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Black Lawmakers Call For Special Prosecutor In Trayvon Martin Shooting
March 22, 2012
Black lawmakers Wednesday called on Gov. Rick Scott to appoint a special prosecutor to oversee the investigation of Trayvon Martin’s death in Sanford last month.
The unarmed black 17-year-old was shot on Feb. 26 by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, who is claiming self-defense and has not been charged.
Martin’s family has maintained all along that Zimmerman should be charged, and state Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, agreed, saying that if Martin had been white and Zimmerman black, Zimmerman would have been arrested by now.
Siplin said Seminole County State Attorney Norm Wolfinger, who said this week that a grand jury will review evidence in the case, should step aside because he regularly deals with the local sheriff.
“We’re not contesting the veracity of the current prosecutor, but…he has a relationship with the sheriff’s department, the police department and the city of Sanford, and we think he should step down,” Siplin said.
Siplin also announced a senatorial fact-finding mission to Sanford. He said he will be joined by two other black senators, Sen. Oscar Braynon, D-Miami Gardens, whose district includes the home of Martin’s mother, and Sen. Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale, who will be the Senate Democratic leader next year, along with three white Republicans: Sens. Joe Negron of Stuart, Lizbeth Benacquisto of Fort Myers and Ronda Storms of Valrico. The group will examine the status of African Americans in Sanford within the next month, Siplin said.
Siplin, who is leaving the Senate in November because of term limits, alleged that in Sanford, whites and blacks are not treated equally by law enforcement.
“The police [have] a history of stopping black folks and taking their fingerprints, or searching their cars without permission. You either let them take your fingerprints, or they threaten to take you to jail,” said Siplin.
The Seminole County State Attorney’s Office and the Sanford Police Department did not immediately return calls for comment.
The shooting death and Zimmerman’s self-defense claim have reopened debate over the 2005 “stand your ground law”,” under which people who feel threatened don’t have to retreat from their attacker before using violence.
Braynon said he believed the law had “empowered people to become vigilantes.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Perry Thurston, D-Plantation, sent a letter to House Speaker Dean Cannon, requesting that a select committee be formed to review the self defense law.
“While no action of any governmental entity can restore the life of Trayvon Martin, I believe it is imperative that the Florida Legislature take this matter seriously and action be taken to prevent future tragedies of this kind,” Thurston wrote.
By The News Service of Florida
Comments
26 Responses to “Black Lawmakers Call For Special Prosecutor In Trayvon Martin Shooting”
If anyone is interested in getting Zimmerman’s side of the story this is an article from the Orlando Sentinel:
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com
An earlier contributor mentioned that if a black person had committed the same crime it would be a hate crime. My retort to that was that several years ago an African American male in New York shot up a subway and made numerous racially charged remarks to the victims, who were mostly white. He wasn’t charged with a hate crime, and his defense crafted a “black rage” defense to the charges.
Now as for this case, it’s in central Florida, many miles removed. I doubt you were there, I know I wasn’t there…so how can any of us do more than make assumptions? When the publisher of the Atmore Advance hints that this a racially motivated issue with no more knowledge of the attack than you and me, isn’t something missing? Anyone ever heard of ‘yellow journalism?’
Some segments of society would love to make a racial issue out of this in order to push their own agenda. Stirring the masses to ensure unrest and to gain their own means to an end.
How about the facts? None of which are known at this time. I suppose the next thing you’ll say is that anyone who doesn’t share your point of view is a racist too? Come on, give me a break, that’s a retread attack from way back.
Everyone needs to get the facts, let the grand jury do their job and go from there. Yet you can see just from following the news that the Zimmerman guy is going to be convicted of something…Scott has appointed a special prosecutor and the city has replaced its police chief with a politically correct alternative.
I’m not sure if this post will make it past the scrutiny of the moderator but one thing is for sure. I’m right about this and I’ll be right about this thing tomorrow and the next day too. It’s a politically charged issue now and regardless of what Zimmerman does/or did that night he’s most likely headed to prison, or worse, in order to appease the masses, not necessarily the interests of justice.
Why do they never show the photo of the teen as he looks now…like the one with gold teeth and boxers hangin out above his shorts flashing gang signs? They use a photo of him as a kid to fan the fire …Unlike most people I am holding judgement until the WHOLE story comes out.Zimmerman should not have been carrying a gun at all.. that I do condemn him for.What bothers me is how it has become such a racial issue with the Black panthers putting a bounty on the mans head…
It would be simpler to just shoot him down under the assumption he’s guilty of premeditated murder or — if not that — then to appease the crowd.
