George Zimmerman was in the news again recently when the famous Floridian “was involved in a shooting.” Which he was – in the same sense that Abraham Lincoln and JFK were involved in shootings. Zimmerman was the subject of an assassination attempt. Once again, the Florida native’s experiences offered a lesson to those of us who carry firearms: a defensive gun use can be a life-changing event that reverberates for one’s entire life, for both good and ill. Given Zimmernan’s re-emergence and the benefit of hindsight, here’s another look at that now famous but scandalously misinterpreted defensive gun use . . .

Case summary:

George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain much respected by the Sanford, FL police Neighborhood Watch coordinator, was on his way to buy groceries one rainy night when he saw Trayvon Martin, who he did not know or recognize, acting suspiciously. Martin appeared to be drugged and casing homes and did nothing to get out of the rain. He was standing on the grass–not the sidewalk or street–in front of a home that had recently been burglarized in a neighborhood plagued by burglaries and thefts committed almost entirely by young black men.

Zimmerman did not approach Martin or speak with him. Zimmerman immediately called the police and remained in his vehicle, keeping his distance. After a short time, Martin spotted Zimmerman, approached, circled his vehicle, and sprinted away. The police dispatcher told Zimmerman officers were on the way. He also instructed Zimmerman to continue telling him what Martin was doing.

Zimmerman left his vehicle and trotted in the same direction as Martin. Within seconds, he realized Martin was gone, and told the dispatcher. Zimmerman continued a short distance, but soon turned around. He agreed with the dispatcher to have the police meet him at his parked vehicle.

All of this took about four minutes. During that four minutes, all Martin needed to do to be safely indoors, never identified or seen again by Zimmerman or the police, was to run less than 100 yards–a distance easily covered in 20 seconds. Instead, he chose to wait and ambush Zimmerman, a complete stranger. As Zimmerman was walking back to his vehicle, Martin came out of the darkness, verbally accosted Zimmerman and sucker-punched him in the nose, breaking it and knocking him to the ground.

Having incapacitated Zimmerman, Martin chose not to leave, but straddled him, and as a credible eyewitness testified, rained blows down on Zimmerman, MMA “ground and pound” style. He also repeatedly beat Zimmerman’s head against a sidewalk. Zimmerman sustained precisely the injuries to be expected in such an assault.

Helpless, being mercilessly beaten, afraid of losing consciousness and being killed, Zimmerman drew his handgun and fired a single round. It struck Martin in the heart.

This was an unremarkable case of self-defense like many incidents across America. In virtually all such cases, no charges are filed. The local news carries the story. Only those intimately involved are ever aware it happened. But even in those incidents, an honest citizen forced to defend his or her life may never escape the consequences. The Zimmerman case was a perfect storm of perverse abuses of the system and the law, abuses that can happen to anyone.

The Rule of Law vs. Social Justice

The police did a complete and competent investigation. Zimmerman cooperated fully. The police found no grounds for charges; all of the evidence supported Zimmerman’s account. The local prosecutor, correctly applying the law, agreed. But that was the wrong outcome for social justice advocates, who saw in the case a considerable political and financial payday.

Shooting the “Wrong Person”

The racial grievance industry became involved. The media followed their lead, only too glad to help invent and sustain a false social justice narrative.

Martin was 17 and black, taller and more fit than Zimmerman. Martin was a heavy drug user, burglar, wannabe thug, and wannabe street fighter who bragged on social media about his drug use and beating people, breaking their noses and making them bleed. When he attacked Zimmerman, Martin had THC in his bloodstream. He was carrying two of the three necessary ingredients for an illicit drug concoction–“Lean” or “Purple Drank”–a concoction he’d mentioned on social media.

By means of a media-distributed photo of Martin at 12, the Florida teen was transformed into a slight, cherubic, smiling infant, who had a bright, scholarly future. In truth, Martin was living at his father’s girlfriend’s home because he was serving a ten-day school suspension–not his first.

