Zimmerman issue: Maybe we can control our reactions if we prepare for the worst now?

[Baitball Blogger]

Two scenarios where I see us losing it, one might have a bigger reaction than the other.

The first, that no charges are filed. I really doubt this. I have a feeling that something is coming. However, if they don't charge him, I'll continue doing what I have been doing: disconnecting from the surreal world we live in.

The second I see some serious problems developing if it happens. Which is why we need to talk ourselves into self control, as well as prepare others. What if the new evidence is that the bullet entered from the back and exited from the front? I figure the backlash against the police department would be the reason why they're preparing for the worst. If that's the case, we need to get local community leaders now to start talking to the public to control a reaction, which though it might seem justified, will not help Trayvon and his family. This is about them, right now, and we don't want to lose public support on this issue.

What does everybody else think?

[Ecumenist]

1. Oh, I agree and while I'm praying for justice in this case, I[m prepared for the worst case scenario

[cindyperry2010]

2. I agree and hope precautions

are in place to keep it under control

[Justice wanted]

3. My fear--My worse fear is the Black community temper their disappointment in a "no Charges"

decisions BUT you do that that group of Nazi's "Patrolling" and THEY happy with the decision decide to start taking advantage of the SYG law.


maybe I'm a sick paranoid person but there are just too many factors down there that scare the hell out of me.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. Very true.

It's easy for me to withdraw into my shell. I've been doing it for years. But being at ground zero, the situation you describe is the worst case scenario.

[ellisonz]

5. *uncontrolled rageful anger*

[drm604]

6. Disconnecting from the world certainly isn't a good idea.

It's not like that's the only alternative to violence. Get angry and channel that anger into registering voters and volunteering for campaigns.

[slackmaster]

7. I believe that if there was evidence as damning as an entry wound on Trayvon's back...

...Zimmerman would be in jail awaiting trial.

[Baitball Blogger]

9. If his political connections are strong enough,

maybe this is the hedge which none of us would get to see?

[amandabeech]

24. The Coroner/medical examiner has not released his or her report.

The Medical Examiner's report will be the best evidence at trial as to whether Trayvon was shot in the chest or the back, not the funeral home director. The funeral home director received the body from the medical examiner, and medical examiner's don't feel compelled to leave a pretty corpse after they are done. I'm sure that the director did his or her best to get information out there, but they're there to make the corpse look life like to help the survivors contend with their grief and to let them envision the deceased in a better place.

Good funeral directors do a big service to friends and family of the deceased. They make things the least traumatic as possible. I know from recent and 20-year-ago experience.

[slackmaster]

25. I believe you mean the examiner hasn't released his or her report to the general public.

I am confident that the prosecutor has seen it all.

Good funeral directors do a big service to friends and family of the deceased. They make things the least traumatic as possible. I know from recent and 20-year-ago experience.

Yes, but they're usually not qualified as pathologists.

[EOTE]

33. And I'd imagine that if someone shot an unarmed kid after stalking him several minutes.

he'd be in jail awaiting trial too. But that obviously didn't happen. Christ, the evidence is clear enough as it is, it's not lack of evidence that's keeping Zimmerman out of jail, it's some sad people who are determined that he not be held accountable.

[Honeycombe8]

8. It will make its way thru the legal system, however it happened.

It would be no surprise to many if it turned out that Trayvon was shot in the back. For others, they are willing to watch it go through the court system...a shot in the back being much more indefensible (but the whole thing is indefensible, really, it seems like).

I just hope people don't get violent. Innocent people get hurt, and their property gets damaged. Imagine being just a regular working guy whose car gets torched or ruined, and he has to work the next day. Or maybe he is seriously injured. Women and children are the most vulnerable in situations of anarchy.

The FBI and DOJ are involved. I have confidence that things will be handled right in the legal sense. But maybe they should also have the Nat'l Guard standing by, just in case. It would be awful to see a repeat of what happened after the Rodney King case.

I have a feeling it'll be all right. Of course, there are always a few wackos who look for a reason to act out at just about any situation.

[Hoyt]

10. If bullet entered from back, they need to arrest Zimmerman now.

Then, they would need to explain why Zimmerman was not arrested that night.

If they let him go, I'll be ticked as he'll, But I have no interest in hurting innocents and making things worse. I think most people will be like that. Well, I hope so.

I suspect folks are arming up in area. Hope we learn something from this.

Fact is, they should not have let him go that night -- and people need to know why they did.

State and/or feds better sound like this is going to get dealt with properly.

[Baitball Blogger]

12. If that is the case, and the entry wound is from the back,

Zimmerman will only be the first domino to fall. The question is, how quickly can they make changes to the SPD and the State Attorney's Office in order to restore confidence?

[Hoyt]

14. Good point. I hope it's Damn quick.

[Junkdrawer]

11. If that's what the autopsy shows, they will work like hell to hide it until the trial....

and there WILL be a trial - For Zimmerman. Assuming he doesn't go down in a blaze of martyred glory during his arrest.

They may need to throw Bill Lee under the bus early (read before the election), but they will probably fight to keep Wolfinger out of this until after the election so Republicans can hold the SA seat.

Please read Stayclassie's posts on this thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=538788

Who ever Stayclassie is, he/she seems very plugged into the politics surrounding this incident.

[Baitball Blogger]

15. Good stuff there.

I'm still reading between computer crashes.

