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Showing posts with label george zimmerman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label george zimmerman. Show all posts
MANY have had much to say about the verdict in the george zimmerman trial. I do not agree with the verdict. I believe he wanted to have the "experience" of actually killing someone, and Trayvon Martin was in the wrong place at the wrong time giving zimmerman the opportunity to fulfill his fantasy. I do not believe justice has been served, but I do believe it is important to use this tragedy to promote nonviolence, racial harmony, compassion for all parties involved, and to motivate people to become active politically, to vote for candidates who will review and amend "stand your ground" laws and support reasonable gun control. Here is a great sermon on the trial and verdict and our nation and each of us from Rev Nadia Bolz-Weber, the Sarcastic Lutheran, and I recommend you listen to as well as read her message......
(My intern, and not myself is slated to preach this evening. But as the pastor of House for All Sinners and Saints, I wanted my voice to be in the room. I’m certain it will be a shaky voice.)
I would like to take this opportunity to “stand my own ground”.
I would like to stand my ground as a voice for anti-racism and non-violence.
For gun control and a justice system that actually hands down justice.
I would like to take this opportunity to say something defiant and super clever and something that would be memorialized for the next 48 hours in Facebook memes.
There are a million reasons for me to want to stand my ground but every time today that I have tried, I am confronted in the following ways, by, of course, myself.
1. I want to be a voice for non-violence but the reality is that this morning on NPR when I head George Zimmerman’s brother say he rejects the idea that Trayvon Martin was unarmed because the teenager was actually armed with a sidewalk on which he broke George’s nose, well, when I heard that, my first reaction was not to reach through the radio and offer that man a sign of peace, my first reaction was to reach through the radio and offer that man a punch in the throat.
2.Yesterday I heard that a Federal Law Enforcement officer at my mom’s church has shown up the last 3 Sundays carrying a concealed weapon. Which is insane and something I would normally want to post a meme about on my Facebook wall for all the liberals like me to “like” except for the fact that that law enforcement officer a) is my brother and b) carried that weapon to protect his family ever since my mother’s life has been threatened by a crazy man who wants her dead. A man who was escorted out of church last week by police. So when I heard that my brother was armed to protect my own mom I wasn’t alarmed like any good gun control pastor would be…, I was relieved… and now what the hell do I post on Facebook? What do I do with that?
3. Despite my politics and liberalism when a group of young black men in my neighborhood walk by I brace myself in a different way than if they were white and I hate this but it’s like 44 years of having every message I hear in the media and culture around me say that I am superior – superior by accident of birth well, 44 years of that cannot be erased completely by my university education and progressive beliefs. So if I said that there is not residual racism in me that I simply do not know how to escape I would be lying. Even if I do have an “eracism” bumper sticker
I want to stand my own ground but this morning all I could do was quite literally stand in my own kitchen and cry. Cry for all my own inconsistencies. Cry for all the parents of kids with brown and black skin who feel like their children can now legally be target practice on the streets of suburbia. Cry for a nation divided – both sides of which hate the other. Cry for all the ways I silently perpetuate the things I criticize. Cry for the death threats toward my family and the death threats toward the Zimmerman family. Cry for Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton whose child was shot dead and were told yesterday that it was more his fault than the fault of the shooter.
His mother Sybrina, is a woman of faith and her first public statement was a prayer
“Lord during my darkest hour I lean on you. You are all that I have. At the end of the day, GOD is still in control. Thank you all for your prayers and support. I will love you forever Trayvon!!! In the name of Jesus!!!”
So tonight I want to use her prayer as our own.
Let us pray,
Lord who taught us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, in our darkest hour help us to not lean on self-righteousness but to lean only into the sweet arms of our loving savior. You are all we have. Help us to believe, even when it is hard, even when it seems like there is nothing but anger and despair, that somehow you are in control. Thank you for those who pray. When we cannot pray for our enemies may the prayers of others suffice. And help us to love. It doesn’t come as naturally as we’d like to believe. But help us to love wantonly, extravagantly, and fearlessly as you love us. And in times as dark as these help us to boldly speak the name of Jesus. The name above all names that demons fear and angels sing. It is in this name we pray, Amen.
I was impressed with Florida's state's attorney, Angela Corey, in her announcement of charging george zimmerman with second degree murder. She was cool, calm, collected, and seems to be intent on justice for all involved in this tragedy. This from PBS NewsHour and the Washington Post......
Zimmerman's Murder Charge: Prosecution Must Prove 'Depraved Mind'
SUMMARY
A special prosecutor in Florida said
Wednesday that she was charging George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch
volunteer who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in a
confrontation in late February, with second-degree murder. Jeffrey Brown
discusses the legal reasoning behind the charge with Florida attorney
Jeffrey Weiner.