Demonization:

The media quickly turned Zimmerman into a huge, hulking cop wannabe who maliciously hunted down and killed the angelic Martin who was only hurrying home with food for his brother. Because the narrative required a black boy be killed by a white adult, Zimmerman, who identifies as Hispanic, was media-branded an entirely new race. He became a “white Hispanic.”

Inflaming public opinion, CNN claimed Zimmerman called Martin a “f***ing coon.”  The network was forced to reluctantly retract the assertion when their own audio experts determined that “coon” was actually “cold.” NBC made Zimmerman seem racist by editing audio of his police call. They too had to retract their story and fire a number of employees.

Selective Reporting:

As the case moved slowly to trial, the media continued to release any and everything that might be harmful to Zimmerman. For the most part, they suppressed any helpful information. When reporting on applicable laws, particularly Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, they stuck to the narrative rather than truth or fact. To this day, millions believe Zimmerman somehow violated the SYG law, even though it had no bearing on the case.

Judicial Bias:

The first judge in the case displayed such blatant bias toward Zimmerman he was forced off the case. The second judge was equally biased, but more cautious. Even so, the defense was able to get a major ruling overturned. She made many strange rulings that unlawfully hampered the defense; it’s likely any conviction would have been overturned on appeal.

The Backward Trial:

The trial was a bizarre spectacle. Almost all of the prosecution’s witnesses helped the defense, proving that Zimmerman acted in self-defense. Zimmerna’s counsel argued the law, evidence and logic; the prosecution demanded that the jury decide the case on emotion. While there was no evidence to convict Zimmerman, without his skilled lawyers — Don West and Mark O’Mara — Zimmerman might have been convicted.

Life After Acquittal:

Since his acquittal, Zimmerman has lived in hiding, dogged by the media and the constant fear of murderous retribution. Even traffic stops involving Zimmerman made national news. As the recent attempt on his life demonstrates, there will always be people who want the notoriety of killing George Zimmerman.

Final points:

George Zimmerman defended his life against a vicious, unprovoked criminal assault. He violated no laws. He had no evil intent. He incurred legal bills he will never be able to repay. He was, worldwide, branded a racist murderer. He lost his wife and his job. He was prohibited from finishing his college degree.

Zimmerman’s experience is a cautionary tale. When using deadly force, one never knows if they will shoot the “wrong person” at the wrong place and time. Col. Jeff Cooper (amongst others) said it’s better to be judged by 12 than carried by six. That’s indisputable. But it’s also indisputably best to do everything reasonably possible to avoid becoming the next George Zimmerman.

Mike’s Home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.

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99 COMMENTS

  1. Don’t be Zimmermaned, wear a body cam audio/visual device. I have I-Kam X-treme audio/visual sunglasses. One push of a button and I have point of view sight and sound recording up to eight hours.

    • But how do you prevent the liberal media bent on creating a false narrative from selectively editing your video?

      • Simple. Release the entirety of the video unedited. When they try to twist it you can point to the source and show context.

        • Pffft… Like that is going to stop them.

          The 911 tapes from the Martin case were released and some media outlet manipulated it to support their narrative.

          It doesn’t matter who’s right, just who’s first in reporting it because everyone else will quote that guy because he was first.

    • So,in a life or death situation, you not only have to draw your weapon and take the safety off, aim and shoot, you also have to remember to press Rec? Good luck with that.

      • He said it provides 8 hours of recording. He can turn it in when he leaves the house and he’s done.

        Besides, not all life and death situations spring into existence instantly from the void. Many times you get a feeling or vibe in advance, or a situation is inherently dangerous even without specific indication. He can turn it on then.

    • So,in a life or death situation, you not only have to draw your weapon and take the safety off, aim and shoot, you also have to remember to press Rec? Good luck with that.

  2. While defensive gun use can indeed change your life, from all appearances Zimmerman is practically begging for all the troubles he’s had since the trial. Guy is a drama magnet.

    • Sure, it was Zimmerman’s fault he put his face all over the national news and convinced everyone that he was a racist killer, so it’s his own fault some psychopath fixated on him and tried to assassinate him. He brought it all on himself IMHO.

