“Steve Bracknell is the chief of the Lake Mary police department, which is investigating Zimmerman, 29, for allegedly threatening his estranged wife, Shellie, and his father-in-law with a gun on Monday. In an email exchange with a Lake Mary resident critical of the department’s initial decision not to arrest or charge Zimmerman, Bracknell appears to agree with the writer’s description of Zimmerman, acquitted in July of murdering Martin, an unarmed black teenager, as “a ticking time bomb.” So reports guardian.com which, along with dailymail.co.uk, manages to cover US news better than most US news orgs. Anyway, the full email exchange is here. The Lake Mary PD is deciding whether or not to charge Georgie in the he-said-she-said incident involving the soon-to-be-former Mrs. Zimmerman. Judging from the chief’s expressed desire to be rid of GZ, it seems a safe bet George will skate. Would you want that kind of media circus in your jurisdiction if you could avoid it?

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75 COMMENTS

  1. “Ticking time bomb”? Are they trying to create a self-fulfilling prophesy? The more the media focuses on GZ, the more likely he’ll get caught up in some mess not entirely of his making. There’s only so much pressure any person can take before a ‘change’ happens. That change can be positive or negative. Here’s thinking positive thoughts for you George.

    • Too late, George already got caught up in a mess entirely of his own making, and wound up in a situation he was clearly not equipped to handle, resulting in an unnecessary death.

        • I think good ol’ Joel here is referring to his SELF DEFENSE debacle, where he was charged and vilified in the media… Unnecessary loss of life indeed…

        • It wasn’t about Self Defense. It was about the question of at what point you are defending yourself or being an aggressor. George left his house. Followed TM in a car, then by foot. All against the directions of the 911 Dispatch. He took it on himself to act like a LEO.

          How many of you have taken a Concealed Carry Class? Did your instructor inform you that the license wasn’t permission to be Rambo or Dirty Harry? To not go looking for trouble? That it was to defend yourself and your loved ones not make you into a vigilante? Mine sure did.

          • I am sure George Zimmerman had no intention of using his weapon. He was just doing his job, which was to watch out for suspicious people in the neighbor hood. I am sure if Trayvon had not ambushed and physically attacked George, George would have had no reason to use his gun. I am just glad he did have a weapon. We might have read about a neighborhood watch person who was beaten to death in that development.

          • The 911 dispatcher is not authorized to give anyone a “direction”. What she gave him was a SUGGESTION. As in, y’know, NOT MANDATORY?

          • George was just doing his job. That was to watch out for suspicious people in his community. He wasn’t a police officer, so he didn’t have to listen to the dispatcher. I am glad he had a permit to carry, and was carrying. If not we might have read about a neighborhood watch camander that was beaten to death, while patrolling his neighborhood. I am sure George had no intention of using his gun that night. If Trayvon had not physically attacked George, I am sure we would never had heard about this incident. I just can’t believe that they are making a martyr out of Trayvon Martin, when Trayvon initiated the attack. Trayvon was the criminal and George was the victim.

          • @ VoidDragon: Given the 10 billion rebuttals to the b.s. in this post as well as info that came out during the trial, it is utter amazing. He wasn’t following the punk in his truck. He saw him come from behind a buildings in the rain acting odd like he was on something. TM actually approached him while GZ was on the phone with police. Try listening to the entire “real” recording in its entirety and not the altered one of NBC or bootlegged poor audios. Wait, do you work for Ben Crumped-up’s firm?

      • Yup, George totally beat himself senseless and nearly killed himself, then shot some kid just for kicks because he could blame his self-inflicted injuries on the kid. Seriously, you anti-Zimmerman people sound like Holocaust deniers.

        • I get what you’re saying, and I even sort of agree. MOSTLY agree; but not everyone tarred with the “Holocaust denier” brush is like all the rest. Only a small few Nazi symps deny the Holocaust existed. Many others agree that it existed, but disagree about other things that may have falsified its details to history, such as the number who died (even Holocaust promoters have backed down from the figure of six million to two million or less). Not to suggest that’s not a terrible thing, but history demands accuracy of us, and history is too often used to promulgate lies and distortions of truth.

          History, even ancient history, is not a block of stone. History is ever-changing, and it demands that we change with it.

          Now I get the ignorant hate crap, even though I’ve endeavored to explain my position carefully. If you can’t read without jumping to unwarranted conclusions, please withhold comment.

        • Not to criticize, but History only changes when it’s revised and often those revisions reflect what people wish to be true. According to a History course at a college I attended, FDR was a wonderful guy, Truman never should have dropped the Atomic bomb, the Russians really weren’t interested in taking over other countries, and it was entirely American Imperialism that was to blame for the cold war. All of which is horse-puckey. I don’t trust revisionism.