Videos of three Wednesday news conferences -- featuring special prosecutor Angela Corey, George Zimmerman's new attorney and the parents of Trayvon Martin -- are posted at the bottom of this transcript. JEFFREY BROWN: And we turn to the latest on the
Trayvon Martin case and a charge just brought in that killing. Martin
was shot and killed in a gated community in Sanford, Fla., in late
February during a confrontation with George Zimmerman. The 17-year-old
was unarmed. Zimmerman told police he'd acted in self-defense.
A short time ago, special prosecutor Angela Corey said
she was charging Zimmerman with one count of second-degree murder and
that he was now in custody.
Here's an excerpt from her press conference. ANGELA COREY, Florida state's attorney: We launched
an intensive investigation building on all of the work the Sanford
Police Department and the state attorney's office in Seminole County
had already done.
Unless you've ever been a law enforcement officer or a prosecutor
handling a difficult homicide case, you cannot know what it's like to
launch this type of investigation and come to the right conclusion.
The Supreme Court has defined our role on numerous occasions as
prosecutors that we are not only ministers of justice, we are seekers of
the truth. And we stay true to that mission. Again, we prosecute on
facts and the laws of the great and sovereign state of Florida, and
that's the way it will be in this case.
When we took our oath of office in 2009, we pledged not only to look
out for our precious victims of all of our cases, but also to adhere to
the rules of the criminal justice system and the rules of our
Constitution and statutes that protect a defendant's rights as well.
When we charge a person with a crime, we are equally committed to
justice on their behalf as we are on our victims' behalf. So we are here
to do that on behalf of our victim, Trayvon Martin, and on behalf of
the person responsible for his death, George Zimmerman.
We will continue to seek the truth throughout this case. Every single
day, our prosecutors across this great country handle difficult cases,
and they adhere to that same standard, a never-ending search for the
truth and a quest to always do the right thing for the right reason.
There is a reason cases are tried in a court of law, not in the court
of the public and not by the media, because details have to come out in
excruciating and minute fashion, detail by detail, bit of evidence by
bit of evidence.
And it's only then when the trier of fact, whether it's a judge or a
jury, gets all of those details that then the law is applied to that and
a decision can be rendered. We will scrupulously adhere to our ethical
obligations and to the rules of evidence in presenting this case that
way.
Today, we filed an information charging George Zimmerman with murder
in the second degree. A capias has been issued for his arrest. With the
filing of that information and the issuance of a capias, he will have a
right to appear in front of a magistrate in Seminole County within 24
hours of his arrest, and thus formal prosecution will begin. JEFFREY BROWN: More now on the charge against Zimmerman.
Jeffrey Weiner is an attorney in Florida and former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Welcome to you.
So, second-degree murder, tell us what that means. What is the charge? JEFFREY WEINER, criminal defense attorney:
Second-degree murder basically means that the act was imminently
dangerous to another, evincing a depraved mind regarding of human life
and without premeditated design, in other words, not first-degree murder
and not manslaughter, second-degree murder, punishment up to life in
prison. JEFFREY BROWN: Well, that's what I was wondering.
Among the things she could have charged him with, it's manslaughter on one side and first-degree murder on the other? JEFFREY WEINER: Basically, first-degree murder is premeditated, so I don't think anybody thought she would charge that.
Most people I believe involved in the criminal justice system thought
the charges would be manslaughter. Instead, she charged second-degree
murder. It's a very, very harsh and serious charge. Maybe it's
justified, maybe not. We'll have to see. JEFFREY BROWN: It's also, clearly, harder to prove, I would expect. So what is required in the proof? JEFFREY WEINER: The proof is certainly more than
what is required for manslaughter. They're going to have to show that he
had really a depraved mind. In other words, he didn't plan this ahead
of time. It wasn't premeditated, but it was as reckless and wanton
behavior as could possibly have taken place short of premeditation. JEFFREY BROWN: Now, tied in to all this from the
beginning, of course, was Florida's stand your ground law. How does that
play into this second-degree charge here? JEFFREY WEINER: I'm not so sure it has much to do with it.
There's always an inherent right of self-defense in states that don't
have this law and even before Florida adopted the law. Mr. Zimmerman's
counsel may argue that he had a right to confront Trayvon, that he went
to him, and, at that point, he didn't have to retreat when he was
attacked.
We don't know enough of the facts yet, but these are more serious
charges than most people expected, and it's a very, very heavy burden on
the state of Florida to prove beyond a reasonable doubt all of the
elements of second-degree murder. JEFFREY BROWN: But so -- but staying with this stand
your ground, so just to be clear, the prosecutor wasn't necessarily
building a case around it; she was just saying it doesn't apply or
here's the charge in spite of what that law is? JEFFREY WEINER: I think it's the latter. Here's the charge. You defend yourself now, and good luck.
Now, whether she's looking for a trial, whether she's looking to try
to coerce a plea to a less-serious charge, such as manslaughter, we'll
have to see. JEFFREY BROWN: How unusual is this, just having -- in Florida, just having a special prosecutor brought in, in a case like this? JEFFREY WEINER: It happens often, but not all the time.