    • Dear CarlosT:

      The college he was attending at the time, reasonably concerned for the safety of Zimmerman and their students and faculty, prohibited him from returning to the campus. He was forced to put his college education on hold. I would imagine that, considering the political views of most college faculty these days, returning to a campus would not be a pleasant experience. It might not even be possible.

      • There are plenty of online universities available to GZ if he really wants to continue his education. And the quality of education in cyberspace beats the hell out of most terrestrial schools. No left-wing politics, no Marxist professors, no feminists making up phony rape stories, no antisemitism, no anti-Americanism — need I continue?

        The American university system is a cesspool and GZ is lucky to be out of it.

        • Yeah? What’s he going to do with that degree? Who in their right mind would hire him?

        • @ Steve, Winchester should hire him, he can be the poster boy for when they re-release Black Talons.

          If I were incredibly wealthy, I would love to try things like above just to see the International Pantie Wetting extravaganza! I was only a lad when the “Cop Killer Bullet” craze was dialed up to 11 by the Media, even a 8th grader was able so see the thru the bull crap.

  5. I’m guessing that if Mr. Martin was white instead of black, Zimmerman wouldn’t have near the troubles he has had.

    • Actually, if George Zimmerman had been named Jorge Carpintero, we never would have heard of him, Trayvon, white-hispanics, or Benjamin Crump.

  6. Personally I think armed citizen who wasn’t given pause by the Zimmerman case, needs a reality check, seriously.

      • Seriously? Having the media and city, county, state and federal government, working in concert to give you a violent colonoscopy every 15 minutes for 3 years wouldn’t impact your lifestyle? Damm.

  7. a defensive gun use can be a life-changing event that reverberates for one’s entire life

    Yes it can. But if you’re murdered by an attacker, it will be a life-ending event. If those are the options, I choose Column A.

    As to becoming the next George Zimmerman, that is easily accomplished by choosing the attacker’s skin color very carefully.

    • Although you are being sarcastic, I seriously dread – as a white cop – to ever have a DGU against a young black man. I fear the reaction of a corrupt media and the low-information mob more than a teenage gangbanger holding a stolen Glock 9mm.

      Should I ever find myself in Zimmerman’s situation, I might schedule a press release to reveal the facts that the media missed. I bet Fox News and TTAG could be very helpful in that regard. I’d also enlist the services of a few very good lawyers.

      • You are not alone, it appears. Heather MacDonald has an article in todays WSJ, about the crime wave since Ferguson, (pay wall) here:
        http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-new-nationwide-crime-wave-1432938425?cb=logged0.7855317295005774

        Here are a few quotes:

        “Gun violence is up more than 60% compared with this time last year, according to Baltimore police, with 32 shootings over Memorial Day weekend. May has been the most violent month the city has seen in 15 years.

        In Milwaukee, homicides were up 180% by May 17 over the same period the previous year. Through April, shootings in St. Louis were up 39%, robberies 43%, and homicides 25%.”

        and

        “Murders in Atlanta were up 32% as of mid-May. Shootings in Chicago had increased 24% and homicides 17%. Shootings and other violent felonies in Los Angeles had spiked by 25%; in New York, murder was up nearly 13%, and gun violence 7%.”

        Cops are being careful:

        “This incessant drumbeat against the police has resulted in what St. Louis police chief Sam Dotson last November called the “Ferguson effect.” Cops are disengaging from discretionary enforcement activity and the “criminal element is feeling empowered,” Mr. Dotson reported. Arrests in St. Louis city and county by that point had dropped a third since the shooting of Michael Brown in August. ”

        ““There are no real consequences for committing property crimes anymore,” Los Angeles Police Lt. Armando Munoz told Downtown News earlier this month, “and the criminals know this.” The Milwaukee district attorney, John Chisholm, is diverting many property and drug criminals to rehabilitation programs to reduce the number of blacks in Wisconsin prisons; critics see the rise in Milwaukee crime as one result.”

        • More MacDonald. http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/mac_donald.htm

          She is really good.

