The politics of hoodie wearing

A bit quiet here about witness accounts that state Martin was sitting on Zimmerman's chest beating him; the screaming for help was Zimmerman. Anybody?

For a thoughtful, even-handed person, I think you've made several unsupportable leaps without evidence concerning this case, primarily that he was "simply losing a fist fight." We can't know that.

Can you link to those witness accounts?

I've seen articles about "voice experts" who have testified that it was not Zimmerman calling for help, but I have not seen anything about a witness who can report who was calling for help.

(I have my doubts that they can actually determine anything from a recording of a cell phone, but I'm not a "voice expert.")

I agree re "voice experts." I don't think you can tell definitively whose voice it was via recordings. Especially since the stress of the situation could've made either man's voice quite different. I'll bring back articles.

http://youtu.be/iuPmu8UUbpQ

I know people will want to use the news outlet (Fox, of course) to discount the report; however, a man gave testimony that led to the initial decision not to arrest Zimmerman.

The man is only known as John - at this point. I've seen more accounts of this story - but so far not on major outlets.

Watching.

I think it is possible that news outlets are loathe to run this - an unpopular angle to the story.

ABC just ante-ed up

http://abcnews.go.com/US/cops-witnesses-back-george-zimmermans-version/story?id=16371852#.T7bz81I6XhI

Zimmerman claims Trayvon went for his gun. I'm still one who believes the whole thing could've been avoided if Zim had listened to dispatch; however, the news, if it bears out, should temper hot opinions.

Excerpt:

"Zimmerman was also bleeding from the nose and the back of his head," Officer Ricardo Ayala wrote.

Another officer wrote, "I saw that Zimmerman's face was bloodied and it appeared to me that his nose was broken."

Witnesses, whose names were redacted from the report, also lent support to Zimmerman's version of what happened.

"He witnesses a black male, wearing a dark colored 'hoodie' on top of a white or Hispanic male and throwing punches 'MMA (mixed martial arts) style,'" the police report of the witness said. "He then heard a pop. He stated that after hearing the pop, he observed the person he had previously observed on top of the other person (the male wearing the hoodie) laid out on the grass."

A second witness described a person on the ground with another straddling him and throwing punches. The man on the bottom was yelling for help, the witness told police.

The documents state that Zimmerman can be heard yelling for help 14 times on a 911 call recorded during the fight. "

*crickets*

We don't all obsessively check A2K, you know.

I also don't think that the proper response to being attacked with fists is to start shooting a gun.

That probably isn't how Rocky Marciano would have saved himself from being beaten to death/murdered but, then, George Zimmerman isn't Rocky Marciano...

Do you find being an idiot painful?

All this proves is that Zimmerman got his ass beaten soundly before he shot Martin. It does NOT mean that Zimmenman is a victim. It does NOT affect the fact that had he simply reported he thought he saw someone suspicious and left it at that, Martin would be alive.

We know that as a result of Zimmerman pursuing Martin a fight happened, and Martin got shot. I guess those of you concluding that Martin "attacked" Zimmerman are doing so because you are predisposed to believe it.

And let me say one more thing. I do not have a son, but if I did, I hope that he would not have allowed himself to be cowed down by this wannabe cop. I hope that he would have told Zimmerman that it was none of his goddam business why he was minding his own business, walking home.

And I hope that if Zimmerman continued to advance on him he would have beat the living dogshit out of him, just like Martin appears to have done. In this imaginary scenario though, I hope the coward would have the decency to just take his ass whupping and leave instead of pulling a gun and ending a life.

we have become a nation of gun toting cowards...

...and cheerleaders for gun-toting wannabe cop cowards

Because Gunga knows exactly how you feel.

I'll say it again, worst possible case, the kid could have just decked Zimmerman and walked away, and nobody would have died. What actually happened was that the kid sucker punched Zimmerman, and then pounced on him and was in the process of literally beating him to death when he got shot for his efforts.

Trying to kill somebody with more firepower than you have has ALWAYS been problematical and dangerous. Cursing George Zimmerman for using a gun is like cursing the Masai for using their spears on a rogue lion or like cursing our own ancestors for using atlatls and javelins on Neanderthals intent on killing and eating them. Wake up.

Just when I thought you couldn’t post anything more ridiculous you fooled me once again.

There, I fixed that for you.

One other thing I've mentioned on another thread... If this had been a prize fight, real life, the commissioner's drug sniffing dog would have walked into the ring and bitten Trayvon Martin (your "role model" for kids) on the ass, and Martin would have been disqualified and lost his license to box.

Black Role Models...

I mean, I'm no expert on black history, but a better role model than Trayvon Martin isn't asking for a whole hell of a lot. Off the top of my head:

• Booker T. Washington
  
• Percy Julien
  
• G.W. Carver
  
• Any of the Tuskegee airmen
  
• Ibragim Gannibal (Pushkin's great grandfather)
  
• Larry Holmes
  
• Scott Joplin
  
• Ozzie Newsome (Baltimore Ravens front office)
  

That would do for starters and again that's pretty ******* far from one of my good subjects, but talking about wanting kids to grow up to be like Trayvon Martin is seriously fucked up.