Free Republic

George Zimmerman should be disarmed. If ever a man deserved to be shunned by society, it is pudgy Georgie Zimmerman. And in some quarters, he is. Unfortunately, there are enough of his ilk around – the big guns who run the National Rifle Association, conservative talk radio Obama haters and others – who quickly and emphatically drew the besieged Floridian into their warm and fuzzy protective cocoon of right-wing fanaticism. The ink was not even dry on the long-delayed Zimmerman arrest warrant when the NRA brass leaped to his defense because he fulfilled their classic gunfighter role model — a...

Of course, it was self-defense, but not by George Zimmerman. Let's forget blackness, racism, neighborhood watches and location for a moment and simplify the story. Let's say a person spots someone he has a perceived beef with; maybe this person doesn't like the way the other guy looks, or the way the other guy looked at someone else, or doesn't want him around his neighborhood, or this person is just out for trouble. Now this person follows the other guy slowly in his car for a while, ultimately getting out and confronting him. Maybe he even pushes the other guy...

TALLAHASSEE — Trayvon Martin’s father has been named honorary captain of the FAMU football team after delivering an inspirational speech to the team Sunday. Florida A&M coach Earl Holmes said Tracy Martin, whose son’s shooting death in Sanford drew national attention, called him recently and the coach recently invited the grieving father to address his players. “[We] talked and I told him I’d love him to talk to the team. He came out and he was very, very encouraging,” Holmes said of Tracy Martin. “ . . . [He] got a standing ovation from our guys. He talked about just...

<p>The judge who ruled that New York’s “stop-and-frisk” practice violated the Constitutional rights of the city’s citizens seemed to have had Trayvon Martin on her mind.</p> <p>Judge Shira Scheindlin references his death three times in her ruling in which she found the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk policy amounted to racial profiling. Scheindlin refers to Martin as “a black teenager” in the body of the opinion, but then cites his name in the footnotes as she quotes directly from three sources, including President Obama’s remarks following the verdict. She references Martin as a touchstone for the pain and frustration experienced by black men facing constant suspicion by the authorities.</p>

On Feb. 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida there was a shooting that would, for whatever reason, transfix this country and pressure how we as a nation understand our natural right to self-defense. I am of course referring to the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman. It’s not my intention here to pour over the details of this case — I’m sure we have all heard those, time and time again. I personally have no desire to hear them again. Rather, I want to look at what we can learn, as a community of gun owners and concealed carry holders,...

It would seem obvious, wouldn't it, that Trayvon Martin is dead because he was a black boy in the wrong part of town? I think most reasonable people know that all blacks are periodically subjected to being stopped for "driving while black" or even "walking while black." There's hardly a study done anywhere by anybody that doesn't show that type of thing to be a common and unfair occurrence in the black community. Statistical abuse of minorities is well-documented. Me, personally, I say Trayvon Martin is dead for two reasons and neither specifically because of his race. He's dead because...

Just when you thought the Zimmerman case couldn’t get any crazier, here we go. An amicus curiae brief has been filed in support of a motion to re-try George Zimmerman for second-degree murder........... Not only that, the brief argues that the prosecuting team should be found guilty of professional misconduct (no argument there), that they should therefore be disqualified from re-trying the case, and that a new prosecution team should be selected for this re-trial. And by whom should this new team of prosecutors be chosen? Why, by Martin family lawyer Benjamin Crump and cohorts. Naturally. [Chris Hansen To The...

You may find that headline confusing because it is. But remember, Bill Clinton was the first black president. Maybe Anthony Weiner can be the second black mayor. Stranger things have happened. And it turns out that there’s nothing a White Hispanic can’t accomplish for the Democratic Party without even meaning to. Repeated polling has found a racial gap in the races for mayor and comptroller: black voters are far more likely than white voters to view Mr. Spitzer and Mr. Weiner favorably, and more likely to say they deserve a second chance. How big a split is it? Spitzer,...

Florida Sit-In Against ‘Stand Your Ground’ By LIZETTE ALVAREZ TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The college and high school students arranged themselves in the colonial-style chairs and on the green carpet, a portrait of the state’s Old Capitol building above them, as they exchanged stories about their lives and the travails of the “black and brown youth” in Florida. One young woman whose parents were both drug addicts spoke about how she had defied the odds; she will graduate from college next year. A young man mentioned that he was one of the few in his family who had not ended up...

Mark Russell, whose nearly three years as editor of the Orlando Sentinel were marked by coverage of the Trayvon Martin case and the hazing death of a marching band member at Florida A&M University, was ousted Wednesday in a reorganization that eliminated his job. Russell was replaced by Avido Khahaifa [pdf], a corporate manager who is also African American and for whom the editor's job will be an additional role. Both men were at the National Association of Black Journalists convention last week in nearby Kissimmee, Fla...........