          Best place to find her and other fact based analysis, IMHO, is at City Journal.
          http://www.city-journal.org/index.html

          Here she is on the Left’s anti-cop hysteria.
          http://www.city-journal.org/2014/eon1222hm.html

          I’d say you could thank The One, and Eric Holder and their cronies, Jesse, Rev Al, and the Center for American Progress funding protesters to go from place to place, for the crime surge based on the Big Lie. And the Useful Idiots in the Reliable Party Organs, who help spread the lie.

          Its not going to get better, before it gets worse, imho.

        • ““There are no real consequences for committing property crimes anymore,” Los Angeles Police Lt. Armando Munoz’

          That might be the case in LA, but in my neck of the woods the ‘real consequence’ of property crime is a slow ride in an ambulance. Funny how armed law abiding citizens changes the consequences of crime.

      • I seriously dread – as a white cop – to ever have a DGU against a young black man.

        A81, you’re wise to be so concerned. Defend yourself (you really have no choice), but don’t go looking for trouble. I know — cops are supposed to look for trouble, but I think that’s all over now.

        Meanwhile, does anyone really care if Baltimore etc. burns? I know that I don’t. I think of it as slum clearance urban renewal.

        • Rioters, thugs, criminals, and others are exercising their natural rights in these urban environments.

        • there are many good people in Latimore and any big city who are not thugs of political opportunist who are forgotten by the media . they are forced to live with the consequences of the thugs and grandstanding politicians actions.

      • “I seriously dread – as a white cop – to ever have a DGU against a young black man.”

        I can imagine.

        Would your department allow you to use a personally owned body cam?

        • I believe A81 has stated in the past that his department issues body cams. IIRC, he’s complained about the department expecting him to take a sh*t with it running.

        • It wouldn’t have mattered if zimmerman had tape, it would be too dark to see , and the media whould have ignored it as “unreliable ” . Even FOX news was clearly unsupportive osf zimmerman, although not as bat-crap crazy bias as the mainstream media.

  8. If there ever was s case that showed the callus disregard for justice, this is all the evidence on needs to prove our government will run an innocent man through hell.

  9. Not only did Stand Your Ground laws have nothing to do with the case, the prosecution in their closing arguments adamantly, yes, adamantly stated that the case had nothing to do with it.

  10. “During that four minutes, all Martin needed to do to be safely indoors, never identified or seen again by Zimmerman or the police, was to run less than 100 yards…”

    During the same four minuets all Zimmerman needed to do was pretty much anything other than what he did, which was to follow/chase an unknown subject (whom he suspected of criminal behavior) through a neighborhood at night. While Zimmerman committed no crime in doing so he placed himself- stupidly- into a situation where his options narrowed down to almost none as he was unable to defend himself physically except by using deadly force. And all this for what?

    I’m not saying Zimmerman has criminal or even civil culpability (though the account above is constructed largely from his biased narrative and we should admit we don’t know a lot of the alleged facts about who was where, when, and what might have been said, etc). I certainly agree with the verdict. But I think the very ending of the article (and the title) deserves a bit more expansion. Doing dumb things because you have a gun is still dumb. Dumb has consequences.

    • My three take-aways from my Army service:
      1. Avoid stupid people.
      2. Avoid stupid situations.
      3. Accurate shot placement.

    • I’m afraid you’re right Hannibal. Reminds me of that poor dumb slob Jewett(?) from the 1996Atlanta Olympics -a wannabe cop accused of a bombing murder. College for GZ? Don’t think it would help…and sorry to you cops who might shoot a young black fella’-it happens ALLTHE TIME in Chiraq with very little consequence. I keep thinking black folks will riot but nothing yet(it is getting hot although it just dropped into the 40’s!).

    • GZ did little more than some on this board have suggested that they would do. He saw potentially criminal activity and injected himself into it, and not wisely IMO. He thought he was a “sheepdog,” but he was really a sacrificial lamb.

      GZ should have called the cops from the relative safety of his car and let them handle it, which is the same thing I would do if I saw any illegal activity that was no threat to me personally. I’ll defend myself and mine. The rest of the people are on their own and if they choose to remain defenseless it’s on them.

      One day a man may be a hero, a “sheepdog” if you will, but when the state decides to prosecute, none of the sheep will lift a finger to help pay for the hero’s defense.

