If I had to guess, it was likely his attire and mannerisms that Zimmerman profiled, rather than his skin color.
OK, so when did "profile" become a bad word? In many situations, being able to read a situation, is a survival skill. Heck, there are may areas I would not walk the block unless I was comfortable with the body language of those around. Are we so damn dumb that we are to ignore what we see and what we hear all based upon some half assed idea that to reconize ANY differences, is being a racist..
Zimmerman has a history of fighting the cops and his ex. Real noble. He's also the only one that had a criminal record. Trayvon is black, though, so he must be so mean grrrrrrrr
Profiling is OK if you have a very good reason to. "Store robbed by black man, be on the lookout. He's wearing a plaid shirt." So pay attention to black guys. Profiling is not OK if you have no reason to. "Black kid talking on the phone to his girl, after going to the store for a soda and candy."
once again, circumstance dictates reason, Denny. Gated community, in the several that I have lived in, everyone knows who their neighbors are..who belongs,and who does not..
But you JUST said that profiling was okay when "store robbed by black man", but it's not okay when "houses robbed by black teens, be on the lookout".... ? Zimmerman knew that there had been a number of robberies committed by black teens. He saw a black teen he did not recognize walking through the neighborhood, he called 911 and tried to see where the kid went. I really don't see anything wrong with that. The question in judgement lies in whether lethal force was necessary, but quite frankly we let the cops off all the time with much less call for lethal force. Martin was supposedly on top of Zimmerman, beating him up. That's way worse than some of the shootings that police have had. Where are the protests for those?
House wasn't JUST robbed. Otherwise cops would be stopping black people driving down the street for no good reason other than there was a house robbed some time ago by a black person. Oops, the already do!
Hate to jump into this . . . I agree Nate that I don't think Zimmerman did anything real wrong or damaging as you described (earlier reports, sees unfamiliar black teen, calls 911). But you stopped there twice saying you don't see what he did wrong. What about after that when 911 told him to stay put but he decided to follow Martin, contrary to what 911 told him to do. My concern with this case is wouldn't it have been better for Martin to be packing heat (from Martin's perspective). He brought his fists to what he perceived as a fight and lost to a gun. Had Martin had a gun and felt his life was threatened by Zimmerman, could he have stood his ground, shot and claimed self defense?
It's happened plenty of times before in Florida. It's just that it wasn't brought up by Al Sharpton and members of our government as a racially-motivated crime when they happened.
Sharpton is a carnival barker. Obama is the one who made this a national shooting. Truly despicable behavior from a President.
George Zimmerman Arrested in Florida Following 'Disturbance' Call George Zimmerman, who was acquitted this summer of murdering teenager Trayvon Martin, has been arrested in Florida after deputies responded to a "disturbance call." Zimmerman was arrested by the Seminole County Sheriff's Office at about 1 p.m. today, authorities said. He will be transported and booked into the John E. Polk Correctional Facility. No further details were immediately available. The sheriff's office said they will be releasing the arrest report and 911 call as soon as they are available. Today's incident is Zimmerman's latest run in with the law. In September, he was released without charges after his wife called 911 to say Zimmerman punched his father-in-law in the nose and threatened to shoot him and his wife. He claimed that he was acting in a "defensive manner" during the incident, according to police, who later added that they never found a gun on Zimmerman. Zimmerman was acquitted in July of the murder of teenager Trayvon Martin.
Arrested for beating his pregnant girlfriend. Normally in Florida beating your pregnant girlfriend is permitted as long as you were in fear for you life.
Baby or no baby on board . . . a man is allowed to stand his ground (and smack or shoot whoever comes into his space or even into his line of vision)
