Er, no, calling someone a name is not "instigating a fight" in the legal sense. It doesn't qualify. Stupid? Sure. Would I really blame the other guy for clocking me? Not really. But legally, the person who initiates physical contact is the one who is instigating the fight. Your failure to understand that rather simple concept is probably going to land you behind bars some day. Or get you a piece of lead you weren't expecting.
Uh yes, they probably would. Didn't they convict the guy who killed those kids who broke into his home? He had REAL reason to fear for his life, not just being nervous that someone on a cell phone was following him. If all Trayvon did was hit Zimmerman and then run off, he probably wouldn't get convicted of anything and neither would the woman who pepper sprays. Once Trayvon got on top and began raining down violence he put his own life on the line. I know it's popular these days to try to be "hard" and think it's ok to just beat the hell out of people, but it's not legal. No matter what the circumstances, you don't have the right to beat the crap out of someone.
Then this is where we disagree. The threat of violence, direct or indirect through actions is fight instigation as well. That's why if someone says they are going to kill you, and that a reasonable person in the same situation could see that as a real threat you still have the right to defend yourself even though no physical contact has been made. Like I said, go stalk a pretty lady and see what happens there too. See if she peppersprays you and if she spends even a day in jail. She won't.
Trayvon went beyond the equivalent of pepper spray. If he had just punched him in the nose it would be totally different. You are trying to create a world where Trayvon acted normally and a crazy person killed him and that's not what happened.
It would be seen as self defense. She would get off scott free. Any reasonable person would think that if they were being stalked they are in clear and present danger. It's not about being hard, it's about someone overstepping his bounds, starting a fight, losing the fight and using a gun as leverage to win the fight.
Nope, you're just wrong. You can obviously be wrong, it's your right, but I warn you to be careful if you are ever in a situation where you are "defending yourself" against someone you think is following you or who said something that made you mad. If you beat the hell out of them you will go to jail.
Just posted the stats. Black people are much more likely to get longer sentences and harsher charges pressed against them. We no longer have to continue to ignore it. Did I say the case was racially motivated? I've been saying that this case shows has racial issues prevalent in it. Did I say that there were not? Of course anyone can be racist, no one is saying otherwise. You seem to think it pretty much doesn't exist and it does. My point is that it's entirely possible that Zimmerman profiled and stereotyped Trayvon. Yet he was POSITIVE that he was up to something wrong. Cry about it all you want but you have his own attorney saying that he believes that it was possible. I don't know what else I can say about that. Do we have a poll on that? Otherwise I can say that I've seen plenty of white people complaining about this case too. In fact the only ones I've seen saying it's not about race are the ones on fox news, every where else I look and every other forum I see it seems it's not so black and white as you want to make it seem. You'd sure like to believe that huh. The fact of the matter is, some people love to sweep it under the rug because they are fine with how it is and they don't want their issues being talked about... Well you seem to think your opinion goes for every other white person There is little chance that it's not true. The stats back me up on this, black people are more likely to be charged period. Yeah blow it out of proportion Sorry I guess I should just lay down and accept the unfairness of the Criminal Justice System Lol, Jackson and Sharpton just bring it out to the rest of the world guy. Although they are not MLK, it's not odd to find that there are people making them out to be the boogeyman instead of wondering if perhaps what they've been saying is true. Makes no difference, Jackson is saying the same thing Zimmerman's own attorney is saying, what Gingrich said, but he's the boogeyman here out for profit. Stats back it up my man. So I'm being very honest about it. Also, you are speaking for your entire race again.
Ask a woman, ask your wife, if she was walking to her car at night and some guy was following her, would she believe that he was a threat and that she was in danger. If as he pursued her, if as she sped up he did as well, if she believes she was in danger. Unless your wife is China from WWF, I'm pretty sure she'd take that as a threatening situation.
Nobody knows what happened except for GZ who has incentive to lie. I would tell everyone he jumped on me first even if I gave him a shove or tried to grab Martin if it means I don't end up in jail for life. We all have the same amount of evidence except for GZ. The other guy is dead and he can't give us his side. If he was alive, who knows how things would have played out. The fact that some of you are SO SURE GZ is damn near faultless and TM is 100% the bad youth who just attacked GZ because he is a druggie when GZ is infact the druggie who sounded crazy as **** on the phone like he was coming down from adderall and about to shoot up a school. Adderall makes people aggressive, hostile, paranoid, etc. It boggles my mind how you guys just pick this side because it's brighter than the other. This thread has 54,468 views and it's still alive as well as racism, especially amongst the dinosaurs.
For the people who say that George Zimmerman was racially profiling, let me ask a question: If you had a house in the area and there had been a very bad string of break-ins done by young black men, wouldn't you call the police if you saw a young black man, wearing a hoodie, walking in a disoriented fashion (on drugs) in the rain in between houses? Especially if that person was not a regular in the neighborhood (as we know, Martin was in Sanford because he was suspended from school in another city). This is common sense. You shouldn't be afraid to call the police for fear of offending a suspicious person -- that's a very dangerous mindset.
Those numbers are about race and not class and any ways as Sheila Jackson put it just minutes ago. Justice for one is justice for all. So I don't see the big deal or point of whining about people protesting about a issue as important as this.
Your remarks go for both sides... Many people are certain Zimmerman was attacked, just as many are sure Martin was attacked. The truth is that we just don't know how it all went down. People are reading what they want into this whole thing.
I thought Holder had lost his mind -- then I realized that he is just placating people until the civil trial.
You and others still don't get it that what matters is that TM didn't have the right to bang GZ's head against the sidewalk. That's where the self defense claim came in to play.
Me and others aren't taking GZs side of the story as 100% fact. He was found not guilty because there wasn't evidence to convict him.
