The State of Florida vs George Zimmerman: The Trial

http://dailycaller.com/2013/06/27/texas-teen-makes-violent-joke-during-video-game-is-jailed-for-months/


A Texas teenager who has been in jail since March faces an eight-year prison sentence because of a threatening joke he made while playing an online video game.

In February, Justin Carter was playing “League of Legends” — an online, multiplayer fantasy game — when another player wrote a comment calling him insane. Carter’s response, which he now deeply regrets, was intended as joke.

“He replied ‘Oh yeah, I’m real messed up in the head, I’m going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts,’ and the next two lines were lol and jk,” said Jack Carter, Justin’s father, in a statement to a local news channel.


The statements “lol” and “jk” — meaning “laughing out loud” and “just kidding” — indicate that Justin’s statement was entirely sarcastic, said his father.

But a Canadian woman who saw the post looked up Carter’s Austin address, determined that it was near an elementary school, and called the police. Carter was arrested one month later, and has been in jail ever since. He recently celebrated his 19th birthday behind bars.

Authorities charged him with making a terrorist threat. If convicted, he will face eight years in prison.

“These people are serious. They really want my son to go away to jail for a sarcastic comment that he made,” said the elder Carter.

Authorities noted that recent school shootings like the one in Newtown, Connecticut have caused them to evaluate all potential threats seriously. Newtown was still fresh in their minds at the time of Carter’s arrest.


“In light of recent situations, statements such as the one Justin made are taken seriously,” said an Austin police detective in a statement.

Carter’s father said his son didn’t follow the news at all.

“Justin was the kind of kid who didn’t read the newspaper,” said Jack Carter. “He didn’t watch television. He wasn’t aware of current events. These kids, they don’t realize what they’re doing. They don’t understand the implications. They don’t understand.”

Carter’s parents have launched a change.org petition to convince Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot to release their son.

“Release Justin Carter from jail,” the petition reads. “Too many teenagers are being arrested, jailed and having their lives forever altered because of anti-terrorism laws and investigations that impede their 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech.”

A hearing to review Carter’s case is scheduled for July 1.

"The purge should be in Florida just for tonight Kill the jury Kill Zimmerman. Kill the lawyers Kill Zimmerman wife (sic)," tweeted "Kidd."

Trayvon Martin was 17 when he was shot. Many people say he was just a “child.”

Let's look at the evidence. 17 year-olds can, and do, join the US military.

At 17, I joined the military and reported for duty when 18. Before graduating from high school, I could bench press 300 pounds and hoist 225 pounds from the floor to over my head with arms locked, weighing less than 148 pounds.

At 17, my high school friend Scott Helvenston became a Navy SEAL. The youngest ever. Some people say this is not possible. To save embarrassment, naysayers might take a minute to Google “Youngest Navy SEAL.”

At 17, Wilfred Benitez was the world champion boxer.

Retired 4-star General Barry McCaffrey mentioned to me the other day that he joined the Army at 17.

At 18, George Bush senior became a Naval aviator and headed off to war. There were many others.........

Milton Olive III, 18 years-old. Medal of Honor recipient. Died while saving his buddies by smothering a grenade with his body.

At 19, I was a "Green Beret" and went to jail after accidentally killing someone in what amounted to hand to hand combat.

Hands are lethal weapons. That someone is unarmed when he attacks means nothing. We could fill the north seas with the bones of women who have died at the bare hands of men and the adults who have died at the hands of teenaged “children.”

Importantly, unless the attacker is naked, the victim will not know the attacker is unarmed until A) it is too late, B) police search his body and find nothing and now people can say that someone shot or killed an unarmed man.

Take a moment to look around you. How many objects are within two steps that could be used as lethal weapons? There was a case where a mugger ripped an antenna off a car and stabbed someone to death with it. If you are on a hard floor, that hard floor can be a lethal weapon.

Fistfights can result in sudden death. After my attacker began his punch to me, which could have killed me, I finished my counter attack in about two seconds. A witness said four seconds.

Though we were surrounded by dozens of people, practically nobody saw it because it happened so fast and quietly. Many people saw his earlier harassment but the fight was nearly instantaneous and they missed it.

After a flurry of punches, his body fell to the ground. Few people realized he was down though we were in a crowded establishment. I did not hit or kick him after he hit the ground. If I were a real attacker I would have jumped on him and pounded away. Bare knuckle punches can be damaging to the hands. I would have preserved my hands by smashing his head into the floor. I got the heck out of there.

By contrast, it has been established that Trayvon Martin closed with and ambushed George Zimmerman, punching him in the face and jumping on him, pounding his head on a sidewalk, which sidewalk Mr. Martin used as a deadly weapon.

That Martin weighed 158 pounds and that Zimmerman weighed 185 was proffered as exculpatory for Martin, though Martin clearly was the attacker. I weighed about 145 and my attacker was substantially larger. Martin was plenty big enough to deal lethal blows and he practiced martial arts.

I escaped, and later turned myself in, yet the police at first did not believe it was me. I looked about 14.

The attacker was unarmed but I did not know that at the time and in any case it did not matter. He attacked with a deadly weapon: his body. Potential weapons were all around us, including the floor.

Martin attacked Zimmerman on a rainy night with lethal fists and mounted Zimmerman and smashed his head into a sidewalk. There was no way for Zimmerman to know Martin was unarmed or that his powerful attacker was 17 and old enough to join the Marines.

So in 2 to 4 seconds my attacker went from healthy yet angry to unconscious and dying and I soon was in jail charged with murder. He was 23.

The assailed often becomes the defendant. The dead assailant is propped up as an angel. The family whips out the baby pictures and interviews with grieving parents begin.

Part of this is cultural. I, too, was raised in a culture where it is taboo to speak a foul word about a dead person. I have overcome this cultural imprint. Reticence to speak the truth about the dead, or the idea that he should be “allowed to rest in peace” creates a dangerous dynamic for the victim who is on trial.

Later I was cleared of all charges but the yellow journalism at the time was damaging my life and imperiling the very freedom I was willing to fight for. A writer was conceived......

Do you remember, during the OJ trial, President Bill Clinton saying “If I had a son he would look like Ron Goldman”?

Do you remember, following the OJ verdict, President Bill Clinton saying “Ron Goldman- that could have been me twenty five years ago”?

Do you remember, in the aftermath of the OJ trial, President Bill Clinton saying “I wonder if the outcome would have been different had Nicole Simpson been black?”

Neither do I.

Obama held a pity party yesterday. In so doing, he took division in this country and ripped it apart even further. He took an open wound and poured salt into it. He pulled off the scab trying to heal.....

a smear campaign against Martin’s character, and plenty of writers explaining that statistically, blacks are simply more dangerous to be around

but also is a golden opportunity for trotting out their all time fav storyline of being racial victims. Oh hell ya!

let's not talk about the fact that blacks kill
at well more than three times the rate per capita that whites do, MKay?

Dear Attorney General Holder,

We are writing to clearly state the ACLU’s position on whether or not the Department of Justice (DOJ) should consider bringing federal civil rights or hate crimes charges as a result of the state court acquittal in the George Zimmerman case. Even though the Supreme Court permits a federal prosecution following a state prosecution, the ACLU believes the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Constitution protects someone from being prosecuted in another court for charges arising from the same transaction. A jury found Zimmerman not guilty, and that should be the end of the criminal case.