FL - 17-yo Teen Shot to Death by Neighborhood Watch Captain #3

[gxm]

LZ Granderson is a commenter for CNN. IMHO, he is always a breath of fresh air and makes perfect sense - and is reliable. I do see his point -

On a lighter note, anyone who listens to Dave Chapelle, a black stand up comedian - he's got some really funny but I'm sure true routines about being Black and being stopped by cops. Black men and white men do seem to be treated very differently.

BBM.

Seem is the operative word. Yes, it is public perception that LE treats AAs differently than anyone else. But, IMO, it's not the whole truth. I often follow police abuse stories and, in my experience, it crosses color lines. Case in point, I started a thread on the Crimes in the News forum about Patricia Cook, an unarmed 54-year old white woman who was shot dead by a cop. (Her crime, apparently, was sitting in her car in a church parking lot.) Similar to the Martin case, LE's story is not gibing with eye witness accounts. However, PC's case is getting minimal media attention and appears to be languishing.

What I find interesting is that I often hear or read complaints of "another blonde-haired white girl gone missing, nobody cares when women of color go missing." But, conversely, the only police abuse cases that seem to garner national attention and outrage almost always involve AA men or AA teens.

Personally, I think it's a shame we turn cases like TM's into a racial issue. IMO, it's a public safety issue. We should not have armed "neighborhood patrol captains." What we should have is responsive LE who treat the shooting of an unarmed citizen/child as a serious crime demanding their utmost professionalism and rigorous investigation. Lastly, we should have a system set in place that culls the abusive element in police departments. Instead, we have a look the other way and/or sweep it under the rug mentality running rampant in far too many departments. JMHO. JMO. MOO. OMO.

 

[tlcya]

[ame]http://video.foxnews.com/v/1526549434001/president-obama-comments-on-trayvon-martin-case[/ame]

President Obama comments on the case.

 

[Horace Finklestein]

Farrakhan is calling for retaliation, right on schedule

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/far...e-no-peace-law-of-retaliation-may-be-applied/

 

[LolaMoon08]

We moved down to Florida when I was 4-years-old. So I grew up here. The way I was raised... we were not allowed to be racist. My Uncle Willie is black and he has been married to my Aunt for close to 40 years now. My cousins are black. Their spouses are black. Their children are black.

My Great Aunt served as a nurse in World War II and when the war had ended, it had changed her as a person. As a woman. As an American. She told us how in her eyes, we were all equal, so when she was home and a young black man moved off the sidewalk so she could pass, she grabbed him by his hand and told him, "You do not need to move for me." And she would continue to do that.

My first experience with the Ku Klux Klan came at a very young age. My mother was driving us home when these men with robes and hoods on were handing out flyers. My mom yelled for us to immediately roll up the windows and lock the doors, in the only way a mother could yell at her children and you knew to do what she said. We asked her why... all she said was "They are bad people. Bad, bad people."

Growing up, I went to elementary school in Harlem. I went to birthday parties in Harlem and the kids from Harlem came to my birthday parties. My life was very full of friends from all backgrounds.

Going into my teenage years and when I was able to drive, I had a lot of friends in black neighborhoods. I have been pulled over in these neighborhoods more than I can even mention but it was always for the police to tell me, "You don't belong here." I was pulled over because I was white in a black neighborhood. I would explain that I was visiting friends and if they would like to call my mother and ask her if I belong there... she will tell you, yes, I belong there. They would try really hard to make me just go home, but I never would. There is no where that I don't belong!

But that's Florida!

 

[AnaTeresa]

I've lived in NC for almost 2 years now. I have never walked on the other side of the street and never felt I had to when a young man with a hood came walking towards me. Going into the stores if a young man is coming out they hold the door for you and when you say thank you they say yes, Mam, or you're welcome Mam. Everyone is very respectful of one another and it's why I like it here.

When you create a situation out of fear it's what you will get in return. It's human nature. jmo

I agree LambChop. I'm over at the courthouse almost every day, and it is always a sea of humanity. People in suits to people dressed like thugs. And yet, some of the nicest people to hold a door or elevator, to ask if I need help carrying things, and to call me ma'am are the ones dressed in the stereotypically "threatening" manner. I've learned quickly not to judge by appearances because the man with the chains and neck tattoo may be quite nice, while the lawyer in the suit may try and shut the elevator door on my arm.

 

[Velouria]

Farrakhan is calling for retaliation, right on schedule

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/far...e-no-peace-law-of-retaliation-may-be-applied/

As Glenn Beck's website comes chiming in, right on schedule.

 

[Horace Finklestein]

Farrakhan is calling for retaliation, right on schedule

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/far...e-no-peace-law-of-retaliation-may-be-applied/

 

[LolaMoon08]

The board is moving really slow for me? Poor Hailey! I was hoping so much that it was her so that she would have been found and maybe we would have justice for her.

Sad!

 

[LolaMoon08]

Gangstas!

Avril Lavigne

Brittney Spears

Justin Bieber

Mark Zuckerberg

Robert Pattinson

Is that Geraldo Rivera? In a hoodie?

