I didn't catch the full conversation, lost in thought as I usually am on my way from the Hub to the parking lot where I meet My Sweet Baboo after work. The speaker, a young black woman, was quite animated as the group walked down Salina Street towards the hub.
Zimmerman knew what he was doing, man. He saw Trayvon, he followed him, he called it in and he followed him even after 911 told him not to. We don't need you to do that, they told him and he did it anyway.The group of women with her all offered their agreement, nodding and responding with affirmatives as if in church.
If he'da just paid attention and not followed, there wouldn't a been a fight and Trayvon wouldn't be dead and there'd be no trial cuz he was just walking through, he wasn't doing nothing.Again, affirmative gestures and comments.
And Zimmerman will get off. He's going to get off, man, even though he killed Trayvon. Cuz they let you kill people in Florida, man, you can just kill people there.Thoughts?
I watched a lot of this trial during my vacation--Zimmerman's attorneys are very good at casting reasonable doubt. Personally, I think he's guilty of some degree of manslaughter, but it remains to be seen whether the prosecution proved that.
ReplyDeleteThanks, MA -- I haven't seen anything other than news reports, but there seems to be some general consensus on reasonable doubt. It will be interesting to see what the jury does with this, and how long it will take them to come to a decision.
DeleteGoogle Jonathan Paul Foster, 2010. Never heard of him- color me shocked...
ReplyDeleteCan't make that national news now can we...
"the initial decision not to charge Zimmerman received national and international attention and scrutiny. Allegations of racist motivation for both the shooting and police conduct, along with intense media reporting that was sometimes inaccurate, contributed to public demands for Zimmerman's arrest." Many of people's passionate opinions and outcries stemmed from the sometimes inaccurate reporting- First impressions are lasting impressions...
This trial is inherently divisive in nature, great for media ratings and therefore ad revenue.
I guess I just can't understand why Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman are household names and Jonathan Paul Foster and Mona Yvette Nelson are not. Why is one more deserving of National Media Coverage than the other...???
Thanks Jay. I'm not sure I would expect a horrible crime in Houston to make the national news, without a 'current events' connection like those so prevalent in the Zimmerman/Martin case. The combination of 2nd Amendment issues, including Florida's stand your ground law, plus a man admitting to shooting an unarmed teenager after being told by a 911 operator to not follow the kid -- these are things that make the Zimmerman case more broadly discussed than the Foster case, which may in fact be more horrific. I look at the Casey Anthony trial - a waste of national new time for sure - as more of a correlation to the Foster case. Both horrible, both an adult charged with killing a child, but in and of themselves, neither seem compelling from a national news/household name perspective.
DeleteThat being said, I agree that there's too much sensationalist (and inaccurate) reporting going on, on a host of topics. Rarely does a day go by that I don't bark at the newspaper or TV for something that's being reported. It's almost too easy these days.
http://youtu.be/bF-Ax5E8EJc
ReplyDeleteeye opening... and brings to light just how inflammatory the media is being