    • I used to live in a high crime area of a major city. I, totally unarmed, got fed up and followed drug dealers on more than one occasion, calling into 911 the whole time. Looking back it was stupid but at some point you get fed up and you start doing more than just calling 911 and going back to watching TV.

      GZ was fed up of all the robbery going on in his neighborhood and got more aggressive. Not saying he was right, but I get it.

      • The “fucking punks” comment does sound like a man who was fed up with burglars in his neighborhood. But for NBC to claim he said “fucking coons” just proves how many “fucking liars” there are in the “respectable media”.

    • For what? From Zimmerman’s point of view, being a good neighbor, I suspect. He’d been involved in the neighborhood watch for a long time, and had demonstrated concerned with helping his neighbors out.

      Recent events have really reinforced one of my big takeaways of the Zimmerman case: don’t get too involved. People say how much they love people who look out for each other and how great it is knowing your neighbors. But then something like this happens and suddenly that guy who was so great before is now a “wannabe cop” and “always in everyone’s business”.

      So, you’re right. He’d have no troubles now if he’d just ignored Martin and not gotten involved.

    • Zimmerman did nothing but stand/walk on a sidewalk. He made no effort to “pursue” Martin. He merely tried to see where Martin went. He did not try to accost Martin verbally, detain Martin, or attempt in any other way to engage Martin.

      In short, Zimmerman did nothing legally or morally wrong, period. Martin, of his own volition, chose to assault Zimmerman, thereby putting Zimmerman reasonably in mortal fear and justifying Zimmerman’s use of deadly force in self-defense.

  11. The bodycam is not a bad idea, at least in theory. We had two officers involved in a Christmas time shooting which was described as being “suicide by cop”. The officer who fired the fatal round was wearing a bodycam with a dead battery (he was planning to change it when the call came in). The second officer only recorded part of the shooting, due to the position he was in at the moment. But there was sufficient audio and other forensic and circumstantial evidence to corroborate both officers’ stories.

    • Wherever they’ve been used, body cams have helped everybody. There are fewer use-of-force incidents and fewer excessive force complaints.

      Cops tend to behave better when the cameras are rolling (see the “Cops” TV show and you’ll know what I mean), and criminals can’t make bullsh1t complaints stick when the truth is there for all to see.

  12. Talk about bad mojo! If I could put a million dollar life insurance on just one person………

  13. This whole affair makes me think that playing by the rules is not worth it. Even if you are justified so what? Look at what you get. Better to run and be a nameless face than be found innocent in a court of law but lose everywhere else. If the shoot is justified so is running.

    • Agreed, except when running allows the BG to jump you from behind or shoot you in the back.

    • I’ll protect me and mine.
      And, within limits, I’ll look out for my neighbors.
      I might go to extreme lengths if the immediate opportunity to save a life pops up, but my efforts to preserve somebody else’s property won’t go very far beyond summoning a deputy.

  14. In the spirit of keeping evidence, anyone know of a cheap discreet voice recorder that could be kept in pocket and ran all day?

    • I believe there is an iPhone app that keeps a running 8 min. recording anytime your phone is on. In an SD situation, 8 minutes would be an eternity.

  15. I think Zimmerman is innocent, but he does tend to put himself in bad situations, with bad, people, in bad locations, at bad times.

    • In defense of GZ, there’s not much need for a neighborhood watch at 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon.

      • Start stringing together other incidents and you will see what I am talking about. George is not evil, but he does put himself in some situations where there is a probability of bad things happening. Quite frankly, I do think Trayvon was a total thug and things could just have easily not gone in George’s favor. I do not know how much George should be hanging around the town where he shot Thug Trayvon either. I still think George pushes on some bad positions.

  16. The real moral of the story is that the media is corrupt and has an agenda that is not in the interest of the welfare of the American people.

    • The media is comprised of Bolsheviks with a Soviet Agenda. Corrupt? Well, they are useful idiots who are loyal Communist Party Members.

  17. George Zimmerman saved the taxpayers millions of dollars in incarceration costs that were likely brewing for Trayvon Martin.

