TMF

No, intent to pursue/intervene. I think that is the crux of this issue when it comes to prosecution: did Zimmerman initiate confrontation? I think the prosecution can use that conversation with the dispatcher to illustrate to the jury what his intent was, and that is what led to the shooting. Just because he may have been in fear of his life doesn't mean that he can't be prosecuted for starting a situation that led to the teen's death. If I find a guy twice my size and go slap him on the face I bet I'll be in fear of my life when he starts pummeling me; perhaps it makes the shoot justified but still makes me criminally liable that I caused the whole situation. I think that's where this is going when Zimmerman gets indicted.

Not to get of topic, but I watched a Black Panther representative put a bounty out for the capture of Zimmerman on CNN this morning. Could the legal eagles out there explain to me why this person isn't in custody? Isn't this conspiracy to commit kidnapping or something like that? If I was to do the same thing only change "Zimmerman" to "Jesse Jackson" wouldn't I be enjoying the view from the inside of a jail cell?

No, and even if the dispatcher would have ordered him not to it is in no way a legal order. However, it still will be relevant in court the same as if you and I were out and I had suggested the same to you. If you were to ignore my suggestion then it gives the jury insight into you state of mind and intent.

I don't doubt that the SYG law is used as a defense but that doesn't mean it's used successfully. I could go out and shoot a quadriplegic elderly man and use the SYG defense, but that doesn't mean I'll being successful in doing so.

Yep, looks the way I did when I was a teenager, only a little darker. I don't suppose my family would be releasing that to the media no matter what the circumstances of my death might be.

It's convenient that we can discount one witness statement but totally accept another as truth. Its all suspect or none of it is. I also disagree with absolutes suggesting this was either a justified shoot or there is just some giant conspiracy. The police couldn't make an arrest on scene due to the SYG law and the statement they got from the shooter. If Martin was still alive and made a statement to police that Zimmerman attacked him then he probably would be arrested. Since then the PD did their investigation and handed it off to the DA. Maybe Zimmerman was days away from being arrested when this went national. We don't know that yet. Either way, I would agree at this point it'll be hard to get a fair trial, but then again folks have said that before and they were still able to find jurors that gave a verdict based on evidence alone or lack of evidence (Casey Anthony). Just because the media hype and the involvement of Jesse Jackson doesn't mean something bad didn't happen. I don't trust the media either, but I didn't suspect the shooter of wrongdoing until I heard the 911 tape. All other witness accounts can be countered by other witness accounts, but Zimmerman's words are his own and that should be enough for a Grand Jury to look into it.

About as a reliable news source as MSNBC. I'm glad that a news outlet is presenting another side, but you can't counter or disprove press accounts with other press accounts. It all is suspect.

911 tapes. Two facts: Zimmerman's own words on record; there is a dead 17 year old. Everything else is up for question, but those two things together tell a story that needs to be looked at by a jury.

I never had one of those high speed loaders but I heard of them. The first time I trained on a PKM/PKC I remember spending at least two hours opening the tuna cans of ammo and seating it into belts by hand. It was interesting to me the first time I saw an Iraqi do it... their technique was much more perfected than mine.

Agreed. This will the new battle cry for the anti-gun crowds. I'm from Florida originally and can remember when Florida was passing all this legislation designed to protect citizens who defended themselves. Shortly after the SYG went through the libs put up a billboard at the Florida border which said "WARNING: Florida residents authorized to use deadly force" or something to that effect. I saw this on my way down from TN and thought that sign was actually put there by pro-SYG people as a way to deter criminals from choosing Florida as a crime haven. Turns out it was a feeble attempt by the bed wetters to undermine the tourism industry. No matter how this pans out, you can bet that there will be a push to repeal, even though the law is probably not what emboldened Zimmerman. The law simply prevented police from arresting him on the spot, but it won't keep him from sitting in front of a jury.

That Sir... is a good one.

I stand corrected. Next person I see wearing a hoodie in my neighborhood and I'm stalking him. Hopefully I get me a chance to shoot me one before he rapes one of "our" women or brings down my property value.

I was in Kroger yesterday and counted three young black males wearing hoodies. I guess its possible that is the norm, but I never paid it much attention. With this story fresh in my mind I took note. I bet if I followed them all around the store that would have agitated them. Maybe if I continued and followed them home in my car that would have really put their radar up about me and perhaps have mentally prepared them to deal with me as a threat. Then maybe I get out of my car and close the distance with them. I would imagine that would provoke most reasonable people into conflict. I guess if I thought the were suspicious I should just call the police and keep my distance, just in case they just happen to enjoy wearing hoodies as he style. BTW, I was able to do my shopping without shooting any of these young, hooded black males, but if I did I would expect you guys to blame their parents for not dressing more appropriately.

Non disintegrating links = pain in the a$$ to reload. I guess the Russians figured that Ivan had nothing better to do in the field.

Yep, the media distorts the facts and ad-lib when necessary to sensationalize a story. On thing they can't distort are Zimmerman's own words. I heard them, read the transcripts. He was stalking the kid. I have been on several suspensions during high school and middle school; two of them were 5 day suspensions. I had to fight sometimes, and every one of my fights were instigated by the other party. So what?