08/08/2013-MOTION REINSTATE AND CONTINUANCE AGAINST ABOVE NAME DEFENDANT GEORGE ZIMMERMAN

Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin is facing a firestorm of criticism after sending letters to hundreds of organizations trying to find out the depth of their relationship with the American Legislative Exchange Council. The senator’s interest in ALEC is based on the stand your ground legislation that has become a focal point for liberal activists and lawmakers after the George Zimmerman trial in Florida. But his hometown newspaper, The Chicago Tribune, editorialized that the inquiries looked like “Durbin’s enemies list.” In the August 6 letter sent to think tanks and corporations, Durbin wrote, “I am seeking clarification whether organizations that...

The issue is beyond race and Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law. George Zimmerman’s fear of Trayvon Martin led to murder and his acquittal. Since fear for his life, even if unreasonable, allowed Zimmerman to walk free. Then, what of other fear-based prejudices? Last year, in Jacksonville, FL, Jordan Davis, 17, African American, and unarmed, was killed in a mall parking lot, while sitting in his car. Michael David Dunn, 46, White, claims Davis pointed a shotgun after Dunn told Davis to turn down his music. Dunn shot his 9mm into Davis’ car and sped away. Now charged with first degree...

Okay, well, somebody needs to paint a mural of Trayvon selling weed or smashing George's skull in or jumping from behind a bush and ambushing George and demand it be displayed as well. ORLANDO, Fla. – An eye-grabbing mural showing a picture of a man shooting a likeness of Trayvon Martin was unveiled Friday at the state Capitol.

The AFL-CIO Executive Council passed a statement on racism and equality in response to the death of slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin, Thursday. Their statement, “A Call for Social and Economic Justice for Communities of Color” focused on the death of Martin and the “the sense of unrealized justice it left behind.” “Trayvon’s death — and the subsequent trial — have reopened the deep and unresolved wound of racism in our country,” the statement reads. “Nearly 50 years after the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, we have made tremendous progress, but we still have a long way to...

A Volusia County Beach Safety officer accused of sending insensitive racial messages at the end of last month’s Trayvon Martin trial was fired Friday for unprofessional conduct — or what county officials called “horrible judgment made worse during a racially charged atmosphere.” Todd Snipes, 45, a Volusia lifeguard for 24 years and a law enforcement officer for 15, “engaged in behavior that threatens the respect and trust of the community and jeopardizes the perception that the department enforces the law fairly, even-handedly and without bias,” Department of Public Protection Director George Recktenwald wrote in Snipes’ notice of dismissal. Reached Friday...

A mural of a man who looks like George Zimmerman shooting a likeness of Trayvon Martin was unveiled Friday at the state Capitol of Florida. A mirror sits in the spot under a hoodie where Trayvon Martin's face would be, bordered by Martin Luther King, Jr.'s face decorated with streaks of blood....

ORLANDO, Fla. - An eye-grabbing mural showing a picture of a man shooting a likeness of Trayvon Martin was unveiled Friday at the state Capitol. The message of the 100-foot mural, created by Miami artist Huong, is "We are all Trayvon Martin." The mural shows a man who looks similar to George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch leader who shot and killed Martin in February 2012 and was later acquitted in the teen's death, shooting a person wearing a hoodie. There's a mirror in the mural where Martin's face would be so visitors can see themselves as the teen. The mural...

For Immediate Release FSA President, Sheriff Grady Judd, today announced, “The right to self-defense is well-established in law.  The Florida Sheriffs confirmed this position by voting unanimously, at the 2013 Florida Sheriffs Association Summer Conference, to support the Stand Your Ground law as it is currently written.  Our current judicial system is comprised of multiple checks and balances to ensure fair and equitable application of all laws, including Stand Your Ground.”  Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity, and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a...

The trial of George Zimmerman cost Seminole County government about $91,000, officials said in a statement Friday. Zimmerman's high-profile second-degree-murder trial in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin began June 10 and concluded July 13 with a not-guilty verdict. During the trial, Seminole County handled the "coordination of resources and planning," through its Emergency Operations Center, county spokesman Alan Harris said. According to Harris, the EOC's role included "public information, safety, liaison, logistics, planning, intelligence" and other operations. Its efforts were spearheaded by a team of fire-rescue, facility management, information technology, utilities, economic development and public works staff, as...