    Before his timely death, St. Trayvon had been trying to arrange for a time-share on a S&W SD9/Sigma. Choice of weapon aside, Trayvon was not too far away from committing assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder, or, should his aim prove true, murder. Given his young age, a life sentence would have kept Trayvon in prison for fifty plus years, sponging off the taxpayer teat.

    With an estimate of $50,000 per year for incarceration, Zimmerman saved the taxpayers $2.5 million in avoided costs. Plus, he most likely saved a life or two (Trayvon’s future victims).

  18. Are you open to another narrative?

    That incident and the Brown shooting were piss poor situations to put racist claims on!

    Now explain why Zimmerman was behind that motorcycle/gun store. He said he was there because it had been broken into. The next day the owners said they had been broken into but had taken steps to secure their store. (Anyone who would break into a motorcycle/gun shop has a brass pair. IMHO 🙂 )
    The owners told police they did not know Zimmerman.

    If I were visiting my relative and was followed by someone who didn’t state that they were neighborhood watch then I have a right to stand my ground. See? There is more than one way to see this.

    He is a lesson on what could happen when you discharge a firearm. He is a poor poster child to represent POG. He fits the psych profile of someone with very low self concept or a small Johnson. Blame the press but they don’t hound you because you haven’t brandished firearms had run ins with ex girlfriends and wives, and followed people to their work.

    He is best ignored.

    • The owner didn’t tell police he didn’t know GZ, he said he didn’t HIRE GZ, which is what I would have said even if I HAD hired him — who would want to become a target for the Black Thug Industry?

      • GZ didn’t say he was hired either. If he was hired then it’s all above board. If he is someone wishing he was a cop then he’s a bad poster child for gun rights.

        As has been said above, stupid people in stupid places doing stupid things. They both were stupid. TM had a right to be there. GZ had a right to be ther

        I agree there is a group that benefits from racial incidents. That doesn’t mean there aren’t racial incidents. It does mean that every incident isn’t racial.

        The GZ TM incident wasn’t racial. Did some people, groups
        and the press make it so? Yes.

        Ignoring that there are racial issues is racist. The sad thing here on this site is that people will want gun rights and accuse the antis of being blind and deaf to the facts. Then they holdrigid views about blacks and criminality. They immediately say, “I didn’t have slaves.” That’s like the folks who say I don’t care if NSA listens to my conversations because I’m not doing anything wrong.

        We all have responsibility for our fellow man. Each of us is responsible for ourselves. Hence our belief in self defense. On the other hand the govt is making it difficult for us to conceal carry. Is that racist? Nope but it works the same way.

        Deprived of the right to own what weapon you want and being deprived of the other freedoms is the same. If you aren’t a 1% ter I’d work and vote for rights for every citizen. Why? Because middle class and poor whites are the most used and abused group in America. They just don’t know it.

        • As has been said above, stupid people in stupid places doing stupid things. They both were stupid. But TM had a right to be there. GZ had a right to be there.

          Actually, no. Trayvon Martin did not have a right to trespass or to loiter on other people’s property. Now, had you said that neither man was doing anything unlawful, then I would agree with you. Martin’s trespassing and loitering did not constitute unlawful acts, because the property owners did not file complaints about those acts. But that doesn’t mean that Martin had the right to engage in those acts.

          Zimmerman did nothing stupid. He saw a stranger who appeared to be trespassing and loitering, and called the local non-emergency number to report what he saw. The person he reported then took off running and evaded visual contact. Zimmerman, having been told to advise regarding the location of that person, exited his vehicle to ascertain where that person went. Being unable to do so, he made to return to his vehicle.

          The only unlawful acts that night were committed by Trayvon Martin, who committed an unprovoked physical assault on George Zimmerman. The only stupid acts that night were committed by Trayvon Martin, who put in mortal fear a person with the means to defend himself.

          What happened that night is a completely unremarkable incident of assault and self-defense: no more, no less.

    • “If I were visiting my relative and was followed by someone who didn’t state that they were neighborhood watch then I have a right to stand my ground. See? There is more than one way to see this.”