[Baitball Blogger]

17. I'll join a protest to get rid of Wolfinger.

He is the reason why my world is so surreal. He allows a high level of corruption to go unchecked in these red counties.

[socialist_n_TN]

13. I disagree that this is all about Trayvon and his family............

Yes, they are the ones that feel the tragedy the most, but this is MUCH bigger than the family of the victim. This is about legal murder. The cops have been getting away with it for decades now (probably centuries actually), but if this case doesn't even go to TRIAL, it legalizes murder from civilians. As long as it's white on black anyway.

I'm not one for gratuitous violence, but violence in self defense is a WHOLE other matter. IF Zimmerman isn't even CHARGED for this murder, people WILL need to get armed because it won't stop with black folk. The next step is the rest of us. If Zimmerman isn't even charged, this will lead to this country's own Kristalnacht (or however it's spelled in German).

[Baitball Blogger]

16. I'm assuming he will be charged.

I'm just saying, that the right wing will have to pick up their jaws off the ground when the evidence comes in, but if, instead, there is violence, that's what they will focus on, instead of the reason for the anger.

[Junkdrawer]

18. BTW: Credible witnesses have Zimmerman sitting on top of Trayvon just before the gunshot....

so a back wound is highly unlikely. Most likely scenario is that Zimmerman tackled and then sat on the (racially profiled) "perp". After that George pulled the gun and THAT is what caused Trayvons cries for help. Trayvon then either tried to slap the gun away or did something to try to get George off. George then went into a rage and shot Trayvon.

After the gunshot, witnesses have George getting off Trayvon and holding his head in a "what have I done" manner. An unidentified neighbor with a flashlight appears and then the cops show up.

[Quixote1818]

19. Which is why we don't see blood all over Zimmerman's front side

He shot down at Trayvon not upward with Trayvon on top of him.

[Junkdrawer]

20. any injury to Zimmerman (and the police videos show none) would be from the tackle....

or from Zimmerman slapping his head with the gun in his hand.

[Boabab]

21. But as we saw from the police station video

there were no injuries. He looked like he was visiting the station after a meal at Denny's. Shirt neatly tucked in, no stains on any item of clothing, and no visible injuries.

Trayvon was an athlete, who I'm betting was much faster than Zimmerman, so its doubtful that he would have caught him on foot.

My bet is that, frustrated that he couldn't catch up, GZ shot Trayvon in the back. Remember, there were two shots heard. The first was to slow him down, the second was to end his life.

[Junkdrawer]

23. Witness statement here:

http://www.examiner.com/crime-in-national/woman-says-she-witnessed-trayvon-martin-shooting-video

[Baitball Blogger]

22. Trayvon was found face down, wasn't he?

[cherokeeprogressive]

27. The position he was found in means fuck all.

[Baitball Blogger]

28. And of course, you're wrong.

In forensics it means everything.

You know, if you were going to do CPR on a body, the one way you would never find the body is face down.

[slackmaster]

31. Yes, OTOH if one were to try to suppress bleeding from an exit wound on the back...

...then face-down would make some sense.

[Baitball Blogger]

35. Actually, no.

They would be holding the individual since they would have to hold both sides of the body. And since no one has provided information to suggest that any life saving measure was made, we are left with a body that was facing down and an account that George Zimmerman was on top.

[cherokeeprogressive]

37. "no one has provided information to suggest ..." There it is in a nutshell.

You have no idea; you have only supposition.

I guess maybe I should have said "Until ALL the facts are known, the position of Trayvon's body means fuck all."

Until such time as all the facts ARE known, it's ALL only supposition.

Right?

[Baitball Blogger]

38. And, yet, following the evidence I knew if we gave this the public attention it deserved,

it would lead to an arrest. At a minimum, manslaughter, but additional evidence would result in 2nd degree manslaughter.

You on the other hand, wrong on all counts.

[cherokeeprogressive]

26. If the bullet HAD entered from the back, the arrest would have been initiated the MOMENT the ME

notified the police, who then would have notified the DA. Unless of course, you believe the bullshit that the CIA is protecting a loser-cop-wannabe for some strange reason even though his tenuous connection to The Agency died years ago.

As for the rest of your post? I think it's bullshit. We? US? I'M not "losing it" either way. I will not exacerbate the problem. I won't insinuate myself into a situation I didn't cause and have no control over. What will be the nature of YOUR "losing it" (should the immediate situation be one not to your liking) be?

Please.

[Baitball Blogger]

29. This doesn't sound like an issue that reaches into your soul like it

does the rest of us.

That's okay. When I say, "we," I mean anybody who has been following this issue with the same concern that I have.

[uponit7771]

32. You're assuming the cops care about a young black man who was gunned down...I don't think they

...do looking at what I know about this issue

[EOTE]

34. So it's not enough that Zimmerman shot an unarmed kid after witnesses said he begged for his life.

That's not enough to get him arrested, but being shot in the back would. Give me a break, he's obviously been protected from the beginning.

You really don't think that he's being protected? After witnesses have said that the police tried to get them to change their story to say that Zimmerman was begging for his life? It's sad that there are some here who really don't seem to care about this.

[kctim]

30. You're wrong

If no charges are filed, the people who have already made up their mind despite not knowing all the facts, will go crazy. There will be riots and there will be more violence.

IF he was shot in the back, then that will finally be factual evidence that Zimmerman did not act in self defense and the SPD will be cleaned out.