This is a case where I believe the governor was correct to do it. And
I do salute this prosecutor for not bringing the matter to a grand
jury. I think she was right to make the decision herself. JEFFREY BROWN: Well, explain that. She did make that decision. What would that be based on? What was the alternative there? JEFFREY WEINER: The alternative was what I would
think would be sort of a cop-out, in other words, bring it to a grand
jury. A grand jury typically does whatever the prosecutor asks the grand
jury to do, and then the prosecutor can say, listen, even though I run
for public office, this was not my decision. This was the decision of a
grand jury.
Instead, she took the responsibility to say, listen, this is not
first-degree murder. I don't have to give it to a grand jury. I will
make the decision. And I think that was proper and correct. JEFFREY BROWN: Now, just yesterday, George
Zimmerman's lawyers withdrew from the case. They said that they were
having trouble contacting him. They said they were worried about his
emotional, his physical state. So where does that -- where does that
leave things for him? JEFFREY WEINER: Well, I'm not sure if he's going to have a private lawyer or an appointed lawyer, if he qualifies.
Frankly, the behavior of the lawyers, in my opinion, was shocking. I
have never witnessed anything like that in almost 39 years as a criminal
defense lawyer. I think the conduct of those lawyers will be subject to
scrutiny by the Florida bar. JEFFREY BROWN: Because, what, speaking to the media, you mean, or just -- or withdrawing? JEFFREY WEINER: Well, not just -- not just speaking
to the media, and certainly not withdrawing, but all of the facts, the
comments that they said, that they haven't been in touch with the
client, that they haven't spoken with him, they don't know where he is.
I mean, they said a lot of things that are, number one, privileged,
number two, totally inappropriate, and, in my view, it looked like a
publicity move more than actual serious representation in this very,
very important and serious case. JEFFREY BROWN: Now, the prosecutor just a few minutes ago said that Mr. Zimmerman is now in custody.
That was after yesterday, where the lawyers were saying his
whereabouts were unknown. But the prosecutor, I gather, has said --
she's not saying where -- where he's being held. Is that unusual? JEFFREY WEINER: No, it's not unusual.
My thought always was, when she announced charges, he would already
be in custody. So that happened one of two ways. Either the police went
out and arrested him, or he has counsel, or contacted them and said,
listen, if you're going to charge me, I'll surrender myself.
We don't yet know the details. There's a very, very strong chance,
however, that he will be granted bond, although not immediately, because
in Florida, there is typically a secondary hearing in which the state
tries to keep someone in custody, if that's what they want to do, on
life felony charges, such as this one, and the defense moves for a bond.
And absent an agreement, he will not be released tomorrow. JEFFREY BROWN: It was very interesting to hear the
prosecutor there talk about not trying this in -- not trying this in the
public, not trying this in the media.
Of course, this case has aroused national attention and no doubt in
Florida as well. Would you think that that played -- or put some special
pressure on her to act quickly? JEFFREY WEINER: Yes.
I don't think she acted that quickly, frankly. But she had pressure,
international pressure even, to make a decision in this case. I think
she feels she has enough evidence to go forward. She made the obligatory
comments of looking out for a defendant's rights. We'll see about that
as the case goes on. JEFFREY BROWN: And what does happen next? What's the next step? JEFFREY WEINER: Well, the first step is he has an
initial appearance. At that point, if there's no agreement as to bond, a
bond hearing will be set, it's called an Arthur hearing, in Florida.
After that matter is resolved, whether he'll be held in custody
pending the outcome of the case or released on bond, then we have what's
called discovery. Florida is one of the best states in the country for
open discovery. There's no ambush, like in federal courts. All witnesses
must be disclosed. All evidence must be disclosed, and the defense
lawyer or lawyers will prepare this case for trial or ultimately a plea.
It just depends how this case plays out. JEFFREY BROWN: All right, Jeffrey Weiner, thanks so much. JEFFREY WEINER: My pleasure. Great questions. Watch Special Prosecutor Angela Corey's News Conference:
Watch Zimmerman Attorney Mark O'Mara's News Conference:
Watch Trayvon Martin's Parents React to Charges Against Zimmerman:
George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot Florida teenager Trayvon Martin 46 days ago, was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday, marking a turning point in a case that has provoked nationwide debate over racial profiling. Florida special prosecutor Angela B. Corey, who announced the charge
in Jacksonville, said that “the search for justice has brought us to
this moment.” Zimmerman turned himself in and was brought Wednesday
evening to the Seminole County jail.
Criminal justice lawyers said
Corey faces an uphill battle in persuading a jury to convict Zimmerman
of second-degree murder. Zimmerman told police he was fighting for his
life in an altercation with Martin, who was 17 and unarmed, before he
fired in self-defense.
