A response to this article in the comments:

"This article has to be the most irresponsible, unethical and misleading piece of writing I have ever seen! It is not journalism even at its worst. Does anyone ever follow what happened? MA went over to her ex-husbands house to recover some of her belongings. She had a protective order against him so that he was not allowed within 100 feet of him, alright, but she went to HIS residence.

She entered HIS residence and got into an altercation with him in his own house. Then she left the house and went to her car where she got a gun and returned to his house when she took a shot at him. She missed, and later said it was a warning shot-but delivered inside HIS residence, not hers. But for the lucky fact she was a bad shot, the charge would have been either attempted murder, or murder.

The prosecution showed that the angle of the shot indicated it was fired AT him and only hit the ceiling in the next room after it went through a wall. The judge and jury were actually all quite correct. He did not allow the SYG defense because she had left HIS residence got a weapon and then RETURNED. She could have just left, but she went back into HIS home. Then she shot at him inside his own house where his kids were, but missed.

The jury quite correctly convicted her of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon. But this all took place in HIS own house, not hers. This had nothing to do with race but was simply an angry woman taking a shot at her ex."

7/14/2013 8:05:59 AM

whoever picked "riots" wins the raffle

7/14/2013 8:22:58 AM

after all, a video of riots in Canada following last year's Stanley Cup definitely took place last night in Florida

7/14/2013 8:28:44 AM

Or Oakland, were store windows were smashed and fires started

[Edited on July 14, 2013 at 10:00 AM. Reason : were=where whatevs]

7/14/2013 10:00:22 AM

So the NAACP is now petitioning the Justice Department to file civil rights charges? Laughable. On what grounds?

7/14/2013 11:08:52 AM

The Oakland "riots" looked like 90% white people. WTF?

7/14/2013 11:36:00 AM

white people still live in oakland? or did they take mass transit to get there (LOL)?

7/14/2013 11:43:16 AM

Oakland has become the hipster tech capital of the world. Tons of white kids working on web apps.

7/14/2013 2:00:48 PM

^^^^A non-black person killed a black person...

7/14/2013 2:23:08 PM

72 people were shot in Chicago last weekend. I'd think the NAACP has more important concerns.

7/14/2013 2:43:51 PM

they can't make no money off of that

7/14/2013 3:12:45 PM

7/14/2013 3:54:07 PM

that's not ironic

7/14/2013 4:17:26 PM

Most of those Oakland "rioters" are not even from Oakland. They're retarded anarchists/occupiers that come from other parts of the Bay Area just to fuck shit up. One of the annoying parts of living here, I assure you.

Fun fact: there is no majority group in Oakland. The white population is about 35%, with 30% black, 20% Hispanic, 15% Asian, give or take.


[Edited on July 14, 2013 at 4:39 PM. Reason : .]

7/14/2013 4:34:16 PM

Oakland is a uni-cultural shit hole. who cares what they are doing.

7/14/2013 6:53:17 PM

When was the last time (if ever) you visited? Just curious.

7/14/2013 8:01:14 PM

prolly the days of N.W.A

7/14/2013 8:30:49 PM

Protests are ongoing nationwide. In NYC thousands took the street after leaving Union Square and took over Broadway. They ended up shutting down Times Square and are rallying there now. Many other cities are marching as well. Oakland has begun a big march as well.

7/14/2013 9:07:42 PM

http://occupystreams.org/item/occupy-eye for Times Square coverage. Police lining up.

7/14/2013 9:24:53 PM

Quote :

"SELF FULFILLING PROPHECY"

7/14/2013 9:33:57 PM

i have a feeling that eyewall41 would be celebrating if some vigilante took the law into his own hands and put zimmerman down.

7/14/2013 9:43:51 PM

Protesters now leaving Times Sq. and going uptown.