You're right Dave, I assumed the OP meant that the officer had him at gunpoint. I guess he could have just had it out. Aside from that I'm sure an officer could justify anything if worded properly in a statement but that doesn't mean that anyone with a HCP should be okay with a gun being pulled on them for no reason. We live in a state that issues HCPs and officers should adapt to that environment. I bet a police officer could kick in my door right now and hold me at gunpoint and be able to justify it to his superiors. Maybe he heard a woman scream; maybe he saw me brandishing one of my awesome ginzu knives whilst prepping dinner and thought I was a threat to defenseless onions. The point is that we as a people shouldn't be okay with that, and when we are treated in such manners we should do something rather than just roll over and accept the fact that nothing will come of our efforts. Maybe this cop has a record of abuses. Maybe this could be the straw that takes a bad cop off the street. Or maybe the officer feels really bad about the exchange, and upon complaint he apologizes to the OP and seeks to inform other officers of the incident so they don't so easily jump to such conclusions on such little information. Hell, I just voted for a candidate that has no hopes of winning the primary, but I did it anyway because that's my responsibility. I didn't just stay home because I figured there was no point to fight the inevitable. That attitude is why we have lost our soul as a country.

Okay, couldn't get the video to work. I would agree on avoiding confrontation, especially when packing. A few weeks ago I was at the park with my three year old. Guy gets out of his truck with a 90 lb pound pit bull and just lets him run off leash. The dog proceeds to piss on the playground equipment. I scooped up my kid immediately. I wanted so bad to tell him to leash his dog, but called the cops instead. I'm sure the police have more important things to do than enforce leash laws, but I should be able to take my kid to the park without worrying about my child coming into contact with such a large animal under no control. I'm sure if I had confronted the guy it wouldn't have ended in any desired outcome of mine.

Okay, I see how my statement could be misunderstood so let me clarify: No, I don't think arrests should be made due to pressure from the media or any special interest groups. I DO think it is important that such organizations draw attention to cases like this where a thorough investigation should be conducted, but is perhaps being mishandled. History has shown us that public servants can make mistakes due to incompetence or even corruption. Only after intense media scrutiny and outcry from the people have government officials been forced to perform their duties properly and punish those that have done wrong. This is evident all throughout the civil rights movement. The people want to see justice done. If this guy is innocent then that should come out either after a thorough investigation or in a courtroom. Anytime that you have an unarmed person dead from another's hand there should be intense scrutiny. Like I said, maybe there is; maybe the media reports blasting the investigation are wrong; maybe the DA was only days away from making an arrest or clearing him of wrongdoing. I don't know that. What I do know are the words from Zimmerman's own mouth, and they tell a story of an over zealous mall cop looking for trouble. Congrats to him, he found it. Now he can wear the badge of courage you get from shooting an unarmed teenager. Hero indeed.

Agreed 100 percent.

Couldn't get this to work on my phone, but I get the gist based on your comments. I imagine the reason the other story got so much press initially was due to the 911 tapes and how incriminating they were to the shooter. Pair that up with the fact there was no arrest, sprinkle a little racial tension on top and you got yourself a national story. Shooting an unarmed kid on a skateboard is hard to sensationalize without further info, and there is less potential for a cover-up scandal since the guy is in custody. Equally tragic, but less movie-like drama.

Actually that entire statement is contrary to another witness account of the incident.

I do this too when driving to places with lots of traffic lights or congested areas with a lot of slow and go. Pistol is secured in holster between cushions and I holster it to my side when exiting. I can't access my CC holster sitting down and seat belted in. In regards to this officer, I don't see how it is legal for him to pull his weapon. I understand that it's PC for a stop, but holding him at gun point?? I'd call 911 as soon as the officer let me go. The next call would be to the local news. This is why I will have my video phone running during ANY stop. Officers like this need to be rooted out and find another profession.

And what does a Duke lacrosse player have to do with this guy stalking and killing a 17 year old boy? Like I said in an earlier post, when this story first broke I figured there was something missing from the boy's side of the story. Perhaps he was up to no good. It wasn't until it broke nationally that I heard the 911 tape and then read the transcript. I didn't need a sensational story in the media to figure out what happened here. The media accounts really have nothing to do with my opinion; Zimmerman's own words were what formed my opinion. I'll agree 100 percent that the media has sensationalized this story for the purpose of exploiting racial tensions in order to boost ratings. I bet folks like Anderson Cooper lay in bed at night praying that something like this will happen so they can feed on it like vultures. But that doesn't mean something really wrong didn't happen here. The 911 tapes alone should be enough for the PD to look very hard at this instead of writing it off as a SD shoot. Hell, maybe they were and the accounts of altering witness statements and not doing a toxicology on the shooter is false. What I do know as fact are what came out of Zimmerman's own mouth. He stalked that kid. He got out of his car. He shot him. Unless that boy was in the act of committing a serious crime (on a public sidewalk) he had no business initiating confrontation and subsequently shooting him.

Somehow I have a feeling that this guy probably isn't legally allowed to possess a firearm.

Well normally I would agree with you that authorities shouldn't make arrests based on sensationalized pressure from the press, but I think in this case it was good they got the word out. The Sanford PD mishandled this case as is evident by the fact they never even interviewed a witness who was on the phone with Trevon during the chase and the confrontation. Only now that the Feds are involved is she being interviewed.