Take a deep breath, Kabar. I’m not choosing sides here.
First, a mall ninja is someone who goes around the public thinking they’re Superman because they have a gun. I’m not saying this guy is one, but his behavior (chasing down someone AFTER being told not to) is similar to someone who might be.
Second, Zimmerman wasn’t supposed to divine that the kid had no weapon, but he was told by the police to stand down. Instead, he followed this kid and shot him. Those are the facts. Had he followed the orders of the police, none of this would’ve happened.
Finally, I don’t think there’s anyone who would argue that the racial epithets aren’t damning, but yes, you are correct, they’re not illegal. They do, however, go to Zimmerman’s state of mind and will likely be used in court to smear him as a racist and/or bring about even bigger charges of hate crime.
It was a tragic accident, yes. However, if Zimmerman had followed the orders of the police and stood down, Trayvon would be playing football and hanging out with his friends today. There are a lot of facts that we just don’t know yet.
And I don’t have information the public doesn’t, I live in Florida and have to hear about this crap every day. You’re hearing it from the national media. Check out the Tampa Bay Times, The Tampa Tribune, BayNews9, and Fox 13 (myfoxtampabay.com) for some more in depth information. The national media is glomming on to it for the race baiting aspect.
We don't know that Zimmerman followed him nor do we know what precipitated the scuffle that led to both wrestling on the ground. In fact, there is some speculation that it was Zimmerman who was calling for help. Check out my post #84 that brings into question a whole bunch of questions relating to the accuracy of the media reports. We have the 911 tapes. Everything else is conjecture.
Finally, I don’t think there’s anyone who would argue that the racial epithets aren’t damning, but yes, you are correct, they’re not illegal. They do, however, go to Zimmerman’s state of mind and will likely be used in court to smear him as a racist and/or bring about even bigger charges of hate crime.
That may be difficult given what his father has said, including the fact that family members and friends are black.
Check out this link to see why charging him with a hate crime will be very difficult
It was a tragic accident, yes. However, if Zimmerman had followed the orders of the police and stood down, Trayvon would be playing football and hanging out with his friends today. There are a lot of facts that we just don’t know yet.
We agree that we don't know the facts and moreover, we don't know if Zimmerman followed orders or not. Who initiated the confrontation and why was this kid walking through a gated community? Lots of questions. We do know that the police did not arrest or charge him, which says something all by itself.