David for simple worlds
free of doubts
Its called selective hearing . . . . . most hear what they want. Listen to the tapes again and get a transcript. Most versions record words that were beeped out during the conversation because they were played on television, but on the internet there are some clear versions of the tape and the news provides clear transcripts and the language used by Zimmermon is clearly racially charged and aimed at the victim.
The only reason this guy was never arrested in the first place is he has a relationship with the cops and his daddy is a retired magistrate. Now we find out his Neighborhood Watch group was not registered and he was the self appointed captain and he had a criminal record.
Stick to the subject and the subject is this case here in Florida, right now. What does some case in NYC years ago have to do with what’s going on right now in our state today? How do you know someone has a weak argument . . . . when they start changing the subject and providing poor examples of events far removed from the subject at hand.
I don’t care what any of you say,he should have not been killed.For one he claims to be in fear and the young man was only walking.The dispatcher told Zimmerkiller to stop following the child.He said”he looks suspicious and they always get away with stuff”WHO IS THEY?????Blacks right? Okay,but this isnt racial???Yes it is!!!!!!!!If the young man wasnt harming anyone or walking aroung tearing things up why did Zimmerkiller bother him?SAY WHAT YALL WANT TO ITS RACIAL AND CLEARY STATED WHEN ZIMMERKILLER STATED “THEY”
Well I stand corrected…there must be two sets of 911 tapes..the ones I heard never made a racial remark….and to that end…there was an African American man who shot up a subway several years ago in NY…they called it “black rage”….not a hate crime.. So I find it unlikely that most black on white crime is a hate crime….simply because there isn’t a racial motive…..it’s not always about race…it’s about furthering the political ambitions of the few at the expense of the many.
This is a racial matter because he was making racial comments before he caught the kid. . . . listen to the 911 tapes. If it were a black man on the phone describing his hatred of gays, whites, hispanics or asians right before he killed one, it would be a hate crime as well.
This case is ultimately the fault of the FL Republican legislature that allowed a powerful gun lobby to walk right into the state and change the gun laws unopposed. Since the law has been in effect, its doubled the number of cases where someone is claiming self defense after a clear murder.
The NRA is always trying to paint a picture of why these type of laws are needed because “criminals” will be coming into our homes and trying to get us, but most of the cases have been like this a law abiding guy, no criminal record, legal owning a gun but when it comes time for him to use it, he does the wrong thing with it. He was probably drunk or high too but they never tested him.
Why is this a racial matter? No one has said either party involved had racial motivations. Pandering to people’s prejudices by politicians is dangerous and wrong. Even a local paper did an editorial on the matter suggesting racial motives for the shooting….how does she know? did she interview anyone in Sanford? I doubt it.
People should wait til they get the facts.
We can slander everyone involved, we can name-call, and argue, but in the end we will have to wait for someone to get Mr. Zimmerman into the police station to answer questions or into court to answer questions and then see what witnesses say regarding this whole thing. My biggest question is if he isn’t guilty why doesn’t he want to clear his name?
if he was right zimmmerman and feared for his life why his where about unknown now it don’t matter he killed a human being and for that he should pay and will when he meet the all mighty……
An individual does not have to be armed with a weapon. If you were in fear for your safety/life you are justified under the law to protect yourself. I don’t know all the facts surrounding this case but, if this 17 yo became mad and turned to you and stated “im gonna kick your “and or even worse “im gonna kill you” and made an advance towards you what would be your reaction? Some comments are a joke…he should not have killed this boy. Why is that because the media and race card dealers paint a picture that makes it look like unjustified senseless murder. We can “what if” this all day none us were there, none us us know how this man was feeling at that time or the actions that took place that made him react with deadly force.
Sandra said it . And it’s so true.
The Justice Department investigation will demonstrate how Mr Zimmerman acted outside, the definition of the stand your ground law. The sun will rise shortly, on Mr Zimmerman’s first day of reckoning. My prayers are with the Martin Family, an incalculable loss of a much loved son.
I hope they prosecute this man to the fullest. There was no reason for him to use deadly force on this kid. Yea, this kid was probably scared out of his mind to have someone follow him. He was crying out for help before he was shot. That should say something. He was defenseless… So what if he looked “suspicious”! Why, because he was looking around. Hell if that’s the case then most of us do because this day and time all of us are looking over our shoulders at all times. So ridiculous. My heart goes out to the family of this young kid who was killed. Zimmerman claims self defense?? What a joke. He was twice the size and armed. Hang is tail or better yet send him to prison. I’m sure justice wll be served. There is Absolutely No excuse!!
