It's Watch!... Neighborhood Watch. Not shoot.

Wow...
Prison is a foregone conclusion. This guy is gonna be fighting for his life.

 

They have to arrest him first.

 

This guy won't be charged, and if he is, he'll be acquitted.

 

They may have to. At some point - and shortly, given the attention this is getting - this sad event impinges on the electoral health and livelihood of some Florida politician. Pressure from above will do what pressure from below cannot.

The other argument for quick arrest is that once enough folks hear that 911 call, someone is going to haul George Zimmerman the fuck into the street and shoot him in the face.

 

It turns out the gentleman in question had aspirations to law enforcement:

http://news.yahoo.com/neighborhood-watchman-allegedly-shot-trayvon-martin-wanted-cop-211535382--abc-news.html

Oh, and this is rich. Zimmerman's father contends his son did not confront the kid, despite all evidence pointing to him ignoring the 911 dispatcher, getting out of his vehicle and getting into a confrontation with the teenager that left him bleeding from the nose and back of the head.

 

If you listen to the 911 calls (which are chilling), it is obvious Zimmerman was following Trayvon Martin, and ignored the 911 dispatcher's request to stop following him. During the course of his call, Zimmerman says, racistly, "They always get away." His suspicion is that a young black male was walking through the neighborhood wearing a hoodie, looking around the neighborhood as he walked. That's it.

Of course, a huge X factor here is why the Sanford police were so reluctant to release the 911 call, and why the POLICE have advised Zimmerman not to talk, and why the police have said they have no evidence to charge Zimmerman with a crime. Certainly, Florida's shoot-first, ask-questions-later law protects Zimmerman, but why are the POLICE so hot to protect him?

 

This is a huge story. Just the beginning.

 

Totally different circumstances. And that guy's name was legitimately Joe Horn.

If these descriptions are true, this guy here should spend the rest of his life in a jail cell.

 

No, it's actually very similar. Joe Horn's house wasn't being robbed -- it was a neighbor's house. 911 dispatchers begged Horn not to go next door and shoot -- if for no other reason than for his own safety -- and Horn made it clear he was going next door to kill those bastards, because Texas law said he could. And indeed (aided by the fact the two he killed were undocumented immigrants), a grand jury cleared Horn.

Just like Horn, Zimmerman couldn't leave it to the professionals to figure out what was going on. Actually, it's worse because at least in Horn's case an actual crime was being committed. In Zimmerman's case, police were going to check out someone for merely walking down the street. But like Horn, Zimmerman was some self-appointed crime-fightin' cowboy who figured -- thanks to state law -- he could now be judge, jury and executioner.

 

It's been a while since a story has affected me the way this has. It actually makes me feel sick to my stomach.

 

http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/weapons/self_defense.html

More explanations of Florida's shoot-first, ask-questions-later law. The division that handles gun licensing cautions that the law doesn't just let you shoot if you merely feel threatened -- though who knows what a jury will think?

Q. When can I use my handgun to protect myself?

A. Florida law justifies use of deadly force when you are:

Trying to protect yourself or another person from death or serious bodily harm;
Trying to prevent a forcible felony, such as rape, robbery, burglary or kidnapping.
Using or displaying a handgun in any other circumstances could result in your conviction for crimes such as improper exhibition of a firearm, manslaughter, or worse.

Example of the kind of attack that will not justify defending yourself with deadly force: Two neighbors got into a fight, and one of them tried to hit the other by swinging a garden hose. The neighbor who was being attacked with the hose shot the other in the chest. The court upheld his conviction for aggravated battery with a firearm, because an attack with a garden hose is not the kind of violent assault that justifies responding with deadly force.

Q. What if someone uses threatening language to me so that I am afraid for my life or safety?

A. Verbal threats are not enough to justify the use of deadly force. There must be an overt act by the person which indicates that he immediately intends to carry out the threat. The person threatened must reasonably believe that he will be killed or suffer serious bodily harm if he does not immediately take the life of his adversary.

I'm no lawyer, but it appears that Florida would let the likes of Joe Horn go because he was trying to prevent a "forcible felony."