7/14/2013 9:44:02 PM

I for one was surprised there were no riots; after all, the great sage Zacarías Manuel de la Rocha once said "and the riot be the rhyme of the unheard."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbGJeXShopk#t=01m05s

7/14/2013 9:44:14 PM

lol they are all chanting "we want justice"... well it went through the legal court system and he was found not guilty. sounds like they want vengeance.

7/14/2013 9:47:34 PM

Mainstream Media Story: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/national_world&id=9172181

7/14/2013 9:51:43 PM

^^ um, I'm pretty sure they mean justice for Treyvon, considering he was killed and nobody has been held accountable whatsoever

7/14/2013 9:55:53 PM

you do realize there are some situations where it's legal for someone to kill someone else, right?

7/14/2013 9:58:46 PM

...? what do they want? it was a shitty situation. nobody denies that. a lot of unfortunate circumstances coincided and culminated with the death of the teen.

but zimmerman did not break the law and was acquitted, and WAS acting in self defense at the moment he pulled the trigger.

7/14/2013 9:59:33 PM

It is a venting of anger, especially when it comes to institutional racism, which despite equality on paper still very much exists in reality. For many in the march it is about a corrupt system overall that benefits the few at the top.

7/14/2013 10:11:05 PM

hey guys, it's shitty that kid died, but no laws were broken, so might as well get it over it! LOL

7/14/2013 10:15:20 PM

Arrests now beginning in NYC march. Likely just grabbing who they can for impeding traffic.

7/14/2013 10:20:35 PM

Pepper spray used and at least 6 or 7 arrests. March has turned to get away from cops.

7/14/2013 10:24:58 PM

Quote :

"It is a venting of anger, especially when it comes to institutional racism, which despite equality on paper still very much exists in reality. For many in the march it is about a corrupt system overall that benefits the few at the top. "

None of which has anything to do with the trial or acquittal.

7/14/2013 10:39:46 PM

^Well that may be true but regardless that is why it is happening.

7/14/2013 10:52:43 PM

^^ it has a lot to do with the trial and at least a little tondo with the acquittal.

7/14/2013 11:59:03 PM

7/15/2013 1:50:33 AM

No, no paperwork. Just sprinkle some Skittles on him.

7/15/2013 4:04:19 AM

Quote :

"^^ it has a lot to do with the trial and at least a little tondo with the acquittal."

How so? Serious question, what part of the trial or the acquittal do you feel was about "institutional racism" or "a corrupt system overall that benefits the few at the top."? Was it the massive attempt by both the prosecutors and a large segment of the media to portray Zimmerman as a racist hell bent on murdering black people? Or are you saying that the prosecution purposefully put together a horrible case so that they could lose it and Zimmerman would be acquitted?

7/15/2013 8:50:09 AM

My guess would be that it took a massive public outcry to even get a trial/thorough investigation in the first place when an unarmed black teenager was killed in the street. Do you believe that if the situation was exactly the same with the killer being black that it would have happened like that? A black guy with a concealed weapon guns down an unarmed teenager in the street. I'd be surprised if he even survived the police encounter.

7/15/2013 8:57:08 AM

^^ I am not saying the trial involved all of these things but a lot of these issues are in the people's minds. The Trayvon verdict served as a catalyst to get these protesters into the streets to vent anger about a variety of issues. Additionally some of them were Occupy participants at one point.

Turkey's example this sort of thing was Gezi Park (which of course grew into near revolt).

[Edited on July 15, 2013 at 8:58 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on July 15, 2013 at 9:01 AM. Reason : .]

7/15/2013 8:58:26 AM

A pic of Times Square last night when it was shutdown.

7/15/2013 9:03:06 AM

I keep trying this reversal thing in my head, and a young George Zimmerman in a hoodie, in the dark, in the rain doesn't fair much better.