:floorlaugh::floorlaugh::floorlaugh: I was waiting for someone to find a picture of Geraldo in a hoodie! I knew there would be one out there somewhere! You're the best!!

ETA: Team Edward!!

ETA: Was Geraldo in Florida when this picture was taken?

 

[SuziQ]

Why is this man still on TV? No hoodies. Does that mean when it rains I can't go out with the dog with a hoodie to protect myself because security may shoot me? I have at least 10 in my house for when the grandkids visit. Two are mine, the rest are theirs.

IMO Tray was walking with his hood up and head down to protect the phone he was talking into while he spoke with his GF. GZ was following him so why wouldn't TM keep looking around? The incident was created by GZ. He started the pursuit and ended it with deadly results. I do imagine Mr. Z knows what he did wrong and that is why he is hiding. jmo


ETA: LOL. In my post above it would be ME in the hoodie, not the dog.

Well thank goodness for that. We wouldn't want to put your dog in danger too!

http://www.thepet-boutique.com/images/DogClothes/Sweaters/hoodiesweatshirt.jpg

Thanks for the much needed laugh. As a mom to a 17 year old boy, this thread has been stressful for me.

 

[chefmom]

:floorlaugh::floorlaugh::floorlaugh: I was waiting for someone to find a picture of Geraldo in a hoodie! I knew there would be one out there somewhere! You're the best!!

ETA: Team Edward!!

ETA: Was Geraldo in Florida when this picture was taken?

Lol! I don't know which Hurricane it is from, but Daisy posted a clip of the one that blew him on his badunkadunk! What a stupid thing to say!

 

[LolaMoon08]

Lol! I don't know which Hurricane it is from, but Daisy posted a clip of the one that blew him on his badunkadunk! What a stupid thing to say!

I wonder if the man in the blue hoodie would have pushed Geraldo into the water would he be able to claim self defense.

 

[AnaTeresa]

Justin Bieber is totally in the Crips, you know. Haven't you seen his hoodie?

And the site is being super slow for me too.

 

[vlpate]

Honestly, I didn't know before this case that hoodies were gangster - and I actually learned it from Trayvon's dad.

In one of his first appearances he described his son's appearance, and said he was wearing a hoodie but "that was only because it was raining". At the time I thought that was an odd thing to say - that he would clarify why Tray was wearing that. As the days have gone by I've learned that hoodies are gangster.

Hm. I'll certainly remember that next time our PTA has a groundskeeping day and all the moms show up in their hoodies. ;D

It's fine to make fun and say everyone wears hoodies, including our grandmothers. On the other hand, it is totally naive too think it's always just a fad and to feel completely safe when a suspicious person is wearing a solid color hoodie (without decorative marks), over their head and it's not cold or raining -- IOW, no excuse to be covering their head.

Thieves and drug dealers have worn hoodies for YEARS because they can't be ID'd by eyewitnesses or on surveillance cameras. I manage multi-family properties. I had a property about 12 years ago in Dallas, Tx, where drug dealers stood out on the street in front of one of my buildings. I remember the first time I called 911, they asked what the dealers were wearing...all three had on dark hoodies over their heads, black sweats and white tennis shoes. When they saw LE drive up they took off into the buildings - the officer told me that at least 50 other drug dealers in the immediate area are described the same way making it almost impossible to ID them.

Trayvon's dad stumbled a little when he said he had a hoodie on because it was raining, his girlfriend also mentioned the hoodie:

"He said this man was watching him, so he put his hoodie on. He said he lost the man," the 16-year-old girl says.

Why would he put his hoodie on because the man was "watching him"? To hide his face? Obviously.

Here's a great example of criminals wearing hoodies during a home invasion, none could be identified. The examples are countless.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzkGMhH8L1w"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzkGMhH8L1w[/ame]

 

[T4Tide]

Wasn't it raining?

 

[octobermoon]

OFGS it was raining per GZ's call to police.

I think I will keep my grandson in a suit and tie until he is 50 years old.

 

[octobermoon]

I wonder if the man in the blue hoodie would have pushed Geraldo into the water would he be able to claim self defense.

LOL :giggle:

 

[IzzyBlanche]

"Trayvon would be alive if he hadn't been wearing a hoodie" = "She wouldn't have been raped if she hadn't been wearing sexy clothing"

Blame the victim. :banghead:

 

[LambChop]

Wasn't it raining?

It was and he was talking on his phone so I would think the hoodie also protected his phone. I know it keeps mine from getting wet when it's raining and I have to run to the car. jmo

 

[Adrienne37]

Slain teen’s friends say he never picked a fight...

Starting a fight? Possibly high on drugs and up to no good? No, friends say that description of Martin from the neighborhood crime-watch volunteer who shot and killed the unarmed black teenager doesn’t match the young man they knew.

http://www.longislandpress.com/2012/03/23/slain-teens-friends-say-he-never-picked-a-fight/

This is a great article with a lot of information about Trayvon, the type of kid that he was, etc. Trayvon was a hero!! His father fell asleep after putting grease on to fry fish and Trayvon pulled him outside and called 911. So terribly terribly sad that this young man was gunned down for no reason.