Murder in the second degree, under Florida
law, refers to a killing carried out without premeditation but with “a
depraved mind regardless of human life.” If convicted, Zimmerman faces a
maximum sentence of life in prison. His attorney, Mark O’Mara, said
Wednesday that Zimmerman will plead not guilty.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Martin’s parents applauded Corey’s decision to take Zimmerman into custody, calling it a first step toward justice.
“We simply wanted an arrest,” said Sybrina Fulton, Martin’s mother. “Thank you, Lord.”
His father, Tracy Martin, said: “We got a long way to go, and we have faith. . . . We will continue to hold hands on this journey — white, black and Latino.”
Corey said she had personally informed Martin’s parents of the outcome of her investigation.
“It
was less than three weeks ago that we told those sweet parents that we
would get answers to all of their questions no matter where our quest
for the truth led us,” she said.
Martin was fatally shot Feb. 26
while walking in the Retreat at Twin Lakes, a complex of about 260
peach-colored townhouses in Sanford, Fla. Martin was staying with his
father and his father’s fiancee in her townhouse, and he had left
briefly to walk to a nearby 7-Eleven to buy a bottle of iced tea and a
bag of Skittles.
Zimmerman, 28, who worked at a fraud-detection
company, was driving to Target, according to his father. Zimmerman
spotted Martin and called 911, saying that there had been a rash of
burglaries in the area and that there was “a guy . . . walking around, looking about.”
“This guy looks like . . . he’s on drugs or something,” Zimmerman said.
Before
police arrived, Zimmerman and Martin encountered each other in a grassy
area between the back yards of two rows of townhouses. Zimmerman says
Martin punched him in the face, knocked him down and slammed his head
against the pavement.
He has maintained that he was defending
himself when he pulled a black Kel-Tec 9mm and shot Martin at close
range in the chest after the teenager tried to take the gun. When
officers arrived, they found Martin dead in a pool of blood in the grass
and Zimmerman bleeding from his nose and the back of his head. ‘Stand your ground’ law
Authorities in Sanford decided not to charge Zimmerman, citing Florida’s “stand your ground”
law, which allows a person to use deadly force in self-defense when
there is a reasonable belief of a threat and which does not require
people to retreat.
Allowing Zimmerman to go free prompted a wave of protests across the country, led in part by Martin’s parents.
The
case stirred racial tensions in part because Zimmerman, who is
Hispanic, described Martin in his call to police as looking suspicious
and “up to no good.” For weeks, the Rev. Al Sharpton
and other civil rights leaders have invoked memories of lynching victim
Emmett Till and have organized rallies to press for Zimmerman’s arrest.
Images of the man and the teenager have played continually on cable
television. President Obama weighed in with a comment from the White House: “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”
Zimmerman’s father has said that his son is not a racist and that he was trying to protect his neighborhood.
Martin’s
parents and their attorneys heard the news of the charge on Wednesday
in Washington, where they had traveled for the annual convention of the National Action Network, a civil rights organization founded by Sharpton.
“It
is about justice, justice and only justice,” said Martin family
attorney Benjamin Crump. “We can take a short breath because we are just
now getting to first base. This is only first base in this game of
justice.”
Zimmerman had been in seclusion for more than 40 days.
Two lawyers who have represented him for part of that time, Craig Sonner
and Hal Uhrig, announced Tuesday they had lost contact with Zimmerman
and could no longer work on his behalf. They voiced concern for his
emotional and physical well-being and said Zimmerman had taken actions,
such as setting up a Web site soliciting donations and attempting to
contact the prosecutor, without consulting them. ‘Focus of anger’
O’Mara, Zimmerman’s new attorney, said he has been troubled by the public outcry against him.
“He has been the focus of anger and maybe confusion and maybe some hatred,” O’Mara said.
An
activist group, the New Black Panther Party, had announced that it was
raising money to fund a $1 million bounty for the “capture” of
Zimmerman.
Corey, a Florida state attorney, was appointed by Gov.
Rick Scott (R) to investigate the case after State Attorney Norm
Wolfinger recused himself. Wolfinger had scheduled a grand jury for
April 10, but Corey announced this week that she was not going to bring the Martin case before the grand jury.
In
many parts of the country, people gathered around televisions at 6 p.m.
Wednesday to watch Corey reveal the preliminary results of her
investigation. A small group met in the basement of Allen Chapel AME
Church in the historically black Goldsboro neighborhood in Sanford.
As
Corey said “justice for Trayvon,” people nodded. When she said “murder
in second degree,” they nodded again. And when she said “Mr. Zimmerman
is in custody,” a cheer went out and people clapped and said, “Yes, yes,
yes.”
Then City Commissioner Velma Williams said: “We did not come here to celebrate. . . . We came here to give thanks to the Almighty that . . .
the wheels of justice still do turn. We do not rejoice in anyone’s
shortcomings,” she said, adding later that “Mr. Zimmerman has a family,
too.”