7/15/2013 9:15:28 AM

a suspicious-looking Hispanic guy gets tailed and gunned down by a black neighborhood watch volunteer

the cops show up and off the black guy themselves

all outrage now gets put squarely on the cops, who *may* stand trial for excessive use of force

there, that's what would have happened if the races were reversed

7/15/2013 9:44:13 AM

I'll just leave this here,

Quote :

"What's wrong with the world, mama People livin' like they ain't got no mamas I think the whole world addicted to the drama Only attracted to things that'll bring you trauma Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism But we still got terrorists here livin' In the USA, the big CIA The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK But if you only have love for your own race Then you only leave space to discriminate And to discriminate only generates hate And when you hate then you're bound to get irate, yeah Madness is what you demonstrate And that's exactly how anger works and operates Man, you gotta have love just to set it straight Take control of your mind and meditate Let your soul gravitate to the love, y'all, y'all People killin', people dyin' Children hurt and you hear them cryin' Can you practise what you preach And would you turn the other cheek Father, Father, Father help us Send some guidance from above 'Cause people got me, got me questionin' Where is the love (Love) Where is the love (The love) Where is the love (The love) Where is the love, the love, the love"

7/15/2013 10:03:38 AM

Quote :

"My guess would be that it took a massive public outcry to even get a trial/thorough investigation in the first place when an unarmed black teenager was killed in the street. Do you believe that if the situation was exactly the same with the killer being black that it would have happened like that?"

As to not getting an investigation, yeah that was a lie fabricated when there was little information about the case. As came out in the trial, there was plenty of investigation and questioning that night and into the next couple of days.

As to not getting a trial, of course it took a massive public outcry, because there was nothing to go to trial with so the only way it was going to trial was if it was a political show. Even after a year of digging the absolute best the state prosecutors could come up with was a bunch of witnesses that at best were inconsistent with what they heard (the only one who saw anything backed Zimmerman) and at worst were actively corroborating Zimmerman's story.

As to what I think would happen had the roles been reversed, yes I do think that it would have happened the same way. Usually when you have one person with a broken nose, black eyes and bleeding from head wounds on the one hand and another with no injuries at all save for the bullet wound that killed him, you have a pretty good case for self defense on the part of the shooter.

7/15/2013 10:37:41 AM

Quote :

"As to not getting a trial, of course it took a massive public outcry, because there was nothing to go to trial with so the only way it was going to trial was if it was a political show. "

This. I think the trial pretty quickly showed why there was so much hesitation in bringing charges to begin with. There was literally no evidence to support the charges that were brought.

It was a shitty situation, there's no doubt, and it's tragic that a 17 year old died. However, for once a jury actually got it right. Those of us who followed the local Brad Cooper trial know how fucking rare that is.

If you're upset, be upset with the state for what they chose to charge Zimmerman with, don't be upset at the jury or at the criminal justice system as a whole.

7/15/2013 11:31:49 AM

The problem was with the implications of the SYG meant that in any situation where "two people meet, one person leaves," you just have to trust the word of the person who survived the encounter and hope they don't bias it in their favor.

7/15/2013 12:26:36 PM

No it really doesn't mean that. Aside from the fact that SYG had nothing to do with this trial (except in the minds of early commenters and now as regards civil suit immunity), SYG does not prevent the police from conducting an investigation. What it does do (or is supposed to do) is to provide protection against malicious prosecution if the investigation doesn't turn up any evidence to contradict a self defense claim. It does this by providing a defendant the right to a pre-trial hearing, a hearing which Zimmerman waived (http://www.npr.org/2013/04/30/180116799/george-zimmerman-waives-right-to-stand-your-ground-hearing).

7/15/2013 12:43:47 PM

Seems like you're right.

However I still think our criminal justice system is broken when I can have an altercation with someone, kill them, and then face no charges because I'm the only one alive to tell the story (which I can totally bias in my favor).

7/15/2013 12:48:37 PM

Is it more messed up than a justice system where someone can attack you and you're presumed to be guilty of murder when you defend yourself?

7/15/2013 12:53:50 PM