Apparently, inciting racist lynch mobs is approved by the ‘black Time magazine’ if the instigator is a famous black filmmaker and the victims are “white Hispanics.” Ebony magazine is featuring film director Spike Lee, who last year tried to incite a lynch mob against the family of George Zimmerman by Tweeting what he thought was their home address, on their cover. Spike and his son don their hoodies for the September issue entitled “We are Trayvon.” The magazine included several photos of black fathers and sons in grey hoodies. For the record, if your son, Spike, refrains from jumping a...

Middle and high school students in San Diego, California will be encouraged to vent their frustration that the world lacks justice when they return to school and participate in the “Trayvon Martin dialogues” this fall. The board of San Diego Unified Schools unanimously approved a proposal recently to establish classroom forums to discuss the death of Trayvon Martin, a black teenager who was shot during an altercation with a Hispanic man, George Zimmerman, in Florida last year. A jury recently acquitted Zimmerman, who claimed that Martin struck first and shot him in self-defense. The sponsors of San Diego’s Trayvon Martin...

Last week George Zimmerman — found innocent of murder, but still the killer of teen Trayvon Martin — was pulled over for speeding by a police officer in Forney, east of Dallas. Nothing happened. In fact, the only detail of note was that Zimmerman was packing heat in the glove compartment (which he disclosed to the officer) and was going “nowhere in particular.” The officer’s dashboard camera captured the non-incident, and the officer himself got away with snapping a cellphone picture of Zimmerman’s drivers license. Perhaps the officer couldn’t help himself, since George Zimmerman is “famous.” Not the kind of...

While there were two lawyers at the defense table, there were three at the State’s: Bernie de la Rionda, John Guy, and Richard Mantei. With about a hundred lawyers to pick from, knowing her office would be in the spotlight, State’s Attorney Angela Corey wouldn’t have put anyone on the team she thought would make her look bad. Mantei was third chair, and the lowest guy on the totem pole gets the scut work in any organization. For instance, he was the one they sent in to argue that the state had proven its case when it hadn’t during the...

If Councilman Nick Mosby has his way, Baltimore government would boycott Florida-based businesses in protest to the state's stand-your-ground law after George Zimmerman's acquittal. Mosby intends to file a resolution on Monday to encourage city agencies and investment boards to avoid doing business with companies in the Sunshine State. He hopes that would pressure the legislature there to rethink a law that allows individuals to use lethal force, if necessary, to defend themselves in public places. The resolution also calls on city officials to avoid traveling to Florida or attending events in the state. "Ultimately, the purpose of the legislation...

The "not guilty" verdict for George Zimmerman's killing of Trayvon Martin did not come as a surprise to African Americans or anyone familiar with the US justice system. Ultimately, the trial was theatre because the decision to clear Zimmerman was effectively made the same day that he shot Trayvon, a 17-year-old African American. Footage of the "arrest" of Zimmerman showed him walking into the police station without handcuffs, even though it was not disputed that he had shot and killed an unarmed teenager. The police knew, from Zimmerman's own 911 calls, that he had stalked Trayvon. They knew that Zimmerman...

Self-appointed civil rights leaders and celebrities remained mum on the vicious beating of a white sixth-grader at the hands of three older African-Americans in Florida, despite a growing chorus of critics who called their silence hypocrisy given their recent, racially-charged condemnation of the Sunshine State. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, who both blasted Florida in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting and the acquittal of George Zimmerman in Martin's death, with Jackson calling it an "apartheid state" and "our Selma," have not spoken publicly of the brutal beating aboard a school bus caught on cellphone and surveillance video. Neither...

In the aftermath of the trial of George Zimmerman, protests erupted around the country, in Florida and elsewhere, demanding a range of legal remedies for the failure for Zimmerman to be convicted and punished for shooting unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin.  Not much has happened.  Here's why. 1.  Federal prosecution of Zimmerman. Perhaps the loudest demand (from Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and others) was that Zimmerman be tried again on federal civil rights or hate crime statutes, which Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the justice department was considering.  This idea made no sense from the start, since to bring such...

Sybrina Fulton, Her Son Jahvaris, And Some Unrelated Guy Named “Fruit”, Represent Modern African Americans On The Cover of Ebony Magazine… I wonder if the other people who are sharing the cover of Ebony Magazine know that Jahvaris Fulton is the son of Sybrina Fulton, and not her ex husband Tracy “Fruit” Martin, who has fathered 4 or 5 other kids by other women; some while married to the prior child’s mothers. Then again, now that I think about it, the “We are Trayvon” catch phrase probably does attach aptly to most of the group claiming such a descriptive as...

