Reuter's 'prelude to a shooting' zimmerman

[getanxd]

George Zimmerman: Prelude to a shooting | Reuters

just based on this article, esp the black lady's comment about 'the elephant in the room,' what do y'all think of it - esp the 100% zimmerman's fault guys or the over biased guys one - either group?

still a tragedy, a kid's dead. i 'think' it was probably a stupid teenager's testosterone level causing the problem at the physical confrontation pivot point - THE KEY to the outcome now. however; at first report, i was all over zimmerman as to the cause of the outcome.

gotta give the lady props for her 'elephant' comment though...also note she did NOT want to be identified, hum?

[ETA: yahoo's title to the above Reuter's article is 'Zimmerman's COMPLICATED past' yeah, yahoo spin it in title if you can!]

[TX-Kevin]

Another article that refers to the OP's article. Looks like some sites are starting to come back to the middle on this debate.

George Zimmerman Before The Trayvon Martin Shooting - Business Insider

Reuters' Chris Francescani has written a detailed article that paints a far more sympathetic portrait of George Zimmerman than most media coverage to date.
Francescani visited the Twin Lakes neighborhood in Sanford, Florida where Zimmerman shot unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in February.
He talked to many residents of the neighborhood, who provided details about Zimmerman and a recent crime spree that had plagued the neighborhood in the months before the shooting.
The George Zimmerman that Francescani describes is quite different from the "violent racist vigilante" that many have made him out to be.
The background information doesn't make what happened any less tragic, but it does provide more color about Zimmerman's behavior.
Here are some of the details that Francescani reports:
Zimmerman grew up in a mixed-race household
He was an altar boy at his Caltholic church from age 7-17
He is bilingual
After he finished high school, he studied for and got an insurance license
In 2004, Zimmerman and a black friend opened an Allstate insurance office (which soon failed)
Zimmerman's 2005 arrest for "resisting arrest, violence, and battery of an officer" occurred after he shoved an under-cover alcohol control agent at a bar when the agent was trying to arrest an underage friend of his (he was 22 at the time)
Zimmerman married his wife, Shellie, in 2007. They rented a house in Twin Lakes. Twin Lakes is about 50% white, 20% Hispanic, and 20% black.
In 2009, Zimmerman enrolled in Seminole State College
In the fall of 2009, a pit bull broke free twice and once cornered Shellie in the Zimmermans' yard. George Zimmerman asked a police officer whether he should buy pepper spray. The cop told him pepper spray wasn't fast enough and recommended that he get a gun.
By the summer of 2011, Twin Lakes "was experiencing a rash of burglaries and break-ins." In several of the cases, witnesses said the robbers were young black men
In July 2011, a black teenager stole a bicycle off the Zimmermans' porch
In August of 2011, a neighbor of the Zimmermans, Olivia Bertalan, was home during the day when two young black men entered her house. She hid in a room upstairs and called the police. When the police arrived, the two men, who had been trying to take a TV, fled. One of them ran through the Zimmermans' yard.
After the break-in, George Zimmerman stopped by the Bertalans and gave Olivia a card with his name and number on it. He told her to visit his wife Shellie if she felt unsafe.
The police recommended that Bertalan get a dog. She moved away instead. Zimmerman got a second dog--a Rottweiler.
In September, several concerned residents of the neighborhood, including Zimmerman, asked the neighborhood association to create a neighborhood watch. Zimmerman was asked to run it.
In the next month, two more houses in the neighborhood were robbed.
A community newsletter reminded residents to report any crimes to the police and then call "George Zimmerman, our captain."
On February 2, 2012, Zimmerman spotted a young black man looking into the windows of a neighbor's empty house. He called the police and said "I don't know what he's doing. I don't want to approach him, personally." The police sent a car, but by the time they arrived, the man was gone.
On February 6th, another house was burglarized. Witnesses said two of the robbers were black teenagers. One, who had prior burglary convictions, was soon caught with a laptop stolen from the house.
Two weeks later, Zimmerman spotted Travyon Martin and called the police. The last time he had done this, the suspect got away. This time, he disregarded police instructions and followed. A few minutes later, Martin was dead.
Again, none of this makes Trayvon Martin's death any less tragic. But doesn't it make you feel a bit differently about Zimmerman?


Read more: George Zimmerman Before The Trayvon Martin Shooting - Business Insider

[cz75luver]

For me, it doesn't change the fact that he got out of his car to pursue Martin even after it was suggested he not. That's where he went wrong, IMHO, and why I consider him guilty. IMHO, a CCL holder should avoid trouble, not try following it.

[EMN83]

Originally Posted by cz75luver

For me, it doesn't change the fact that he got out of his car to pursue Martin even after it was suggested he not. That's where he went wrong, IMHO, and why I consider him guilty. IMHO, a CCL holder should avoid trouble, not try following it.

Guilty of what exactly? There are multiple charges against him

glad you're not on the jurry...fact is, him following Martin, and the fatal confrontation could be 2 separate incidents, and if so, even if there were just a couple minutes in between, it changes the whole dynamic...it's why people are supposed to hold off judgement until after they have all the facts.

[john_bud]

Originally Posted by cz75luver

For me, it doesn't change the fact that he got out of his car to pursue Martin even after it was suggested he not. That's where he went wrong, IMHO, and why I consider him guilty. IMHO, a CCL holder should avoid trouble, not try following it.

"pursue" or "observe"



From reports, he was keeping the suspect in sight, but at a distance.

[Dal1as]

Originally Posted by cz75luver

For me, it doesn't change the fact that he got out of his car to pursue Martin even after it was suggested he not. That's where he went wrong, IMHO, and why I consider him guilty. IMHO, a CCL holder should avoid trouble, not try following it.

...and this is where people are getting it wrong. He got out of the car and had already made it through the cut through before the 911 operator aked him if he was following him and said "we don't need you to do that". He said ok and stopped.

[JonXD]

Originally Posted by cz75luver

For me, it doesn't change the fact that he got out of his car to pursue Martin even after it was suggested he not. That's where he went wrong, IMHO, and why I consider him guilty. IMHO, a CCL holder should avoid trouble, not try following it.

You and the people who call it guilty before proven innocent are what makes this country scary. He stopped observing and turned around and then was attacked.

[bigdave0924]

Originally Posted by Dal1as

...and this is where people are getting it wrong. He got out of the car and had already made it through the cut through before the 911 operator aked him if he was following him and said "we don't need you to do that". He said ok and stopped.

this and the fact you are under no legal duty to follow a 911 dispatchers advice.

[Rustynuts]

We don't need a new thread for every news report on this subject. This link has already been discussed in the other open thread. Or do you really want the mods to lock every one of these on sight?

[getanxd]

Originally Posted by Rustynuts

We don't need a new thread for every news report on this subject. This link has already been discussed in the other open thread. Or do you really want the mods to lock every one of these on sight?

no. read the OP's reason for posting it even though it was buried or posted in one of those huge mega page go nowhere posts with one bias over another's or one bias against anything? are they all locked now? i hadn't notice.