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

[annalia]

I am saying that, actually. There is a public belief that this was a child, that a grown man wouldn't have felt threatened with serious harm in a confrontation with him.

Did you see that ridiculous mock-up of this event on that news site? It looked like something they created on the SIMS or something. This huge muscular blond fellow attacking this little Black boy. Ridiculous. That's NOT what it looked like. That kind of representation, along with the middle school prepubescent pic of Trayvon in the football uniform, skew the public perception of what happened here, and what GZ would have been experiencing in this encounter.

IMHO.

He was a child. He didn't look that much different to me in his more recent pictures. The pictures showed his life, the life that was cut short by a vigilante.

And he WAS half GZ's size in weight, only a few inches taller than GZ.

If it's important for some to need to portray Tray as the big scary black dude to make what GZ did ok, then I don't know what to say. But it says it all to me.

End of this particular discussion for me before I get timed out.

 

[MicciStella]

Petition Link please?!?!

You looking for this one?

http://www.change.org/petitions/prosecute-the-killer-of-our-son-17-year-old-trayvon-martin

Blessings

Micci

 

[Adrienne37]

Are we really now going to debate whether or not Trayvon was a child? Good grief, I do believe I've heard it all. Of course he was a child. He wasn't old enough to vote, he wasn't old enough to enter the military, he was still in high school. I think I've seen it all now.

Awe, bless this little man's heart. He lost his family.

 

[ScubaTwinn]

Well, the way WE on this board define aggression isn't the way the law does. In the eyes of the law, approaching someone and asking what they are doing is not a crime. It's not an illegal act of aggression. Thank God, I think.

Respectfully - Please do not speak for me by saying WE on this board define aggression as....Thank you.

 

[annalia]

This was not Texas and if TM were an adult the crime is the same. TM was doing nothing wrong whether he was 13, 17, 21, 45 he was just walking home. jmo

my bolding

And that will never change.

 

[Adrienne37]

He was a child. He didn't look that much different to me in his more recent pictures. The pictures showed his life, the life that was cut short by a vigilante.

And he WAS half GZ's size in weight, only a few inches taller than GZ.

If it's important for some to need to portray Tray as the big scary black dude to make what GZ did ok, then I don't know what to say. But it says it all to me.

End of this particular discussion for me before I get timed out.

Add this to the fact that Trayvon was carrying Skittles and a can of iced tea makes him all the more scary. How dare he!

 

[rossva]

BBM I completely disagree with that. People armed, imo, are just as likely, if not more likely, to start a physical fight because they know if things go south during the fight, they have back up.

I COMPLETELY agree that a person who is armed would NEVER physically attack someone, and that's why I'm pretty convinced GZ didn't attack Trayvon. People who are packing heat don't initiate hand combat with opponents that look like they're a match.

(and despite the weight difference, GZ was fat, not big and muscular. Fat doesn't make someone fight well).

 

[ScubaTwinn]

GZ may have thought Trayvon was armed, he obviously thought he was up to no good, so he may well have been in fear for his life.

Then he should have waited for the police to arrive instead of taking matters into his own hands.

 

[rotterdam]

I hadn't thought about it actually. I don't personally consider a 17 year old as a child...at least not in the same sense that a 10 year old is a child. But no, I have no hidden agenda to imply the mods are incorrect.

They still think very much like a child and do get scared like a child.

 

[LambChop]

What places would that be and which handgun training teaches that? I find this statement hard to believe, considering I can't think of any place at which someone can be shot safely.

The legs, arms and shoulder areas. Many states require you take a safety course before getting a handgun:

Requirements:
Submit to a background check, which is designed to discover if you're a person who's prohibited from owning firearms by federal law. Some prohibited persons include those that have been convicted of a serious crime, drug users, the mentally ill, fugitives from justice, illegal aliens, those who have renounced their citizenship, those discharged dishonorably from the armed services, those who have restraining orders against them and those who have been convicted of domestic violence.

Complete a firearms safety course. Some states require this before you can have a license issued to you.