For a moment, there was relief — and then, for some, apprehension.
“Relief
comes in one sense,” Cappila Gaines said as her son walked in from the
bright Florida afternoon. “But there is still some type of stress that
remains, and we’re hoping there aren’t repercussions” from Zimmerman’s
defenders.
Staff writer Stephanie McCrummen in Sanford and staff writer
Krissah Thompson and staff researcher Lucy Shackelford in Washington
contributed to this report.
THIS video doesn't show someone with a broken nose or someone who was attacked with his head slammed into the ground. Justice demands a vigorous investigation of the killing of Trayvon Martin by the Justice Dept. and the Sanford, FL police dept. and charges against george zimmerman. And be sure to watch the video from 'The Last Word' with Lawrence O'Donnell on zimmerman's lawyer fleeing his show after agreeing to be interviewed. From HuffPost......
Newly released video of George Zimmerman at the Sanford
Police Department the night he shot Trayvon Martin to death show the
neighborhood watch volunteer without blood on his clothing or bruises on
his face or head. His clean-shaven picture seems to contrast with the
violent beating he told police he endured at the hands of Martin, 17,
who Zimmerman said attacked him from behind.
The video, obtained by ABC News, appears inconsistent with Zimmerman’s recently leaked statement to police
that he was in a death struggle with Martin before Zimmerman shot him
in the chest in self-defense. Zimmerman told investigators that Martin
jumped him from behind, punched him in the nose and pounded his head
into a sidewalk, according to a police report first described by the Orlando Sentinal.
In the video, apparently taken by surveillance cameras outside and
inside the police station, Zimmerman’s face and head are clearly visible
and show no injuries consistent with the kind of fight Zimmerman's
statement described.
Zimmerman, 28, the neighborhood watch captain at the Retreat at Twin
Lakes gated community, is seen arriving in a police cruiser. He gets out
of the car with his hands cuffed behind his back. Zimmerman is
clean-shaven and appears several pounds lighter than in ubiquitous mug
shot of him taken in 2005 when he was arrested on a charge of assaulting
a police officer.
The video’s release comes amid shifting public perception of Martin,
whose baby-faced image has become the face of the so-called “Trayvon
Martin movement for Justice” that has captivated much of the U.S.
Earlier this week, school officials in Miami released Martin’s
disciplinary record, showing that he had been on a 10-day suspension
when he was killed. According to reports, school officials found an
empty baggy that contained marijuana residue. Meanwhile, some websites
have replaced widely circulated family photos of Martin with pictures of
him sporting removable gold tooth caps. Other websites have picked
seemingly random photos of other youth in questionable or offensive
poses and claimed that they are of Martin. Martin’s family has called the counter-offensive an assault on Martin’s character and a “smear campaign.”
Tracy Martin, the teen's father, told HuffPost earlier this week, “I
refuse to let them assassinate my son’s character." He added: "The
question should not be why was he suspended from school, it should be
why did this man kill him in cold blood."
Zimmerman shot Martin to death the night of Feb. 26. Martin had been
walking toward his father's girlfriend's house shortly after 7 p.m. and
Zimmerman spotted him and called 911 to report a "suspicious" person.
Zimmerman followed Martin, disregarding a police dispatcher who told him
"we don't need you to do that." Police said early in the investigation
that Martin noticed he was being followed, asked Zimmerman what he
wanted, and a physical encounter ensued.
In
the recently released police reports, Zimmerman told police he got out
of his vehicle to follow Martin, but lost sight of him. As he walked
back to his vehicle, Martin attacked him from behind, punched him in the
nose, knocked him down and began smashing the back of his head into the
sidewalk, police reports say Zimmerman told officers. During the
tussle, Zimmerman pulled the 9 mm handgun he carried and shot Martin in
the chest, he told police.
Lawyers for the Martin family said Zimmerman was the aggressor. The
lawyers said Martin's girlfriend in Miami was on the phone with him just
moments before he was killed. The girlfriend has told ABC News and
family lawyers that Martin told her someone was following him. She said
she heard someone ask Martin something, then what sounded like someone
pushing him. The phone sounded like it was then knocked to the ground
and went dead, the girl said.
The funeral director who handled Martin's funeral said there were no
cuts or bruises on the teen's hands that would suggest a violent
struggle or fight.
“I didn’t see any evidence he had been fighting anybody,” Richard
Kurtz of Roy Mizell and Kurtz Funeral Home in Fort Lauderdale, told television talk show host Nancy Grace.
