Iced Tea, Skittles and many desperate to find reasons to NOT blame the shooter

As every day passes and more information is released, the nation is more and more engaged in the story of the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin while walking to a relative’s house with a can of Iced Tea and some Skittles. The teen’s death has lead to protests, students walking out of schools in South Florida where Martin lived, death threats by the New Black Panther Party, Al Sharpton grabbing as much spotlight as he can, Geraldo Rivera blaming a garment for the shooting, the media lying about the shooter’s ethnicity, the president saying he feels for the parents of the slain teen because if he had a son “he would look like Trayvon,” and more. There are many angles to this story and I’m firm in my very simple belief that the shooter George Zimmerman should have been charged in the death.

The story has gone through a thousand different filters or more. Trying to find out the facts is not an easy task and I won’t pretend to know everything that happened that night as I wasn’t there and neither were you. Having said that, let’s break down what we know:

Trayvon Martin, 17, 6’2″ or 6’3″ (varying reports) and listed by police at 140 pounds (very thin) was visiting his father in Sanford and was watching a basketball game at his father’s fiancee’s home.

Trayvon Martin left the house at halftime in the gated community to go to 7-11 for a snack.

Trayvon Martin was walking back to the home with some Skittles and Arizona Iced Tea.

It was rainy that night, Trayvon Martin was wearing a “hoodie” when George Zimmerman spotted him.

Zimmerman, who’s mother is from Peru, is 29, 5’9″ and 250 pounds is described as the “Neighborhood Watch Captain” in the gated community.

Zimmerman called the police non-emergency number to report seeing Martin describing him as “suspicious.”

On the call, Zimmerman utters what later appears to be “F$%king coons” under his breath as he speaks with the dispatcher.

Zimmerman follows Martin — the dispatcher asks if he is, in fact, following Martin — then tells him “we don’t need you to do that.”

A cruiser had been dispatched but, before police arrive, Trayvon Martin would be dead of a gunshot wound to the chest.

The shooter was George Zimmerman.

Before the shooting, Martin was on a phone call with his girlfriend who said Martin told her he was being followed.

Martin asked Zimmerman why he was following him — Zimmerman reportedly said, “what are you doing here?”

At some point there was a physical confrontation. Reports vary.  Some say Martin approached Zimmerman and hit him, got him to the ground and was beating him in the head.  Others say Zimmerman was over Martin and shot him dead.  Those who want to exonerate Zimmerman describe Martin as a 6’2″ “football player” who was handing Zimmerman a merciless beating and Zimmerman was just defending himself. I say BS!

Why is Martin dead?  Because George Zimmerman identified him as not belonging in HIS neighborhood — when clearly he did belong and was expected back home. Zimmerman observed him, followed him, pursued him, called the police on him and eventually shot and killed him. The instigator of this entire episode was, in fact, George Zimmerman. Yes, I’ve read the reports of witnesses saying Martin was beating Zimmerman up and the older man was just defending himself. No matter how you look at it, George Zimmerman caused the events of that night. Had Zimmerman backed off and allowed the police to arrive and investigate, Martin would be alive right now and I would not be writing this.

Did Martin attack Zimmerman? I don’t know and you don’t know. Did Zimmerman attack Martin?  You don’t know and I don’t know. Would this have happened had Zimmerman not incorrectly identified Martin as being a threat to him and his neighborhood? Absolutely not.

The media in this case has been disgusting. From day one, because his name is George Zimmerman, the big media has reported this as a case of white on black racial profiling and violence. They have tried to ignore the fact that Zimmerman is, in fact, Latino and now that people like me have called them out, they’re referring to him as “White-Hispanic.” What? I live in Texas. You’re either an Anglo (white) or you’re Latino. You’re not both. Zimmerman is half Latino or of Hispanic descent, by today’s standards, that makes him Latino.  Is that important?  Yes — when the media is purposely misreporting it to stoke the emotional flames.

I’ve heard from many who have said, “40 murders in Chicago in one weekend and there are no protests there.  The youngest victim there was 6 years old!”  I hear you, but I respectfully submit, you’re comparing apples to oranges.  In those cases, arrests  were either made or the shooter(s) are unknown. The outrage over this case is very simple and righteous: an innocent 17-year old is dead, police know who did it, police know what lead up to it, and police made the conscious decision to NOT charge the shooter. A shooter who claimed self-defense and that he was covered by the “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida.

Former governor Jeb Bush has already commented that the law probably doesn’t apply to this case. In the law, if one is confronted, a Floridian has the right to use deadly force in defense. With Zimmerman being the aggressor and instigator, I don’t see how that would apply. Also, police didn’t do a simple background check on Zimmerman before cutting him loose from questioning. It turns out, the shooter had previously been charged with domestic violence in one case and resisting arrest with violence and battery on an officer in another case. Have I mentioned he started the events of the fateful night?

To answer a few of the other concerns  I’ve heard.  I am 100 percent for gun rights and the second  amendment. I have no problem with George Zimmerman or any other law-abiding American citizen exercising his or their 2nd amendment rights. I am NOT against neighborhood watch programs. I just think it’s important that the name is observed. Neighborhood “watch.” Zimmerman did a lot more than watch that night. I am not against people defending themselves. But in what rule book does it say that if you’re followed, pursued, treated like an outsider and a criminal, and a confrontation ensues you can’t get the best of the pursuer? I have the hardest time with that one.

The members of the New Black Panther Party who put a bounty out on George Zimmerman should be arrested for making illegal threats, period.  Al Sharpton is a media spotlight hoarder and should have been  out of the national picture years ago (look up Tawana Brawley). I respect what the Miami Heat did by posing for a picture with all players — no matter their race — wearing hoodies. Geraldo is an idiot for actually saying the hoodie is just as much to blame as Zimmerman.

And, finally, I am NOT convicting George Zimmerman here or on my radio shows. I am calling for him to be charged. There is a dead 17-year-old innocent kid. George Zimmerman killed him. He should be charged. He is innocent until proven guilty so, let the courts decide.

I’ve covered many many murder cases and it’s extremely rare for an investigation to continue for a month or more when the shooter is known and the dead person did not instigate the occurrence. If he’s innocent, the jury will find as much. If he’s guilty, that will be the decision. But to leave him scott-free and incommunicado is ridiculous. With no charge and letting him walk a month ago, if they decide to charge now, what would be the impetus for him to come forward? Bottom line, this entire situation should never have happened.