More information is coming out about Trayvon Martin – a lot of it unflattering. He was suspended, he might have been caught with weed, spray painted graffiti. Definitely not an angelic portrait.
But is that relevant? He was still the kid walking back to his father’s fiancee’s house from 7-11. He was still the kid a self-appointed neighborhood police man pursued (even when he was advised not to). He was still the kid who was killed.
He could have been a punk with a rap sheet longer than his arm and a gold grill uglier than Flava Flav’s. None of that changes the fact that he was profiled, followed, and killed. Even though he had every right to be there and had nothing on him other than a bag of Skittles and an iced tea.
Spinny Liberal 
March 28th, 2012 at 12:29 AM
Yes, I suppose looking and acting like a thug is grounds for being profiled. However, I don’t think the white-Hispanic (is that profiling also?) was doing the right thing by following him anyway.
But before we cry racism, lets let the investigation run its course. Then we can either all riot in the streets like they did after Rodney King in LA, or Tweet the wrong address like Spike Lee did and scare innocent elderly people living there that had nothing to do with Zimmerman!
March 28th, 2012 at 8:36 PM
How is walking home from the 7-11 acting like a thug? I have no idea what a white Hispanic is? Is that a light skinned Hispanic?
Rioting in the streets is just terrible even though their frustrations are absolutely understandable. Tweeting the wrong address, or any address is dangerous as hell. No one should do that.
And Michelle Malkin shouldn’t use the wrong picture of Trayvon Martin to make her point about an “accurate” portrayal of him.
March 28th, 2012 at 5:17 AM
Two things still hang over Zimmerman’s head as I see it that didn’t necessitate him shooting Taylor.
He pursued the kid and it appears he pursued him to the point where Taylor was feeling threatened himself and thus attacked Zimmerman. However Zimmerman, who claims he was knocked to the ground and that Taylor was on top of him hitting him, did not have his gun to shoot Taylor at that time, giving more justification for his reasoning to shoot Taylor because he feared for his life.
No, his gun was in the truck and clearly Taylor wasn’t on top of him and perhaps had even backed off, giving Zimmerman time to go to the truck to get the gun and even reflect briefly about shooting a warning shot at Taylor rather than using it with deadly force.
March 28th, 2012 at 8:40 PM
That’s a great observation of the timeline. Now, ABC just released a video tape of Zimmerman not>/i> looking all beat up and bloodied.
March 28th, 2012 at 6:29 AM
Woodgate makes an excellent point. think it’s time for a jury to decide matters.
March 28th, 2012 at 8:42 PM
I hope they will get to that point so a jury can decide. Right now, Zimmerman is still walking around.
March 28th, 2012 at 8:00 AM
The media needs to back off and let the investigations go forward without their interference…..besides past trouble has little to do with a shooting….a pot smoker will attack NO ONE! A graffiti artist wants to remain anonymous…..
March 28th, 2012 at 8:44 PM
Very good points about the graffiti artists wanting anonymity and the generally mellow nature of pot smokers.
I wish the media would back off, but people are leaking the stuff to them. And being the media, they want to be the first on it.
April 29th, 2012 at 2:07 PM
Well, it’s a story that’s a guaranteed ratings winner, so you can count on our pathetic, money grubbing,
news mediaentertainment peddlers to milk every conceivable detail out of this, no matter how irrelevant or inaccurate these details may be.March 28th, 2012 at 8:00 PM
All these “indictments” read one way to me: normal teenager. Pot, graffiti, – it’s all pretty normal stuff. To me – any way you slice this — a car, a phone, and a gun vs. a hoodie, can of tea and skittles does not equal self defense.
I think the concerns about media involvement are interesting. Most people WANT a jury to decide this case — but as it originally stood – no jury would hear it because the police determined it was self-defense and it was buried — only when media got involved did the case have the potential to go to the jury. We act like we are all victims of media — but it’s our monster – it is what we make it.
March 28th, 2012 at 8:52 PM
And it doesn’t change the fact that Zimmerman was the aggressor by following him.
“Our monster” = brilliant. It was used to get this case investigated. The bad thing is the 24/7 nature of it. More details are coming out – almost hourly. It becomes one big mess that needs to be muddled through to find out how things unfolded.
March 29th, 2012 at 7:10 AM
24/7 “Instant information” is definitely messy, and I think many have been conditioned by cop shows (CSI, Law & Order) to think that police and justice investigations move very fast! People keep clamoring about why isn’t he already on trial now that his case is being investigated — when the idea investigations aren’t clear and take time doesn’t compute anymore.
Real justice isn’t just blind — it’s slow. But since the CSI folks work so amazingly fast – people forget that part.
April 2nd, 2012 at 9:37 PM
OMG good point about all those crime shows. Crimes aren’t solved in an hour minus commercial breaks.
March 29th, 2012 at 5:44 AM
No matter what he had done in the past…the night he was shot is the only thing that needs to be addressed….BTW…have you seen the Pd vid of Zimmerman enteing the PD the night of the shooting/ No blood….no grass on clothing……cop who made that report better kiss his ass bye bye.
April 2nd, 2012 at 9:35 PM
I saw that! Now they enhanced the tape that showed there was injury to the back of his head. But still, it didn’t look like his nose was broken and there were no grass or blood stains??
April 29th, 2012 at 2:12 PM
Here’s the only facts that truly matter and I don’t think any are in question.
Dude sees kid. Dude calls cops. Cops say “Do nothing”. Dude keeps chasing kid and ultimately shoots unnarmed kid.
Dude almost gets away with it because cops don’t give a shit and some bullshit law says you can “stand your ground”…apparently even if you move your ground all over town to get in somebody else’s way.