, racial animus, that does become a federal crime."
A special prosecutor appointed by the governor, Angela Corey, said Friday that her office can charge George Zimmerman, clear him, or send the case to the grand jury.
Protests about the case took place across the country Friday. Congressional staffers rallied in an event dubbed "Hoodies on the Hill" organized by several staff organizations, while students walked out of classes at six Miami-area high schools to protest police handling of the case and demand changes in Florida's law.