BBM: How did he ever get a license to carry a concealed weapon with his history of domestic complaints????? And whoa, an assault on a police officer.

 

[JeannaT]

BBM I completely disagree with that. People armed, imo, are just as likely, if not more likely, to start a physical fight because they know if things go south during the fight, they have back up.

Hmmm. I'm just considering people I know, and stories I've read, about people with concealed carry licenses.

When it comes to the point where a physical fight is about to start, they don't start it with punches themselves. They hang back and hang back and if a physical fight is about to start, they draw their gun and it's over - who wants to punch someone holding a gun?

Honestly, the people I know with a concealed carry license are older than GZ by a real margin. So maybe their behavior is different.

 

[jjenny]

The legs, arms and shoulder areas. Many states require you take a safety course before getting a handgun:

Requirements:
Submit to a background check, which is designed to discover if you're a person who's prohibited from owning firearms by federal law. Some prohibited persons include those that have been convicted of a serious crime, drug users, the mentally ill, fugitives from justice, illegal aliens, those who have renounced their citizenship, those discharged dishonorably from the armed services, those who have restraining orders against them and those who have been convicted of domestic violence.

Complete a firearms safety course. Some states require this before you can have a license issued to you.

BBM: How did he ever get a license to carry a concealed weapon with his history of domestic complaints????? And whoa, an assault on a police officer.

Really? Handgun training teaches you to shoot someone in an arm or a leg?
I don't believe that. It's a very small target that is easy to miss.

 

[JeannaT]

The legs, arms and shoulder areas. Many states require you take a safety course before getting a handgun:

Requirements:
Submit to a background check, which is designed to discover if you're a person who's prohibited from owning firearms by federal law. Some prohibited persons include those that have been convicted of a serious crime, drug users, the mentally ill, fugitives from justice, illegal aliens, those who have renounced their citizenship, those discharged dishonorably from the armed services, those who have restraining orders against them and those who have been convicted of domestic violence.

Complete a firearms safety course. Some states require this before you can have a license issued to you.

BBM: How did he ever get a license to carry a concealed weapon with his history of domestic complaints????? And whoa, an assault on a police officer.

I don't think he has any convictions.

 

[rossva]

And in a mother's eye, her son can do no wrong.

Plus, Trayvon's mom recognized his voice. A mother knows.

 

[rotterdam]

I'm enjoying Rev Al Sharpton, tonight.

I like Al Sharpton. Kind of a media hound but a loveable one.

 

[Lovejac]

What places would that be and which handgun training teaches that? I find this statement hard to believe, considering I can't think of any place at which someone can be shot safely.

My husband has his concealed weapons permit and he had to take an 8 hour training course.

He was taught, among many other things, areas of the body to aim so as NOT to kill.

 

[princesspjs]

Perhaps Zimmerman did feel his life was in danger, and was screaming "NO, NO, HELP, NO, HELP!" because he kwew he was armed, and was desperately hoping some one else would intervene before he had to resort with deadly force. I know I would want to try all alternatives before I killed some one, even in self defense.

If that were true, then according to this 911 call in which you can clearly hear the screaming, Zimmerman would have had to hold out his gun out and point it directly at Trayvon's chest, scream "HELP!" directly at Tray and then immediately pull the trigger, killing him.

That scenario just doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Inabsentia]

I'm aware of those tests, I don't think they reflect society as a whole.

I think they perfectly represent altogether too much of society, <modsnip>. I say this as someone who holds a sociology degree. JMO of course.

 

[jjenny]

My husband has his concealed weapons permit and he had to take an 8 hour training course.

He was taught, among many other things, areas of the body to aim so as NOT to kill.

You can easily kill someone by shooting them in the leg if you hit an artery.

 

[rossva]

Isn't that your own conclusion, without basing it on any factual evidence and then posted it here as if it were an actual fact?

Will you please stop proclaiming that GZ was jumped? You can't just come to your own conclusion, without basing it on any factual evidence and then post it here as if it were an actual fact.

GZ wasn't afraid because he wanted to make sure this "f'n punk" didn't get away and he had a gun.