Just revealed Democratic anti-NRA talking points urge anti-gun advocates and politicians to hype high-profile gun incidents like the Florida slaying of Trayvon Martin to win support for new gun control laws. In talking points likely followed by top Democratic leaders including President Obama after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in December, the anti-gun "guide" urged gun foes to speak out when a shooting "creates a unique climate" to shout down the National Rifle Association."The most powerful time to communicate is when concern and emotions are running at their peak," said the 80-page document titled "Preventing Gun Violence Through Effective...

President Barack Obama discussed Edward Snowden, the health care law, Hillary Clinton and Russia during a Tuesday visit to "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." But Obama´s comments about the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin had special local interest. George Zimmerman was acquitted last month of murder in the teen´s death in Sanford. Some Americans have criticized Obama previously for commenting on the issue, but Leno said that the president had spoken eloquently and from the heart about Trayvon´s death. "I think all of us were troubled by what happened," Obama told Leno.

I realize that's a provocative title, but let's face it, as things stand, the third Monday of January would be better used to celebrate grandmothers or our beloved pets. By devoting a national holiday to Rev. King, we're only highlighting the abyss that exists between his hope that we begin judging one another by our character rather than by our skin color and that inconvenient thing called reality. As we saw during the entire Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman brouhaha, the majority of blacks see everything in terms of black and white. And why wouldn't they when their so-called leaders, including the...

NEW YORK (BHN) - Apparently determined to milk every last dime from the death of Trayvon Martin, the new issue of Ebony Magazine is offering multiple covers honoring the young man. The covers feature average black fathers and sons with the popular "We are Trayvon" catchphrase emblazoned in large red letters. Articles in the magazine discuss the gross unfairness of the "stand your ground" laws (at least for Trayvons), and how they must be repealed.

The response was predictable, even to those who had maintained hope for a different outcome. After the jury found George Zimmerman not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin, many cities erupted into protests of what was perceived as a fundamentally unfair and racially-biased verdict that was the result of a broken justice system. Among those protesting that Zimmerman should be punished, some admitted that the flaw was actually found within the Florida law which departs significantly from the common law by allowing individuals who initiate confrontations to use deadly force to defend themselves without a duty to escape. Florida's Stand Your...

(Note to readers: The following is pure fiction.) We stopped for gas and coffee near the Oregon border and then pulled back onto the road, continuing North. It seemed like George hadn’t felt like talking these last hundred miles or so, not as much as he had earlier on in the time since I’d joined him on his journey. But now that he had a fresh jolt of java starting to flow into his veins, he started to open up again as he drove. “I’m thinking of changing my name,” he blurted out. “To what, Bob Dylan?” I wisecracked, trying...

22-year-old Jared Alexander said he was wearing a hoodie at a Boynton Beach mall when a security officer asked him to take the hoodie off. When he refused, other security officers showed up. Alexander said, “Why are you guys harassing me? I’m not stealing. I’m not going to take my hoodie off.” After a few minutes, he says, he had to go to work and so he left. He was met outside by police. Alexander says they handcuffed him and questioned him.

Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade shared a photo Tuesday on his Instagram of a new Ebony magazine cover featuring him and his two sons, showing support for Trayvon Martin. On the cover of the Sept. 2013 issue of Ebony, Wade and his two sons, Zaire and Zion, are seen wearing gray hoodies. Underneath them is text that reads "We are Trayvon."

In preparation for a previously announced hearing on controversial “stand your ground” laws announced after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., sent letters to more than 300 possible corporate backers of the American Legislative Exchange Council, requesting their position of such policies in states across the country.

<p>How did the world get here? Did you hear what they said: Another young brother is dead. Meanwhile Zimmerman is set free; how the f*** can this be? A man with a gun killed Sybrina and Tracy’s son. Yet he received an acquittal while Trayvon was only armed with a bag of skittles, showing once again how little America values Black life.</p>

I was a little disappointed in reading your bold headlines "Zimmerman Walks" (July 14) and "Still Outraged" (July 15) with the picture below showing protestors carrying signs reading "Whole System is Racist" and "Say NO to Racism." Racism is in the eyes of the beholder and, so often, if those eyes would look into a mirror they might see things differently. I am not a racist by any means, but I saw a trial with a judge, prosecutor, defense lawyer, and a jury, agreed upon by all parties involved. I saw arguments, and testimony for both sides, and a jury...

The National Association of Town Watch will hold its 30th annual National Night Out celebration, otherwise known as "America's Night Out Against Crime," on Tuesday. The event, which celebrates crime prevention throughout the country, encourages communication between communities, police and neighborhood watch groups. While National Night Out is intended to be a fun event, filled with celebratory block parties and cookouts, one might wonder whether the George Zimmerman case has cast a shadow on neighborhood watch groups and influenced how they are perceived. "Everyone uses the neighborhood watch umbrella for what [Zimmerman's] group is, when really there is a severe...

