Family of Florida boy killed by Neighborhood Watch seeks arrest

Unreal. While obviously all 'facts' are not here, what is known is that a 'neighborhood watch' member called in a 911 call, then without waiting for police to respond, confronted and shot an unarmed 17 year old. The race of each may or may not be of import.

While I think the argument against 'profiling' is weak when done by professionals, in no way does that mean that a neighborhood watch guy should be calling a 17 year old walking down a street at 7 pm, 'suspicious.' If he was doing something to even warrant such a description, why aren't the police releasing the 911 tape? What business did he have in confronting the teen?

I searched for the 'gated community', seems to be an area of townhomes priced from mid-90's-120's. Gated? Perhaps a sign at the front of subdivision?
 
Unreal. While obviously all 'facts' are not here, what is known is that a 'neighborhood watch' member called in a 911 call, then without waiting for police to respond, confronted and shot an unarmed 17 year old. The race of each may or may not be of import.

While I think the argument against 'profiling' is weak when done by professionals, in no way does that mean that a neighborhood watch guy should be calling a 17 year old walking down a street at 7 pm, 'suspicious.' If he was doing something to even warrant such a description, why aren't the police releasing the 911 tape? What business did he have in confronting the teen?

I searched for the 'gated community', seems to be an area of townhomes priced from mid-90's-120's. Gated? Perhaps a sign at the front of subdivision?

In the UK, whenever anyone is shot by the police it is immediately turned over for investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

http://www.ipcc.gov.uk/en/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-17249069
 
Same here, but this wasn't the police and that should garner even more scrutiny.

The difference here is that only the police are allowed to carry firearms. If neighbourhood watch personnel used firearms they would be tried for manslaughter at the very least and more likely murder.
 
I wonder what our resident racist Webwanker will make of this disgusting incident?


ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - The family of a 17-year-old African-American boy shot to death last month in his gated Florida community by a white Neighborhood Watch captain wants to see the captain arrested, the family's lawyer said on Wednesday. Trayvon Martin was shot dead after he took a break from watching NBA All-Star game television coverage to walk 10 minutes to a convenience store to buy snacks including Skittles candy requested by his 13-year-old brother, Chad, the family's lawyer Ben Crump said.

"He was a good kid," Crump said in an interview, adding that the family would issue a call for the Watch captain's arrest at a news conference on Thursday. "On his way home, a Neighborhood Watch loose cannon shot and killed him." Trayvon, who lived in Miami with his mother, had been visiting his father and stepmother in a gated townhome community called The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, 20 miles north of Orlando. As Trayvon returned to the townhome, Sanford police received a 911 call reporting a suspicious person.

Although names are blacked out on the police report, Crump and media reports at the time of the shooting identified the caller as George Zimmerman who is listed in the community's newsletter as the Neighborhood Watch captain. Without waiting for police to arrive, Crump said, Zimmerman confronted Trayvon, who was on the sidewalk near his home. By the time police got there, Trayvon was dead of a single gunshot to the chest.

"What do the police find in his pocket? Skittles," Crump said. "A can of Arizona ice tea in his jacket pocket and Skittles in his front pocket for his brother Chad."
Zimmerman could not be reached for comment on Wednesday evening at a phone number listed for him on the community's newsletter. Crump said the family was concerned that police might decide to consider the shooting as self defense, and that police have ignored the family's request for a copy of the original 911 call, which they think will shed light on the incidents. "If the 911 protocol across the country held to form here, they told him not to get involved. He disobeyed that order," said Ryan Julison, a spokesman for the family.

"He (Zimmerman) didn't have to get out of his car," said Crump, who has prepared a public records lawsuit to file on Thursday if the family doesn't get the 911 tape. "If he never gets out of his car, there is no reason for self-defense. Trayvon only has skittles. He has the gun." Since Trayvon, a high school junior who wanted to be a pilot, was black and Zimmerman is white, Crump said race is "the 600 pound elephant in the room." "Why is this kid suspicious in the first place? I think a stereotype must have been placed on the kid," Crump said.


http://news.yahoo.com/family-florida-boy-killed-neighborhood-watch-seeks-arrest-044537742.html

So tragic, so needless.
 
The difference here is that only the police are allowed to carry firearms. If neighbourhood watch personnel used firearms they would be tried for manslaughter at the very least and more likely murder.

Most 'Neighborhood Watch' groups here do not allow firearms either, regardless of licensing. However in this case, so far nothing is coming out about rules or lack of such. Then again, nothing about the one who shot this young man having or not having a permit.
 
His ass is grass.......unless he can convince a jury he was threatened by the Skittles....
 
It turned out to be as you said.
Went further up the political chain of command then I thought. The police chief temporarily resigned, the local DA has stepped down and the States Atty has recused himself.

The Governor and politicians in Florida are going to start putting some heat on for an arrest as this will probably get political and cost some politicians who advocated the "Stand Your Ground" law their jobs.
 
Went further up the political chain of command then I thought. The police chief temporarily resigned, the local DA has stepped down and the States Atty has recused himself.

The Governor and politicians in Florida are going to start putting some heat on for an arrest as this will probably get political and cost some politicians who advocated the "Stand Your Ground" law their jobs.

Have you heard about this case?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/florida-shootings-brits-pleaded-home-032223847.html
 
I'm curious......with all the posts here about "white on black", why has no one pointed out yet that Zimmerman was actually Hispanic?.......
 
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