Police took Zimmerman into custody after they arrived. He was
questioned and released later that night. He remains free as the
Seminole County State Attorney's Office reviews the police investigation
and decides whether to file charges. The U.S. Justice Department also
is investigating. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/trayvon-martin-police-video_n_1386764.html?utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Daily%20Brief&utm_campaign=daily_brief
Craig Sonner, George Zimmerman's Lawyer, Reportedly Flees Lawrence O'Donnell Interview (VIDEO)
In a bizarre turn of events, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell interviewed
an empty chair on his program Monday night, after scheduled guest Craig Sonner reportedly fled from an MSNBC studio in Orlando just moments before the show began.
Sonner represents George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watchman who shot and killed 17-year-old Florida resident Trayvon Martin in February. His appearance on O'Donnell's program would have been just the latest in a string of high-profilemedia interviews
over the past several days, as he's attempted to shift the narrative
surrounding the case. In previous conversations, Sonner has continually
insisted that the shooting was motivated not by race, but was instead a
matter of self-defense -- though the attorney has declined to answer
several questions about the specifics of his client's defense.
O'Donnell characterized Sonner's previous interviews as lacking in
rigor, and claimed that it was his more aggressive approach to
interviewing that scared the attorney away:
Craig Sonner has been the first guest in the history of this
particular show, to get scared, to be terrified, so terrified of coming
on this show that he has literally run away. He's in our car right now,
taking him home from our studio, afraid to face the questioning he
would face on this show. Watch out for wherever Craig Sonner shows up
next on television, because wherever he shows up next on television has
an obligation to put him through serious questioning about what he's
doing and what he knows, and the contradictions in the things he's
already said on television.
Later on during the segment, O'Donnell turned to Sonner's empty chair
and began reciting the many questions he had planned for the aborted
interview. Those questions included:
"Who is paying you, Mr. Lawyer?"
"Does George Zimmerman have a job?"
"Did you represent him when he was arrested for assault on a police officer in 2005?"
"Your client was not injured enough to go to the
hospital that night. You say he sought some sort of medical treatment
the next day. Do you have those medical records that you can show us?"
THE nra doesn't care about the safety of your children, your family or you. They don't care about drug dealers, felons and terrorist having access to guns. They don't care about cops being outgunned by criminals. They have devolved into a fanatical group with blind and misguided allegiance to guns with the goal of turning back the clock of society to the era when everyone faced the risk of being shot whenever by whoever. The question I can't find an answer to is if a member of the nra has to check their gun(s) at the door or if they are able to carry them with when visiting nra offices including the national headquarters in northern Virginia? And why do politicians pass gun rights laws allowing guns to be carried to work, in a house of worship and in bars but not in government buildings where THEY work? Here is an update on the latest campaign by the nra to bring the Trayvon Martin experience to your neighborhood, to your family.......
The
National Rifle Association continues to press more states to adopt
Florida-style "stand your ground" laws like the one that's made it
difficult to prosecute George Zimmerman, the self-appointed neighborhood
watch captain who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in
Sanford, Florida, in late February. Zimmerman has claimed self-defense
despite the fact that Martin was unarmed. Since "stand your ground" laws
allow people who feel threatened to use deadly force—even if they have
an opportunity, as Zimmerman did, to safely avoid a
confrontation—Zimmerman has not been arrested or charged. (If you
haven't heard about the Martin case, get the full rundown in our explainer.)
The proliferation of these laws is part of a deliberate lobbying
campaign by the NRA. In 2005, at the NRA's urging, Florida became the
first state to pass a "stand your ground" law.
Before that, most states required you to retreat from a confrontation
unless you were inside your own home. Now 24 states have these "stand
your ground" laws, which critics call "shoot first" laws (Gawker's pseudonymous blogger "Mobuto Sese Seko" calls the laws "a great, legally roving murder bubble")because
they authorize citizens to use deadly force even if the person who
makes them feel threatened is, like Martin, unarmed. Here's a map of the
current situation:
Prosecutors hate "stand your ground" laws because they make it much
harder to successfully prosecute people who claim self-defense. In
Florida, a defendant doesn't have to actually prove he acted in
self-defense—the prosecution has to prove "beyond a reasonable doubt"
that he didn't do so, a very high bar to clear. The upshot? In 2010, the Tampa Bay Timesreported
that "justifiable homicides"—i.e., killings that were deemed
legitimate—have skyrocketed in Florida over several years since the
"stand your ground" law went into effect:
That's how you end up with stories with headlines like "How to Get Away With Murder." But the NRA continues to forge ahead, pushing to expand the legislation to even more states.
On March 1, just days after Martin was killed, the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action posted a blog post urging Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton (D) to sign a bill bringing a Florida-style law to his state. Dayton vetoed the bill,
noting that law enforcement officials had complained it would make it
harder for them to do their jobs. Over at Media Matters, Matt Gertz notes several other examples of the NRA pushing these laws in recent weeks:
On March 16, the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) criticized the
Judiciary Committee chairman of Iowa's state Senate for failing to hold
hearings on "NRA-initiated HF 2215, the Stand Your Ground/Castle
Doctrine Enhancement." According to NRA-ILA, the bill would "remove a
person's 'duty to retreat' from an attacker, allowing law-abiding
citizens to stand their ground and protect themselves or their family
anywhere they are lawfully present." The group urged supporters to
contact state senators and tell them to support the bill. NRA-ILA previously told supporters
to contact Democratic members of the Iowa House after they "left the
Capitol building in an attempt to block consideration of these pro-gun
bills" on February 29.