          There are many people that flat out deny the Holocaust. Most Arabs do (Ahmadinijaad anyone?) and my own Grandfather does, and those are not the only examples I know of. Begin by denying the scale, finish by denying it entirely. In a few generations the holocaust may be thought of as a myth. The death tolls varies, to be sure, depending on definition. However the accepted figures are easily attained, and are much higher than two million.

      • TM contributed to the series of events by being a juvenile delinquent, Pot head and dealer which is why he was in Sanford. He created the situation when he decided to go mma on a “creepy ass cracker child rapists.

      • Trayvon getting shot while committing felony aggravated assault as per Florida state statute 784 is indeed a necessary shooting, and a death that saved Florida taxpayers millions of dollars in future cost to incarcerate the future prison inmate!

        • I am with you 100%. There was no mention of Trayvon’s past in the trial that I know of. He was sent to his Dad’s, because he was caught with a big screw driver and a bag of woman’s jewelry. He said he found it on the way to school. Was any of that Jewelry identified? Also he was also known to get into a lot of other trouble, including getting suspended from school. I kind of believe his Family was told to either get him out of the County, or he was going to have to go to Jail. So his mom shipped him up to his Dads place in Sanford.

          • If the whole situation was reversed, where George abushed Trayvon, had him on the ground pounding on him and he shot Zimmerman, would Al, Jessie and the NAACP have been down there pushing the law to arrest Trayvon.

          • Lets just reverse the whole situation. Like Zimmerman ambushed Trayvon and had him on the ground pounding on him and Trayvon shot him in self defense. Would Al, Jessie and the NAACP have gone down to Sanford and demanded that Trayvon Martin be arrested? Please answer this question for me. This whole thing was a mistake on their part. They jumped the gun when they heard the name Zimmerman. They just automatically thought that he was white, when he was Hispanic. Also you don’t have to go to many years back and see what a mess they made out of the Duke University Rape Case. I rest my case.

  2. “Would you want that kind of media circus in your jurisdiction if you could avoid it?”

    Hell no.

    When was the last time you saw a public official being that blindingly honest? I like his style.

    • The problem is, he is discussing an on going case in channels and in a manner that doesn’t have jack to do with the case.

      • You’re right. He should be reprimanded for it. Trouble is, only the voters can reprimand him.

        Well, I don’t know if he’s elected or appointed in that jurisdiction. Maybe someone can fill me in on that.

        To my way of thinking, both sheriffs and chiefs of police should be and elected office everywhere. On the other hand, localities should be able to determine their own methods of determining who will hold said office. I’m hoping they would choose election, rather than appointment by another official.

        • I don’t know of any elected Chief of Police in Florida or Tennessee. Tallahassee just had their Chief suddenly resign in the midst of a big police brutality case and the City Manager has already appointed a new interim Chief. There wasn’t any input from the City Council on the matter.

    • this. Dude isn’t going to catch a break. I don’t know what went on with his family, but it’s time to get back to nature until people move on from this.

    • No. George just needs to stay as far away from his soon-to-be Ex as possible and not get lured into situations where she can manipulate him.

  4. Hold on… The chief is discussing an ongoing investigation with random John Q. citizen? This seems like it should be contrary to every police/legal procedure in the book.

  5. This asshat of a police chief also agrees with the asshat writing the email of comparing GZ with the Sandy Hook and Aurora CO shooters!

    ASSHAT!

  6. So much for the presumption of innocence.

    I agree with several comments here: the more focus and social pressure placed on GZ, the more likely they he might get pushed into making a huge error, and fulfilling the “time bomb” pronouncement. Not that I condone going off the deep end, I can certainly sympathize with the feeling given what GZ has been put through.

    He definitely needs to drop-out for a while.

  7. Is this the same police chief that was put in his job because the original police chief wouldn’t go along with arresting GZ the first time (like the feds were demanding) and creating the national media circus?

    • No. This is the police chief of Lake Mary, the city where George and Shellie had been living, and in which the altercation occurred. Sanford is the city where little Trayvon (sorry, couldn’t resist) was shot, and where the police chief was replaced for his handling of said shooting.

  8. TO: All
    RE: There Goes Any Chance…..

    ….of a fair trial, if it comes to that.

    Regards,

    Chuck(le)
    [The Truth will out….they’re after George’s A$$….]

  9. Yeah, this seems like poor police work. I would think the police shoudl know enough to play their cards close to the vest until the trial is over.

    GZ needs to find new digs and a new name.

  10. ” guardian.com which, along with dailymail.co.uk, manages to cover US news better than most US news orgs.”

    Boy, is THAT ever true! Both the Guardian and the Daily Mail are almost daily go-to sources for both U.S. and international news for me.

    • Fortunately for Georgie, he isn’t in her district. Therefore, it would require her to be appointed “special persecutor” by the Governor.

