"Not Self Defense", says Lead Investigator

[IanC]

U.S. News - Witness' mom says police told her Trayvon Martin shooting wasn't self-defense



I couldnt believe that Al Sharpton thought it was a good thing that the 13yr old witness's mother stated that the police interview was leading the direction of testimony by stating "this was not self defense" and "read between the lines" to the witness.


I am sickened that there was obvious witness tampering involved but Sharpton was practically gleeful. does he not understand how this undercuts anything the witness says now? not that he had much to say anyways.

 

[waltky]

Bruises usually don't show up until a day or so later...

Police video of Trayvon Martin's killer the 'smoking gun,' lawyer says
March 29, 2012 | Police video of Trayvon Martin's killer the 'smoking gun,' lawyer says

A lawyer for Trayvon Martin's parents said Wednesday new video showing the teen's killer George Zimmerman after their deadly clash, but without the head injuries he claims were inflicted upon him in the scuffle, was "the smoking gun" for those seeking to have him arrested. The CCTV footage, released Wednesday, shows Zimmerman climbing handcuffed out of a police car and engaging with officers after he killed Martin, 17, on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla. Not obviously visible are the broken, bloody nose and head wound that he claimed he sustained from being punched by Martin and having his head slammed into the sidewalk during their scuffle.

Zimmerman has said he shot Martin in self-defense after being attacked -- a claim backed by some witnesses, but contested by others. Lawyer Benjamin Crump, appearing with Martin's mother Sybrina Fulton and father Tracy Martin on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" Wednesday, said the video showed "there was some kind of conspiracy to sweep Trayvon Martin's death under the rug." Separately, he said in a statement, "This certainly doesn't look like a man who told police only an hour or so earlier he suffered a broken nose and had his head repeatedly smashed into the sidewalk. "It only bolsters our claim that George Zimmerman was not beaten to the point that he feared for his life, as he had indicated. This armed vigilante needs to be arrested immediately for the murder of Trayvon Martin."

Reacting to comments made earlier by Zimmerman's friend Joe Oliver -- who said the 28-year-old would never be the same after the incident, was struggling to sleep, cried for days afterward and was now depressed -- Fulton said simply, "If I had killed an individual, I'd be crying too." She added, "I believe George Zimmerman hunted my son like an animal." And in relation to Oliver's claims that Zimmerman was not a racist, Tracy Martin said his son's killer may not have been a racist, "but George Zimmerman did racially profile Trayvon Martin." Martin was walking from a 7-Eleven to the home where he was staying with his father in a gated community outside Orlando on Feb. 26 when Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, phoned 911 to report that the black teen, who was wearing a hoodie, looked suspicious.

Despite being told by a police dispatcher not to follow Martin, Zimmerman left his vehicle to go after him. Martin was speaking by phone to his girlfriend as he walked and told her he was scared because someone was following him. The two clashed in circumstances that remain unclear, which led to Zimmerman shooting the unarmed Martin and killing him. Though he was taken into police custody that night, he was never formally arrested and has not been charged with any crime.

Read more: Police Video Of Trayvon Martin's Killer The 'smoking Gun,' Lawyer Says | Fox News

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The problem is, the black community changes how to refer to black indivduals from time to time, its hard to keep up with what's PC at the moment...

Daily Texan criticized for Trayvon cartoon
Thursday, March 29, 2012 - - The Daily Texan's editorial board apologized Wednesday for running an editorial cartoon that referred to Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager shot and killed in Florida, as a "colored boy."

The cartoonist, Stephanie Eisner of The Woodlands, apologized separately. She no longer works for the University of Texas' student newspaper, according to the board. The editorial board said it will take steps, including requiring all newspaper employees to take part in a seminar each semester "about the relationship between race and the media." "We sincerely apologize for publishing the offensive cartoon and for the harm that decision caused," the apology read. Martin, 17, was killed Feb. 26 during an encounter with George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman has asserted he was acting in self-defense, according to media reports. The cartoon was intended to slam media coverage of Martin's death.

Protests, reputation

It shows a woman in a chair labeled "the media," telling an open-mouthed child, "And then..... the big, bad white man killed the handsome, sweet, innocent colored boy!!" The woman holds a book labeled "Treyvon Martin and the case of yellow journalism," misspelling the first name of the teen whose death has sparked a national controversy among those who said he drew suspicion in Zimmerman's neighborhood because of his race. Eric L. McDaniel, associate professor of government at UT, said those who are offended at the cartoon see it as trivializing a tragedy, but that he also understands frustration over media coverage. "I think the media jumped on it as a black-white issue," McDaniel said. "It's more complicated." He also noted that in talking to students, he finds that the university "does not have the greatest reputation amongst African-Americans in the state."

The attention comes just months after two successive presidents of the College Republicans at UT sent out tweets about President Barack Obama that raised criticism. One wrote, after a man was arrested for allegedly firing at the White House: "I know it may be tempting, but don't shoot President Obama. We need him to go down as the worst president in history." Her successor tweeted, "My president is black, he snorts a lot of crack. Holla." On Wednesday, a protest organized on Facebook called the cartoon "damaging to the struggle people of color have been engaged with for generations, and it is insulting to students of color on campus."

'Goal fell flat'

Eisner apologized for what she said was "in hindsight an ambiguous cartoon." "I intended to contribute thoughtful commentary on the media coverage of the incident, however this goal fell flat," she said in a statement. "I would like to make it explicitly clear that I am not a racist and that I am personally appalled by the killing of Trayvon Martin." Audrey White, the Daily Texan's managing editor, said she hopes "to reach out to the university community for input on how The Daily Texan covers race and racism." "I also want the Texan be more active in recruiting staff members with diverse backgrounds and points of view," White said by email. The cartoon was temporarily pulled from the newspaper's website Tuesday afternoon to keep the site from crashing, according to an editor's note, but it was then reposted.

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