17y/o Killed By Neighborhood Watch/CHL

[The Annoyed Man]

Juan Williams has a take: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/07/ ... z2YkqNCKvV

George Zimmerman faces life in jail as a jury considers second-degree murder charges against him for killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. But thanks to the media he is already sentenced to life in the American public's mind as a racist.

You can tell that he's not sympathetic to Z, but he does get it right about media's pollution of the process.

[texanjoker]

I had to leave during the prosecution closing. I bet the jury bites on Zimmerman playing cop, and that could cause Zimmerman problems. Time will tell.

[Frankie]

Black Racism Killed Trayvon ...

Since the shooting of Martin, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and the NAACP (along with the liberal media) have done their best to portray Martin as an innocent kid tiptoeing through the tulips who just happened to be the victim of a racist white vigilante (even though Zimmerman is half Hispanic).

The attention on the Zimmerman trial is not about justice for Trayvon; it’s about intimidation and dividing the American people along race.

This guy gets it.

[Dragonfighter]

I wonder if the MSM will play the defense's closing 18 times and analyze it word for word like they have been doing for the prosecution's?

[A-R]

Juan Williams has a take: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/07/ ... z2YkqNCKvV

George Zimmerman faces life in jail as a jury considers second-degree murder charges against him for killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. But thanks to the media he is already sentenced to life in the American public's mind as a racist.

You can tell that he's not sympathetic to Z, but he does get it right about media's pollution of the process.

I was right there with him until this idiotic statement:

Why did he have a gun if he was simply part of a neighborhood watch program? 

[RottenApple]

I was right there with him until this idiotic statement:

That article was full of bull.

Liberal and conservative news TV and radio have played to the racial theme, too. The left, notably Rev. Al Sharpton, have made the case a crusade for racial justice. The right-wing media, especially talk radio, has responded by making Zimmerman a hero. In fact, Zimmerman’s lawyer, Mark O’Mara, created an online site that attracted more than $145,000 from people who somehow made Zimmerman into their champion, possibly their great white hero.

I don't watch much TV, I've yet to see or hear anyone, right or left, making GZ out to be a "hero" or a "champion". I have seen a lot of "right wingers" refute the racial claims made by the left.

And now the media, especially some conservative talk radio outlets, are fixated on the possibility of race riots if Zimmerman is acquitted. Meanwhile, Twitter and other social media sites are full of threats from angry black people to kill Zimmerman if he is not held accountable by a jury for killing Martin.

Really? Conservative talk radio outlets are "fixated on the possibility of race riots if Zimmerman is acquitted"? Well, maybe that's because of all the threats from "angry black people". Geez. Seriously?

Zimmerman should have listened to the 911 emergency dispatch operator who told him to stop following Martin.

According to Zimmerman, he did. And there's not been the slightest bit of evidence to contradict him!

This guy didn't say anything worth reading. I want those 2 minutes of my life back.

[A-R]

I found the portions TAM alluded to worth reading. That this whole case is a racist, political prosecution.

[sunny beach]

I had to leave during the prosecution closing. I bet the jury bites on Zimmerman playing cop, and that could cause Zimmerman problems. Time will tell.

Only if they think (wannabe) criminals should be allowed to preemptively attack (wannabe) cops with deadly force without facing deadly force in response. Because that's really what the prosecution is arguing when you strip away the fertilizer.

[VMI77]

I had to leave during the prosecution closing. I bet the jury bites on Zimmerman playing cop, and that could cause Zimmerman problems. Time will tell.

Only if they think (wannabe) criminals should be allowed to preemptively attack (wannabe) cops with deadly force without facing deadly force in response. Because that's really what the prosecution is arguing when you strip away the fertilizer.

I think the argument is more specific....though while not stated....implied: black criminals should be allowed to give a beat down when they're dissed.

[K.Mooneyham]

I had to leave during the prosecution closing. I bet the jury bites on Zimmerman playing cop, and that could cause Zimmerman problems. Time will tell.

Only if they think (wannabe) criminals should be allowed to preemptively attack (wannabe) cops with deadly force without facing deadly force in response. Because that's really what the prosecution is arguing when you strip away the fertilizer.

I think the argument is more specific....though while not stated....implied: black criminals should be allowed to give a beat down when they're dissed.

BINGO! I listened to enough rap when I was a younger guy to know that it teaches that if they are "gangstas" then they are "hard" and no one should be allowed to "disrespect" them...if someone does, beat down time.

[C-dub]

I don't remember it if it's in here somewhere. When GZ saw TM walking through the neighborhood and decided to call the police, was he "on duty" as a neighborhood watch or was he just driving by and noticed him? Does it make a difference as far as the whole "shouldn't be armed in the neighborhood watch" thing goes?

[drjoker]

Prosecutor had a freudian slip, "Is the defendant allowed to defend
himself?... I mean, Is the victim allowed to defend himself?"

[stroo]

Watching the prosecutor today, it is clear to that Zimmerman made at least two mistakes.

He shouldn't have gotten out of his truck.

He shouldn't have talked to the police without his lawyer present.

Not guilty but the last one might get him anyway!

[MasterOfNone]

Prosecutor had a freudian slip, "Is the defendant allowed to defend
himself?... I mean, Is the victim allowed to defend himself?"

I see no difference between the two questions. "Defendant," "victim," "Zimmerman"... All synonyms.

[ss1088]

The closing arguments were a prime example of how anything you say can and will be used against you. While I think GZ should be acquitted based on the lack evidence, I can't take sides on this case. The fact is that the only person alive that knows the truth is GZ.

My gut tells me that the shooting was justified, but it could have ultimately been avoided. I think the people that rule out self defense just because he followed Martin, which is not illegal and not justification in itself for Martin to attack GZ, are blaming the victim in the same way people blame rape victims because there clothes were too revealing or that they drank too much.