  12. If anyone is a ticking time bomb, it’s that officious little busybody Santiago Rodriguez who wrote the email.

  13. Police chiefs seem to be almost universally fascists. It read to me like he is of the opinion that all gun owners are wannabe spree killers. But we should know that he and all of his boys are infallible and we’d be well advised to prostrate ourselves before them. Oh what savages are we! Thank you so much, chief brackenell, for allowing us philistines the honor of being your subjects!

    • Yeah, it almost seems sometimes as if all big city police chiefs go to the same training camp somewhere, they think so much alike. Like city managers, who also seem to be like peas in a pod.

  14. That’s exactly the way I want a public servant to describe a citizen he’s sworn to serve and protect. What a dufus.

  15. George Zimmerman stressed? I think I would have already croaked. If George is wound a little tight then the love of his life betrays him…………….I might be a little tense myself!! I can’t even imagine how he must feel. One tough cookie.

  16. Take inventory of what he has been subjected to over the past 18 months and contemplate the impact that has had on him and is having on his life today. Maybe there are circumstances that have contributed to his current issues.

    The media, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Benjamin Jealous, Eric Holder, that moron special prosecutor have some culpability here. Not to mention the Sanford police chief.

    • Don’t leave out Benjamin Crumped-up and his partner Parks or Barry. Then throw in the Dream Pretenders and New Black Pansie Party.

  18. I don’t understand, I was tired of hearing about George before the trial even started. And yet, here I am post trial, even more tired of him.
    I was glad he was found not guilty, good on him, but my mind boggles at peoples’ continued fascination with the guy.

  19. George Zimmerman is welcome to come into my Community any time he wants. In fact there are a few homes in my neighborhood, for sale, if he’s interested, let me know an I will tell him where I live in Portal, Ga. I am sure Trayvon Martin would not have ambushed George if he knew or even thought that George was carrying. How come we never heard why Travyon was in Sanford living with his Dad. It seemed that he got into a lot of trouble in South Fl., when he lived with his Mom and they had to ship him up to his dads. Some of you out there think I am speaking ill of the dead, but the truth is the truth. I think you all should stop hounding George Zimmerman. This was not a stand you ground shooting, it was self defense. If Trayvon Martin would have just kept going, and not waited to ambush George, he would be alive today.

    • ” and they had to ship him up to his dads”

      He has more than one, like a beeyo… I mean female dog?

  20. They will keep applying pressure to George until he either flips out and goes postal or commits suicide to atone for Trayvon Martin. Just watch how many “random” traffic stops and searches George will have to tolerate, as well as “random” stop and searches that will happen while he out shopping or buying take-away. And then add in a number of “assisting with inquiries” at the local police station, after being held overnight while handcuffed with the ODCs (Ordinary Decent Criminals).

  21. Sorry ,nice try libatards,but Zimmerman didn’t MURDER anyone,he acted in self defense as anyone has the Right to self defense.Stop twisting the fact that Martin was a punk,bully,Thug and a crook and a drug dealer,I don’t care if he was white ,green,black or orange.And he wasn’t 12 ,he was 17/180lbs .You don ‘t need to be unarmed to get shot legally if your attempting to kill some one with your bare hands!Try what Martin did on a cop and see how fast he’d of been shot!These stupid no nothing ,opinionated ,idiots Still blaming Zimmerman for protecting himself.
    The REAL CRIMINALS her are Martin,Judge Nelson,for breaking every rule of law in the Books and that piece of CRAP Head Prosecutor for withholding Evidence,then saying Zimmerman ‘MURDERED Martin.those two assholes are the ones who should be in JAIL.NOW!

  22. Our Criminal justice system screwed up Zimmermanns family,you try going through that see how long your family survives.All the while the Chief of police loses his job and career over this,the Stupid President wrongfully took sides and pressured Florida to Hang Zimmerman,What’s the Justice Dept doing organizing rally’s against Zimmerman in Florida?Why isn’t The Black Panthers in Jail for putting out a Death Contract for Money on National TV?
    Because the whole thing was trumped up,Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpen should be Jailed for What they Did. Zimmerman is the Victim here not the other way around.So you Stupid anti gun liberals who like to step on the 2nd amendment and everybody’s RIGHTS,well I’m going to step on you First Amendment Rights; SHUT UP!

  23. George is NOT a ticking time bomb. Not anymore than any other ordinary citizen. George was falsely brought up on charges and the jury saw thru the fact that there was NO proof. Millions of people judged George before the trial ever began. And from what I know of the Constitution we are considered “innocent until PROVEN guilty” before a jury of our peers. And only the jury can convict a person of guilt (unless there a trial by judge).

    I will say that George should leave the Democrat Party and not be for Obama since those two came after him the most.