This is speculation on my part, but (leaving race completely out of the equation) I think that Zimmerman is a “wannabe”. I bet he tried to get into the military or some other line of law enforcement and did not pass the psychological testing required to enter. Only a person who was not quite right in the head could claim “self defense” for shooting an unarmed 17 year old BOY that he himself had assaulted! I don’t know about you, but my kids would be totally freaked out to have a strange man following them too. They’d be concerned, on the alert and if the man approached or attacked them, they’d fight back too.
Race has NOTHING to do with this. It’s a tragic event committed by an unbalanced individual. Hopefully, the truth will come out and the appropriate measures taken. I am a pro stand your ground person too. That did not come into play here. He was stalking the boy, pure and simple. Also, the neighborhood watch rolls don’t even show Zimmerman as a member. He was “self-appointed”.
Why is it that when a young black kid is killed by a white (or in this case hispanic) all of the black groups come out to make their cases but when a black is killed by a black (like we read about on a monthly basic in Pensacola) no-one says a word, on the contrary they all claim that they didnt see anything. The double standard in the black community on this issue is insane. Either come out and raise cane over any and all senseless crimes or stay home and claim ignorance.
The comment re: police “racial profiling” was to show that there is already a problem with the police in this area, and could shed some light as to why Zimmerman wasn’t arrested. On GMA yesterday, they played a tape of Zimmerman on the telephone with the police, in which the police told him not to follow this boy, but he continued. He also called him names that had to be bleeped out, which says something about his frame of mind. This boy was visiting his father who also lives in the gated community.
The ACLU and other groups are just using this mans death to change pro gun laws they don’t like.
While I find it hard to believe the shooting to be justified, I think that “trial by popular opinion” is a very scary trend. (I do support the “stand your ground” law, but don’t really think it applies in this case.)
Why is it when a black person gets arrested or shot the first thing they do is throw out that black card. It’s because the world lets them and I have to say its getting old. Just like the woman who claimed it is racist and slavery to zone her property in the Century limits. Really!! If the kid wasn’t doing anything wrong then yes prosecute the man who shot him, but if the kid was doing something wrong then he got what was coming to him! It’s coming to the time in the world when people will have to do things like this to get things solved. Cops can’t be everywhere when you need them and they shouldn’t have to be, defense starts with you and it should end there to!
If people don’t like what happened you sure as heck need to keep your teens
home. Everyone knows these are troubled times and you either make an
effort to help or your just part of the problem.
I don’t know much about this case but I do remember reading about it recently,
but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know you don’t shoot a kid just because
your neighborhood watch. To be quite fair all around , if it was dark and
this young man had no reason to be on the street some polite questions
are certainly in order or JUST CALL THE LAW.
As for calling for a new prosecutor if I was black I would want that and a
whole new venue for this case.
There is to much corruption and prejudice yet in this town in every field. Sometimes the truth just hurts… IT IS WHAT IT IS !
Thankfully, Zimmerman isn’t white according to his folks; he’s Hispanic.
As to ” “The police [have] a history of stopping black folks and taking their fingerprints, or searching their cars without permission. You either let them take your fingerprints, or they threaten to take you to jail,” said Siplin.” Unless Zimmerman was a policeman, that statement is intended to muddy the waters. He isn’t responsible for what the police do and the police aren’t responsible for what he does.
As to “- – - the current prosecutor, but…he has a relationship with the sheriff’s department, the police department and the city of Sanford, and we think he should step down”, of course the prosecutor has a relationship–he’s supposed to prosecute cases they present to him if he believes they have merit and everybody in that city has a relationship with the city, it’s called being a citizen or a customer. We probably have a relationship even though we don’t know it.
I read yesterday where the girlfriend of the victim said she was talking to him at the time of the shooting and that the cell phone recorded the conversation. I doubt it, but it would settle many questions. Failing that, we have her testimony against his testimony and both sides might be tempted to modify the truth — if anybody‘s interested in the truth.
David for unerring judgment
Herr Zimmerman should not have killed that young man. I do not care what his book of laws say.
Neighborhood Watch people might carry a tazer or wasp spray but guns are not recommended. They aren’t supposed to confront people, just call police. Why did this guy have a gun, why did he confront someone, and why would he shoot a young man? I agree, this is not right. Chang the gun law? NO! For people who live alone this is our defense, and if someone comes into your home, or threatens you on your property, you should be able to shoot them!