I'm surprised Fraggle. Surprised that you're spinning of the story with emotional words like "stalking" and "child". Seriously? According to what definition was Zimmerman "stalking" Martin?
Following him down the street in his car at walking speed, then getting out of the car and following close behind him on foot, when there were no other people around? What better definition is there of "stalking?" If you noticed someone doing that behind you, what would you call it?
His engine appears to be malfunctioning so his car can't go faster than 3mph. Oops, now the car has stopped dead. He's the only person in Florida without a cellphone so he's getting out of the car to look for help. He's following me because he doesn't know this part of town and he hopes I'm heading for some place that has a pay phone. Instead of hailing me and asking for help, he's walking behind me because he has tuberculosis and he doesn't want me to catch it.
Is that what you'd think? Yeah right!
If you looked out your window and saw some creep doing that to your kid, what would you do?
To the other, Trayvon may have legally been a "child" but how do we demonstrate that Zimmerman was aware of the fact that Martin was shy of majority by a few months? Is it even relevant?
No, it's not relevant. It's illegal to stalk
anybody. My point is simply that an adult stalkee might have had the presence of mind to whip out his cellphone and punch in 911, whereas a kid might have been scared and might not respond rationally.
What if (yes "if") Zimmerman suspected that Trayvon was also armed?
It doesn't matter! He had no business stalking the poor kid! He was
already in the wrong and because of that he had already forfeited his rights.
Would he then be justified in fearing for his life?
Well of course when you do something creepy and scary, you should wonder whether your victim is armed. Duh?
How should it have played out here in trigger-happy Florida in gun-loving USA?
I'm not sure, but I know what
will happen is that trigger-happy gun-totin' citizens like Milkweed will use this as an excuse to lobby Congress to pass a law requiring every child to carry a gun for his own protection.
Won't that make America a safe place to live!
Why not focus on fixing the system rather than expressing outrage over an isolated case?
I have enough of an attention span to do both. The verdict came down and the nation is still in shock, so this is the proper moment to express outrage, if only to show support for Martin's family in their time of grief, and to put Zimmerman's family on notice that it's time for them to go back to Peru--before some other gun-totin' American tracks them down and teaches their son what it's like to grieve over the murder of a family member.
There is a systemic problem that needs to be addressed by the legislature . . . .
Of course. But it won't happen. Congress is in the pocket of the NRA. Every reasonable measure to address the epidemic of gun violence--in fact even the most timid measures--have been "shot down," as it were. America has become the laughingstock of the developed world. You have to go to a failed state like Honduras or Swaziland to find a significantly higher death toll from firearms.
. . . . but let's not use Zimmerman as a convenient scapegoat.
Why not? This is how America works. How come the bad guys get to use this technique but we don't?
I followed the case on HLN very closely, and from what I could see there simply wasn't enough evidence presented to bolster the incendiary claims that you put forth.
That's never stopped a prosecutor before. Oh wait, that only works if the defendant is Afro-American and the victim is Euro-American. Sorry, I forgot.
The perp has to be a beloved athlete to be acquitted of both the crime of murder and the crime of BWB (breathing while black)--like O.J. Simpson.
Let's stick with the facts, eh?
The fact is that we should have just let the South leave. Their medieval fairytale economy, with slaves filling in for the yeomen, would have collapsed in 20 years in the face of industrialization.