  24. Response to Christian “Ahmadinejad anyone?”
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykd-syzZ4ZY
    Ahmadinejad did not deny the holocaust. He asked 3 questions in this context (and I paraphrase) 1. Why is it that in the 2nd world war 60 million people lost their lives but only the death of a selected number of them (6 million Jews) is under constant discussion? 2. Why is it that there is such a ‘prohibition’ on further research and why are those who ask questions called antisemitic? 3. Why should the Palestinians (who live now) have to pay for the holocaust (which happened 60 years ago)? (“Iran’s Ahmadinejad on Holocaust” footage)

  25. As I watch the continuing GZ meltdown as chronicled on TTAG, I am struck by the extent to which so many people here bend over backwards to give GZ the benefit of the doubt. Any one incident could be a fluke, but this guy has a history (before and after the TM shooting) of acting out violently and getting into scrapes. Frankly, I think the guy seems like an asshole. Possibly even a thug. As I’ve stated before, I really think GZ makes a lousy standard bearer for the right to armed self defense. Better to back slowly away from this guy and move on.

    The other side of this coin, of course, is the extent to which the same people making excuses for GZ are so quick to label TM as some sort of super-villain. Seems to me that TM was a troubled kid with a tendency to act out violently, and GZ is a troubled man-child with a tendency to act out violently. I cut TM more slack because he was only 17.

    Finally, all this talk about GZ’s erratic and dangerous behavior being understandable because of all the pressure he’s under – how come impoverished urban black kids don’t get this excuse? They’re just “thugs” and “gangbangers” who choose a violent lifestyle, instead of choosing to be accountants or astronauts, not victims of an impossible socioeconomic situation, a racist criminal justice system, and a failed education system. Everyone is ultimately responsible for their own actions, but none of us exists in a vacuum. If we can blame the “system” for ruining GZs life, maybe we can look at the way that same system treats tens of thousands of poor kids, especially poor black kids, who are trapped in the system long before they turn eighteen, often for minor offenses – drugs, fighting, shoplifting – that would earn middle-class suburban kids a stern talking to and a ride home to mommy, or maybe a little community service.

    • I believe the only reason Trayvon Martin wasn’t in jail, was because he was black. Now if George would have gotten in front of Trayvon and ambushed him, I might agree with you. As far as growing up poor, my three brothers and I were one of two of the poorest families in the whole neighbor hood. I even went on the wrong path for a while, like Trayvon, but going to jail for a while cured me of that. Maybe Trayvon should have done a little jail time. It might have straighten him out. It did me. They keep trying to make this a stand you ground, but it was a simple self defense. If he hadn’t shot Trayvon, he could have been the one killed.

      • “I believe the only reason Trayvon Martin wasn’t in jail, was because he was black.”

        Every measurable criminal justice statistic totally disagrees with your statement – arrest rates, conviction rates, juvenile arrest rates, traffic stops, you name it, black kids are targeted more than white kids. Blacks are convicted at far higher rates than whites relative to the rates at which they commit any given crime.

        I’m not arguing with the outcome of the GZ trial here – I have my own opinions, but the system did its thing, and that’s that.

        I’m more arguing with the way the different interest groups portray these guys, and I mean the people on both sides of the issue. I see two messed up guys in a bad situation, whereas so many seem to feel the need for this to be a good guy/bad guy story. As I said, I’ll cut Treyvon a little more slack, because of his youth, but clearly he was no angel.

        I’m glad a little jail time set you straight, but for far too many kids, jail is basically just boot camp for a life of crime and violence.

        • I would have to say that Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson are as much to blame as any one there. When these two heard about a 17 year old black boy was killed by a white man named Zimmerman, you couldn’t stop them from coming down to Sanford, an starting their shit. They didn’t know that Zimmerman was half Hispanic. That didn’t fit into their plans at all, but once they started they couldn’t quit. If it wasn’t for them making this tragidty a racial issue, it would have hardly been in the national news. The local authorities didn’t even want to bring charges against George Zimmerman. They were forced to by the NAACP and the news media. They both were used by Al and Jessie. Remember the debacle they caused at the Duke University Rape Case. They would both be out of jobs if they didn’t keep pushing the race card.

        • If you’re looking for an apologist for Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson, I’m not your guy.

          But please consider the antics of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Anne Coulter, etc. The race baiting industry is quite diverse.

        • When they caught Trayvon Martin at school with a bag of jewelry and a large screw drive, why didn’t they charge him? They turned the bag of jewelry over to the police. What happened to the jewelry? Was any of it stolen? Why hasn’t any one checked on it? Is it because it was stolen in a burglary, but Trayvon is dead, so there is no use pursuing it? Is it because Trayvon has been made out to be a victim when he was not. There is just too many unanswered questions to the whole thing. I hope some one can answer my questions.

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