On March 14, NRA-ILA urged Alaskan supporters to
contact their state senators and tell them to support House Bill 80,
which it termed "important self-defense legislation that would provide
that a law-abiding person, who is justified in using deadly force in
self-defense, has 'no duty-to-retreat' from an attack if the person is
in any place that that person has a legal right to be." NRA-ILA also
promoted the bill on March 5, March 8, and February 29.
The Massachusetts legislature's joint committee on the judiciary held a hearing on yet another similar law in February.
Nick Baumann covers national politics and civil liberties issues for
Mother Jones' DC Bureau. For more of his stories, click here. You can also follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Email tips and insights to nbaumann [at] motherjones [dot] com. RSS | Twitter
Dave Gilson is a senior editor at
Mother Jones. Read more of his stories, follow him on Twitter, or contact him at dgilson (at) motherjones (dot) com. RSS | Twitter
THE nra wants to bring the Trayvon Martin experience to your neighborhood! Just imagine tens of thousands of george zimmermans in neighborhoods across the country, including yours! That is exactly what the US senate will allow if S 2188 and S 2213 are passed. Please click the link to e mail your Senators and tell them to vote no on these bills.
Reject the George Zimmerman Armed Vigilante Act Stop Trayvon's killer, and more like him, from carrying loaded guns in your state.
Armed and dangerous people legally carrying loaded and hidden
handguns in your neighborhood. "George Zimmermans" walking the streets
of your community. That's the gun lobby's vision of America. But it's
not ours.
Just days after the Trayvon Martin tragedy, the
gun lobby is working on Capitol Hill to nationalize Florida's dangerous
and irresponsible laws. Help us stop this! E-mail your U.S. Senators today! "Reject the 'George Zimmerman Armed Vigilante Act'. Oppose S. 2188 and S. 2213."
If your state has tougher, more sensible laws, that would prevent
someone like Trayvon Martin's killer – who had an arrest record and a
violent past – from getting a concealed carry permit, tough luck.
These new bills would force your state to honor the concealed carry
permits of other states, even states like Florida, with abhorrently low
standards.
Make no mistake, this is the vision of the gun lobby. Guns everywhere, in virtually anyone's hands.
It is up to us, the American people, to flatly reject this vision and stop the George Zimmerman Armed Vigilante Act.
Please take action today and after you've e-mailed, please also forward this message to your family and friends.
Sincerely, Dan Gross, President Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
You can also mail a check to:
Brady Campaign ·
1225 Eye Street NW, Suite 1100 ·
Washington, DC 20005
The Brady Campaign, along with its sister
organization, the Brady Center, is the nation's largest, non-partisan
grassroots organization leading the fight to protect you, your family
and your community from gun violence.
THE murder of Trayvon Martin makes me sick. His murder, george zimmerman, walks free for now, protected by Florida's neanderthal "stand your ground" law. I think this sick bastard is a racist and wanted to know what it was like to kill another person. He should be charged with a crime, and that may come with the investigation by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Dept. But this is not the first time an African-American has been killed in Sanford, FL by a white person in Sanford. Something is very wrong in Sanford and the U.S. Justice Dept must investigate the police dept. there. Please sign the Daily Kos petition asking A.G. Eric Holder to investigate the Sanford police dept concering Trayvon's death and their lack of prosecution of violent crime against African-Americans.
The Department of Justice has announced
that its Civil Rights Division, in conjunction with the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, will investigate Trayvon Martin's death. This is a
positive step.
However, the Sanford Police Department has a history of failing to
successfully prosecute crimes when the victim is African-American and
the alleged assailant is not. This happened not only in the case of
Trayvon Martin, but also in 2005 and 2010. In both of those earlier
cases, the white son of a Sanford police officer was involved.
In addition to the Department of Justice's investigation into Trayvon
Martin's death, a simultaneous investigation of the Sanford Police
Department itself needs to be undertaken. Even the city commissioners of
Sanford, Florida have now voted that they have no confidence in the police chief.
Since Monday, more than 100,000 ColorOfChange members have called on
the Department of Justice to take over Trayvon Martin's case, arrest his
killer, and launch an independent investigation into the Sanford police
department's mishandling of the case. Can you help us get to 150,000 by signing the petition now?
On Monday evening, the Justice Department announced it will investigate Trayvon's case as a federal hate crime.
This is an important step towards justice, but we need to keep the
pressure on until Trayvon's killer is arrested and the Sanford police
department is held accountable.