Members of the New Haven community are up in arms as rocker Ted Nugent gets ready to play at the legendary Toad’s Place Tuesday night evening. More than 2,700 community members have signed a Change.org petition asking Toad’s Place to cancel Nugent's 7:30 p.m. show in the wake of several controversial remarks he has allegedly made about Trayvon Martin. The petition reads: “We, the undersigned, ask that out of respect of the New Haven community, which is experiencing a great deal of grief as a result of the Trayvon Martin verdict, you cancel the Ted Nugent show scheduled for...

As previously stated, Trayvon Martin have felt sufficiently paranoid to lash out violently in the way Zimmerman and witnesses claim. This is important because a street drug that is popular in the young urban community known as Purple Drank or Lean produces those very side effects — agitation and paranoia. Purple Drank or Lean is a cocktail that is created by mixing Robitussin or other over-the-counter cough medicines with — yes — Skittles and Arizona Watermelon Juice, the same flavor of tea Trayvon Martin was carrying that night.

A Sanford judge today ruled that Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi does not have to answer defense attorneys' questions under oath in a mammoth Internet casino gambling case pending in Seminole County. Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. made that ruling this morning.The case involves more than 50 defendants, accused of violating the state's gambling, racketeering and money laundering laws by operating Internet cafes that prosecutors say served as storefront gambling parlors. Each had ties to the non-profit Allied Veterans of the World, a group that provided charity to military veterans but, according to authorities, donated just two percent of its...

Last week, Don West, defense attorney in the George Zimmerman murder trial, asked friend of Trayvon Martin and case witness Rachel Jeantel a strange question. “Are you claiming in any way that you don’t understand English?” he inquired, though she had been answering his questions in fluent English throughout much of the previous day. Jeantel, who was born and raised in Miami, insisted that she did, but West wasn’t convinced. He asked her once more whether perhaps, because her first language was Creole (transmitted to her by her Haitian mother), she had any trouble understanding English. West was not...

According to Essence magazine, the GRAMMY Award winning gospel dou Mary Mary will Join Stevie Wonder in his Florida concert boycott following the acquittal of former neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman. "We will stand with Stevie Wonder & boycott Florida until the Stand Your Ground Law is changed," the pair reportedly told their Twitter followers. The pair explained "We love our fans but we MUST do something. We understand that a No from us isn't as big as a 'No' from Stevie Wonder, but if all our voices join together we can REALLY change things." Before the announcement, Mary Mary singer...

Mark O'Mara, the attorney of acquitted George Zimmerman in the highly-politicized trial for the murder of black Trayvon Martin, said that his fight with the prosecution is not yet over. America's career anti-racists, the Left and the mainstream media had convicted Zimmerman long before the trial, because for them it is axiomatic that a black must necessarily be innocent, so, despite all the evidence in support of the neighbourhood-watch volunteer Zimmerman (who is of mixed white-Hispanic parentage) and his plea of self-defence, in their prejudiced eyes he must have been guilty of murder. But people with a bias don't...

The acquittal of George Zimmerman, like the O.J. Simpson acquittal years ago, calls into question the validity of the jury system. Perhaps it’s time to replace it with panels of legal experts or with a smart computer like Watson, the world champion of chess and Jeopardy. The practice of asking peers, or jurors, to sit in judgment has been around since ancient Greece and Rome. This was to provide a check and balance against tyrants or government-sanctioned officials. It was devised to tap collective wisdom as opposed to allowing one individual to determine the fate of another. Unfortunately, juries fall...

Vigilance, not vigilantism. No weapons, other than pepper spray for self-defense. More reliance on paper and cellphones. For almost everyone on neighborhood watch groups in Williamsport, a question of what message did the George Zimmerman verdict send was followed by a common answer: Those involved do not take the law into their own hands. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla., got out of his car after police instructed him not to. His actions led to an altercation with unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, whom Zimmerman said he shot in self-defense on Feb. 26, 2012. Martin died and in a...

Since the end of the George Zimmerman trial, many of those dismayed by the not guilty verdict have pushed for the Department of Justice to press federal civil-rights charges against Trayvon Martin’s killer. Given the strong possibility that race played a role both in Zimmerman's decision to follow the unarmed teenager and in the jury’s verdict, it seems plausible that federal intervention might be warranted. Indeed, soon after the verdict was read in mid-July, Attorney General Eric Holder launched an inquiry into whether civil-rights charges should be filed against Zimmerman. But unless the investigation uncovers evidence that was not publicly...