As more details are coming out, I’m beginning to wonder if both Trayvon Martin and Zimmerman were at fault here.

It’s turning out that the screams for help on the 911 tape were perhaps from Zimmerman. Also, there’s apparently a witness that saw Trayvon Martin on top of Zimmerman while screaming for help and Zimmerman has a broken nose and the police found him bloodied when they arrived.

It’s starting to seem like Zimmerman was amped up and chasing this innocent kid around because he was black and “suspicious”. Trayvon Martin felt threatened and made the horrible mistake of turning on Zimmerman after at first trying to get away.

I think we all (including myself) have jumped to too many conclusions against Zimmerman and the police department at this point and the hive-mind has taken over.

I do think it sounds like Zimmerman used excessive force after being an idiot by chasing after this kid. But, is he really the demon we have all made him out to be? Probably not.

Is it a good idea that people like Zimmerman are running around with guns as neighborhood watchmen? Probably not, either.

I’m not necessarily advocating a return to the wild west, but I would like to see something of a return to civility from our police.  And the notion that he might get a legal (literal) ass kicking if he exceeds his authority, might go some way to that end.

But the petition it just a series of records on a computer somewhere. It doesn’t even have any arms or legs.

Yes, because the police declining to arrest Zimmerman, denying knowledge of the cel phone Trayvon was using at the time, and badgering witnesses into changing their statements – none of that would *ever* create any animosity!

“politicizing the case with marches and petitions this early is bloody stupid”

You realise this happened several weeks ago, right? What is the appropriate waiting time before rallying to point out injustice?

I think you mean caveat, because baaa.

And I’m not writing here about things that ALL whites tend to do. After all, those who care to learn about their largely unconscious tendencies then tend to learn how to stop enacting them. Which is all to the good, given the ongoing white-dominated social structure.

That man is innocent until proven guilty and its possible, albeit unlikely that this was a legitimate case under Florida law.

Which is why, in case anyone was wondering, so many people have been calling Florida’s law stupid.

As for railroading Zimmerman, if you care more about that distant possibility than him actually shooting people without repercussions… well, maybe you’re not so concerned that everyone gets due process after all.

The “better safe than sorry” mentality has done much to erode basic civil liberties and community spirit in the US, and has funneled vast amounts of money and power to those who know how to cynically manipulate these fears, both in the government and the “security/intel” corporations – all under the cover of this farcical “patriotic-conservative-family values” claptrap.

1) However, in this case, as has been amply repeated, “Stand Your Ground” legislation simply does not seem to be applicable. The victim was not in any way presenting a threat to Zimmerman, it was the contrary – in this case, was actually Trayvon Martin who might have had a case for invoking “Stand Your Ground” for his defense, as he was the one being pursued by an irrational, impulsive guy with a gun. The question is : do you think HE had a right to defend himself from Zimmerman?
2) Less guns would be better. The problem here though is not so much that Zimmerman had a gun, but rather that he was a paranoid young man with possibly racist ideologies. Taking his gun away doesn’t solve that fundamental problem, education and better politics do – and the fact that such “gated communities” exist in the first place is a problem.
3) Police use unjustifiable (sometimes lethal) force and violate the rights of citizens regularly – I hope you criticize this as well. Do want police to have a total monopoly on lethal force? You can’t simply move to change the law every time an atrocity occurs, as this would mean the law is constantly changing. Whatever the law is people will always be behaving badly, interdicting certain activities will not necessarily keep people from them. You can never totally eradicate stupidity through enacting legislation. Violent crime on the whole is way down, this is indisputable. Why this is may be a different story, however :
http://nplusonemag.com/raise-the-crime-rate

I was about to respond, “Why is that so hard for so many (especially white) people to see?” Then I remembered, yeah, it’s because their privileges, and heir tcommon raced tendencies, are largely unconscious.

Get some perspective.

Another sign of white privilege is absolute outrage at having your race called out… once… in a message board. OMG it’s intolerable! No one should live like that, and that’s why it’s important to pretend that no one does!