      To “see” things that way you’d have to believe that Zimmerman made an astronomically lucky guess about Martin that night.

      You’d have to believe that it was pure happenstance that the individual GZ called to report for behaving suspiciously was in fact a criminal who was serving out his latest of three 10 day school suspensions for vandalism, trespassing, and possession of drugs, stolen property, and burglary tools.

      What little we know about Martin corroborates everything Zimmerman observed about him that night to NEN.

    • If I were visiting my relative and was followed by someone who didn’t state that they were neighborhood watch then I have a right to stand my ground. See? There is more than one way to see this.

      1. Martin was not visiting a relative. He was staying at the home of his father’s side piece, Brandi Green. Further, Martin was not on Brandi Green’s property, or on any public areas. He was observed trespassing and loitering on private property.

      2. Martin was not “followed”. He took off running, and evaded Zimmerman’s visual contact, well before Zimmerman ever even exited his vehicle. At no time did Zimmerman even know where Martin was, to be able to “follow” him. Were Martin concerned about being “followed”, he had ample time to return to the safety of Brandi Green’s home, well before Zimmerman ever even exited his vehicle.

      3. Zimmerman did nothing that would constitute a threat of unlawful force, therefore Martin had no statutory claim to “stand his ground” against such use of force. Even if Zimmerman had pursued Martin, such pursuit is not unlawful, and does not represent a threat of use of unlawful force. Martin’s use of force against Zimmerman was unprovoked, unjustified as self-defense, and unlawful.

  19. I hope we never learn the name of the good guy police officer who killed two bad guys and stopped a mass murder in Dallas Texas.
    The news media both american and foreign will gladly make him a target just as they did with George Zimmerman.

    The news media smeared a good guy trying to defend himself. If your personal life is not in order by today’s floating moral standards, when you defend your self then just give up your guns. I will be keeping mine.

    • They’re having too much fun attacking the woman who organized the anti-terrorism protest which the terrorists were attacking when the unnamed cop shot them.

  20. It should be pointed out those who attacked Zimmerman most vituperously were black. This was a proxy war on whites by black thugs and the black politicians who protect black thugs.

    • Which is hilarious becauseHE AIN’T WHITE…and I’m fairly certain GZ has been harassed because of his “non-white” appearance…whatever- I don’t seem to remember any spanglish folks coming to his aid…

  21. But that was the wrong outcome for social justice advocates

    What a huge lie to pack into the last three words there.
    The figurative Zimmerman lynch mob was not advocating for justice, ‘social justice’ or otherwise.

    • social justice advocates is a newspeak term coined by the Ministry Of Truth to denote and advocate new Marxist Statist concepts and ideas to establish the Dictatorship of the Proletariat under the guidance of Big Brother in Oceania.

  22. This “news” broadcast including the animated sequence that starts at 52 sec. was what I see as the start of the spreading of the lie. I’d bet that the law firm had a hand in the animation video and a later one that ran showing the animated Zimmerman first strike Martin and then shoot him.

    This video now will only run if the ad preceding it runs first. Sorry.

  23. The second animated CBS video is here. They use the rest of the “report” as they had it. Changing out the animation. This one was on Charley Rose.

  24. “But that was the wrong outcome for SO-CALLED “social justice” advocates/marxist community organizers”.

    /fixed it.

  25. If all it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing, are we socially being conditioned to do nothing? From some of the commentary above it would seem so. If the society as a jury can nullify a law. Then society can also convict regardless of the truth as well.
    You provide the pictures, I’ll provide the war.
    Our society has grown to the point that our old norms , solutions, or perspectives don’t really apply anymore and that is when your character is truly tested

  26. The entire purpose of going after Zimmerman, Officer Wilson et al, was to take the self defense option out of the equation so the thugs and gangbangers can control the streets. While many of you are waiting for “militarized police” to break down your door Obama and the Democrats are neutering the police so they can use the gangs to enforce their desired social order. As the police withdraw from effective policing violence is soaring in America’s major cities. The Democrats will use gang “gun violence” as an excuse to take away your right to bear arms. The cops may not be your friends but they aren’t your adversaris either. Stop falling for the Faux Libertarian anti-police narrative.