You can read the email below for more information. Please take a moment to add your voice and ask your friends and family to do the same. Thanks!
- Rashad
Trayvon Martin was shot dead on his way home from buying candy.
Please
join us in calling on the Dept. of Justice to arrest Trayvon's killer
and launch an investigation into Sanford's police department:
Three weeks ago, 17-year old Trayvon Martin was gunned down by self-appointed neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman. Despite Zimmerman admitting to following, confronting, and killing Trayvon, he has yet to be arrested or charged with any crime.1
Just minutes before Trayvon was killed, Zimmerman had called police
stating that Trayvon looked "suspicious." Trayvon was unarmed and
walking back to his father's home in Sanford, Florida when Zimmerman
accosted him.
At the crime scene, Sanford police botched their questioning of
Zimmerman, refused to take the full statements of witnesses, and
pressured neighbors to side with the shooter's claim of self-defense.2 As it turns out, Sanford's
police department has a history of failing to hold perpetrators
accountable for violent acts against Black victims, and the police
misconduct in Trayvon's case exemplifies the department's systemic
mishandling of such investigations.3 And now, the State
Attorney's office has rubber-stamped the Sanford police's
non-investigation, claiming that there is not enough evidence to support
even a manslaughter conviction.4
Trayvon's family and hundreds of thousands of people around the country are demanding justice.5 Please join us in calling on the Department
of Justice to take over the case, arrest Trayvon's killer, and launch
an independent investigation into the Sanford police department's
unwillingness to protect Trayvon's civil rights. It takes just a moment:
Walking home from the store shouldn't cost you your life, but when Black
youth are routinely assumed to be violent criminals, being randomly
killed is a constant danger.6 Before Zimmerman decided to get
out of his parked car — gun in tow — to pursue Trayvon on foot that
night, he called the police to identify Trayvon as a "suspicious person"
— apparently because he was wearing a hoodie and walking too slowly in
the rain for Zimmerman's liking. Despite being instructed not to follow
Trayvon, Zimmerman proceeded to confront and fatally shoot the boy in the chest within a matter of minutes.7
The case has been compromised from the beginning. When Sanford police
arrived on the scene, Zimmerman was first approached by a narcotics
detective — not a homicide investigator — who "peppered him with
questions" rather than allowing him to tell his story without prompting.
Another officer "corrected" a witness giving a statement that she'd
heard Trayvon cry for help before he was shot, telling her she had heard
Zimmerman instead.8 And beyond the questions of
professional competence or even the police's disregard for the facts,
Florida's notorious "Shoot First" law takes a shooter's self-defense
claim at face value — incentivizing law enforcement not to make arrests
in shooting deaths that would lead to murder charges in other states.9
Sanford has a history of not prosecuting when the victim is Black. In
2010, the white son of a Sanford police lieutenant was let go by police
after assaulting a homeless Black man outside a downtown bar. And, in
2005, a Black teenager was killed by two white security guards, one the
son of a Sanford Police officer. The pair was arrested and charged, but a
judge later cited lack of evidence and dismissed both cases.10
Please join us in calling on the Department of Justice to arrest
Trayvon's killer and launch an investigation into the Sanford police
department's mishandling of the case and when you do, ask your friends
and family to do the same:
-- Rashad, Gabriel, Dani, Matt, Natasha, Kim and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team March 19th, 2012
Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org
is powered by YOU—your energy and dollars. We take no money from
lobbyists or large corporations that don't share our values, and our
tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute
here:
After weeks of ferocious public outcry over the racially charged
vigilante slaying of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., Police
Chief Bill Lee Jr. has stepped down from his post "temporarily."
The action was taken Thursday afternoon after Sanford City
Commissioners voted 3-2 Wednesday that they had no confidence in the
chief.
"My role as the leader of this agency has become a
distraction from the investigation," Lee said in a brief statement. "It
is apparent that my involvement in this matter is overshadowing the
process.
"Therefore, I have come to the decision that I must temporarily
relieve myself from the position as police chief for the city of
Sanford," Lee said.
"I do this in the hopes of restoring some semblance of calm to a city which has been in turmoil for several weeks."
The eruption of opposition came about because of the shoddy
investigation of the case in which, George Zimmerman, a self-identified
"captain" of an unregistered neighborhood watch organization, violated
its rules by carrying a pistol when he followed the unarmed Martin,
eventually confronting and shooting him. Zimmerman made several bigoted
comments during a phone call to police while he was following Martin.
Police failed to take his weapon for ballistics tests, apparently
interrogated him only cursorily and let him go without arrest after he
claimed he only fired in self-defense after being attacked by Martin.
A county grand jury is scheduled to convene in the case on April 10. The U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/03/22/1076877/-Sanford-police-chief-steps-down-temporarily-over-Trayvon-Martin-slaying-?detail=hide
Sincerely,
JOIN US, TAKE ACTION