- Ta-Nehisi Coates is a senior editor for The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics, and social issues for TheAtlantic.com and the magazine. He is the author of the memoir The Beautiful Struggle. More
ByMar 20 2012, 8:15 AM
The Sham Investigation Into
Trayvon Martin's Killing
As it happens, Trayvon Martin was on the phone when George Zimmerman was following him. The young lady with whom he was speaking, through her lawyer, talked to ABC News:"He said this man was watching him, so he put his hoodie on. He said he lost the man," Martin's friend said. "I asked Trayvon to run, and he said he was going to walk fast. I told him to run but he said he was not going to run."
Eventually he would run, said the girl, thinking that he'd managed to escape. But suddenly the strange man was back, cornering Martin. "Trayvon said, 'What, are you following me for,' and the man said, 'What are you doing here.' Next thing I hear is somebody pushing, and somebody pushed Trayvon because the head set just fell. I called him again and he didn't answer the phone."
The line went dead. Besides screams heard on 911 calls that night as Martin and Zimmerman scuffled, those were the last words he said.ABC News verified that Martin did talk to the young lady by looking at his phone records. I don't know that they can corroborate the exact contents of the conversation.
Nevertheless, when you read this, it's worth remembering the tale Zimmerman told the cops:Zimmerman said he had stepped out of his truck to check the name of the street he was on when Trayvon attacked him from behind as he walked back to his truck, police said. He said he feared for his life and fired the semiautomatic handgun he was licensed to carry because he feared for his life.This tale was broadly repeated by Zimmerman's father who claimed that his son had neither pursued nor confronted Martin.
We know that this is almost certainly fiction. We have Zimmerman's on the 911 call explicitly stating that he was pursuing Martin because, "These assholes. They always get away."And we now have someone on the phone claiming a "strange man" was following Martin.
Again, I don't know that Zimmerman will ever do a lick of jail time, or even see a court room. But what angers people is not simply that Zimmerman might get off, but that the Sanford police would conduct a shoddy investigation, claim it was thorough, and then claim that all who objected were compromised by prejudice:Our investigation is color blind and based on the facts and circumstances, not color. I know I can say that until I am blue in the face, but, as a white man in a uniform, I know it doesn't mean anything to anybody.This investigation wasn't one. It was a sham, an homage to the bad old days of Southern justice. Lee should resign.
Emily Bazelon has more on the actual laws in Florida, though the more I see of this, the less I think "Stand Your Ground" will save Zimmerman.
__________________________
>via: http://instagr.am/p/IcwM_bPXT1/
__________________________
Trayvon Martin case:
Sponsors of Florida
‘Stand Your Ground’
law say George Zimmerman
should be arrested
‘They got the goods on him. They need to prosecute whoever shot the kid,’ former GOP state lawmaker says
BY PHILIP CAULFIELD / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
PHIL COALE/AP
Florida state Rep. Dennis Baxley in 2005. Baxley and Former state Sen. Durell Peaden sponsored the state’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law, which has come under fire in the wake of the shooting of Trayvon Martin.
PHIL COALE/AP
Former Florida state Sen. Durell Peaden in 2005.
MARTIN FAMILY PHOTOS VIA AP
Trayvon Martin
The Florida lawmakers who crafted the state's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law said neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman should be arrested for shooting and killing unarmed teen Trayvon Martin.
Former state Sen. Durell Peaden and current state Rep. Dennis Baxley said the law they wrote in 2005, which allows someone who feels threatened to "meet force with force" without backing down first, was being misapplied in the shooting death of the 17-year-old, the Miami Herald reported.
"They got the goods on him. They need to prosecute whoever shot the kid," Peaden, a Republican, told the Herald. "He has no protection under my law."
EARLIER: MARTIN'S PARENTS SAY ZIMMERMAN IS GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER
Under the “Stand Your Ground” law, someone who feels threatened can used deadly force "if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony."
Self-defense laws in other states say that a victim has to make an attempt to retreat before resorting to killing, unless they are at home, under the so-called "castle doctrine."
DAILY NEWS EDITORIAL: MARTIN CASE REVEALS OUR OBSESSION WITH GUNS
Zimmerman has said he fired in self-defense because the teen came after him.
But Peaden and Baxley said that 911 tapes showing that Zimmerman followed Martin despite a dispatcher's request to stay away appeared to show that the 28-year-old crime watch volunteer was the aggressor.
"The guy lost his defense right then," Peaden told the Herald. "When he said, 'I'm following him,' he lost his defense."
The pair noted, hwoever, that they didn't know all the facts of the case and their opinions could change if new details were uncovered.
In recent days, as attention to the case has exploded around the country, the "Stand Your Ground" law has come into the crosshairs of activists, celebrities and political opponents calling for its repeal.
But Peaden said the policy was misunderstood and didn't provide protection for vigilantes who take the law into their own hands.
"He's kind of stretching a whole bunch of things," Peaden said of Zimmerman's self-defense claim. "And if he has a gun, that's premeditated. There's nothing in the Florida law that allows him to follow someone with a damn gun."
>via: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/trayvon-martin-case-sponsors-florida...