    • The Democrats will use gang “gun violence” as an excuse to take away your right to bear arms. That would be normal. The Donkeycraps will use any excuse to take away your guns.

    • As the police withdraw from effective policing violence is soaring in America’s major liberal cities where citizens are legally disarmed. Sort of like Mexico, where the government wants only the government and the bad guys to have guns.

  27. The cops may not be your friends but they aren’t your adversaris either. So that is why many of these Police Chiefs are always so pro-gun control. Indiana State Police Chief always opposes our pro-gun legislation and it really gets old. I lived in a town in Indiana sometime back where if you were in the city limits, that police chief would never approve a permit unless you were one of the cronies.. Of course this same police department takes about a half hour to respond to an emergency. Glad I left the dang place.

  28. Seems to me like your State Police Chief is ineffectual since Indiana is one of the most gun friendly states in the Union.

    The Democrats have figured out how to make a police state work. They have privatized the thuggery leaving the police to protect the socialist elite and put on a show for the public to convince them that government is protecting them.

    I think TTAG has become a bigger threat to my gun right and safety than the gun grabbers. By continually spouting faux Libertarian propaganda they divert attention from the Democrats’ obvious efforts to generalize the social chaos found in the ghetto to the rest of society. So instead of posting a ” breaking” story of some grandstanding Democratic member of Congress introducing a bill that will go nowhere perhaps Robert should spend more time discussing how firearms ownership makes policing more effective and strengthens civil society.

  29. “But it’s also indisputably best to do everything reasonably possible to avoid becoming the next George Zimmerman”

    How? By hiding indoors and/or always fleeing your ground during any assaults of thefts? By turning away from crimes or suspicious individuals so that good men do nothing? By only having ‘brown’ genes in your DNA?

    Your conclusion is irrational, .. and that’s being kind.

    The only way to “do everything reasonably possible to avoid becoming the next George Zimmerman” is to untiringly unendingly drag the leftist media and race-baiting demagogues kicking and screaming into the light of facts and common sense, expose them/name them .. repeatedly, thwart them by propagating/disseminating the actual facts to others .. repeatedly, revealing those malicious actors for the lying scum they are, and paving the way for peace and normalcy to prevail without it “being a life-changing event that reverberates for one’s entire life”.

    • Dear Westin:

      You’re quite right, but my overall point is that even though we choose to carry arms for all the right reasons, it is always best to do whatever we reasonably can to avoid having to use those arms. Picking fights in biker bars is inherently unreasonable, for example. Picking fights anywhere is inherently unreasonable.

  30. There are some unpleasant realities that, if dwelt upon for several minutes, can ruin my entire day. “The media, the government, and half the population of this supposedly free country want to destroy you for practicing your basic human rights” is one of them.

  31. Body cameras are the answer for all of this. They keep everyone honest. If a suspect is crazy it will show. If the cop is dirty it will show. If a mistake is made it will show as a mistake and not intentional. Dash cams have been super useful for years. I would have thought body cams would have caught on right away.

    • Dash cams have been great, but I suspect their adoption was eased somewhat by officers still being able to control the scene. Dash cams catch, say, the 99% of activity that overlaps between what happens, and what the officer wants a recording of what happened.

      Plenty of drama takes place on camera, to be sure, but the real controversial stuff seems to happen out of frame, perhaps after a foot chase. Officer actions there, away from camera view, are where things can get strange. They may not want a definitive record there, via body cam, because so often they’ll get benefit of the doubt, anyway.

  32. “all Martin needed to do to be safely indoors, never identified or seen again by Zimmerman or the police, was to run less than 100 yards–a distance easily covered in 20 seconds.”

    And according to the testimony his girlfriend (who was on the phone with him during most of the encounter) gave, he made it to the back door of his Dad’s place, but circled around because he wanted to teach Zimmerman a lesson.

    “He lost his wife and his job.”

    He did lose his job, but losing his wife was his own doing. He pretty much kicked her to the curb after the acquittal after she supported him through the whole thing.

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