# Pitting the Zimmerman trial circus **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 13, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419 "2013-07-13T19:53:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 38
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/741 "2013-07-18T18:58:55Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Well, it has been publicized _now_, hasn’t it, blabbermouth! You’ll have to wait for my book deal to hear the details. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/742 "2013-07-18T19:04:55Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > And is there some cite to that effect? > > Who told you? The blogger at [http://www.theconservativetreehouse.com/](http://www.theconservativetreehouse.com/) has been working on this, filing numerous FOIA requests and following up on that with the police dept. etc. Sundance I believe is the handle. Here are a couple of relevant blogs: > **[Understanding The Real "Profilers" of Trayvon Martin - It was not George...](https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2013/07/15/understanding-the-real-profilers-of-trayvon-martin-it-was-not-george-zimmerman/)** > > President Obama famously stated: “if I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon“. The key words to take away from that truncated quote are “look like”. President Obama, and those of likeminded consequence, are not focused on the content of Trayvon’s... > **[Failing Trayvon - The Miami-Dade School Police Department Scandal Begins To...](https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2013/07/15/failing-trayvon-the-miami-dade-school-police-department-scandal-begins-to-gain-traction/)** > > Apparently the TRUTH Behind Our Investigations are reaching the mainstream blogosphere.   American Spectator has picked up the story.  So too has Atlasshrugs:   M-DSPD instructions developed and enforced by Chief Hurley... There are some much more extensive ones below the fold, I’d have to go hunting for them. Some excerpts: On October 21st, 2011, a burglary took place a few blocks from Krop Senior High School where Trayvon Martin attended. The stolen property outlined in the Miami-Dade Police Report (PD111021-422483) matches the descriptive presented by SRO Dunn in his School Police report 2011-1477 SRO Dunn never filed a criminal report nor opened a criminal investigation. Following the procedures designed to avoid criminal reports for black male students, he wrote up the jewelry as “found items” and transferred them along with the burglary tool, to the Miami-Dade Police property room where they sat on a shelf. Sundance contacted the police dept. Someone named Detective Manfresa told him that the items the property was returned to the rightful owners. The head of that police dept., Miami-Dade School Police Department Police Chief Charles Hurley, by the way, was fired for his policies covering up for black students’ crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Condescending\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Condescending\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Condescending_Robot)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/743 "2013-07-18T19:22:19Z")
So, a blog decided that the two sets of jewelry “matched” because both of them were described as jewelry, and connects this to a massive conspiracy by the police to cover up the horrible truth about black people. Sure. According to all of the published sources, Hurley was not fired, but rather demoted, and not over the school crime statistics, but over sexual harassment allegations, and he later resigned from the force voluntarily. [http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2013/01/miami-dade\_schools\_police\_chie\_1.php](http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2013/01/miami-dade_schools_police_chie_1.php) et al. As for why the very white Hurley, in a conservative state and in the most conservative of professions, would want to break the law to help black people as a class, well, hey, how should I know? I don’t have access to “some bloggers” and what “people have told me” so maybe this is all part of the coverup too. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/744 "2013-07-18T19:30:31Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > When you say blacks have a disproportionate level of criminality in the context of this case, aren’t you implying that that blacks generally and Treyvon in particular are the victims of bigotry that black criminality have created? That somehow its a bit more understandable to shoot a black kid because a lot of them are criminals? Are you still mixing me up with other posters or something? I’ve already laid this all out for you. I didn’t say anything about it. Martin Luther King did. I didn’t even post it to the thread. Another poster did. Why do you keep insisting on stuffing words into my mouth regarding this? But, on to the larger concept of black criminality and this case. Is there something wrong with this case leading to a frank discussion in the black community about criminality? I would love to see some leaders in the black community start talking about these issues, as Bill Cosby has done. It would be a refreshing change from what we have now with Jackson and Sharpton and their efforts at inflaming and dividing the country. I’m sure you’ll paraphrase this into me somehow thinking that it’s OK to shoot black kids so I don’t know why I bother. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/745 "2013-07-18T19:38:45Z")
> [@Condescending\_Robot](#): > > As for why the very white Hurley, in a conservative state and in the most conservative of professions, would want to break the law to help black people as a class, well, hey, how should I know? I don’t have access to “some bloggers” and what “people have told me” so maybe this is all part of the coverup too. Plus, they don’t say “his policies covering up for black students’ crimes”, they using "using the Baker Act to manipulate crime statistics’. He wasn’t ‘helping black criminals’ as much as he was ‘padding his stats to make himself look more competent’. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/746 "2013-07-18T19:40:26Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > The head of that police dept., Miami-Dade School Police Department Police Chief Charles Hurley, by the way, was fired for his policies covering up for black students’ crimes. I hope your blogger friend is more credible. Hurley was fired (demoted, actually) for [sexual harassment](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/31/miami-dade-schools-police_n_2591759.html) and subsequently [resigned](http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/06/3270822/former-miami-dade-schools-police.html). ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/747 "2013-07-18T19:49:40Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > The head of that police dept., Miami-Dade School Police Department Police Chief Charles Hurley, by the way, was fired for his policies covering up for black students’ crimes. At least tell me the screwdriver got a stiff sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/748 "2013-07-18T20:07:35Z")
Lest my previous reply seem **elucidator** -like in the substitution of snark for analysis, I mean to suggest that the list you have provided is bare conclusory allegation, bereft of anything approaching proof. Why, pray tell, are we permitted to demand proof when Zimmerman is being accused, but when Martin’s misdeeds are on the table, the barest hint of a rumor is sufficient? ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/749 "2013-07-18T20:21:22Z")
> [@Condescending\_Robot](#): > > Oh, it goes further—people are still insisting that Martin _actually was_ intending to burglarize houses that night, based on credulous acceptance of Zimmerman’s “standing around looking into houses” claim. What is also fascinating is how viral and sticky Zimmerman’s lies are. Even people who think he’s guilty have taken claims about Martin “cutting through yards” at face value. I don’t even know where this idea comes from, because I’m pretty sure Zimmerman never accused the kid of doing anything except walking slowly and looking around on the NEN call. But the story has morphed into the kid doing all these weird things like peering into windows and straying into people’s yards. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/750 "2013-07-18T20:26:32Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Lest my previous reply seem **elucidator** -like in the substitution of snark for analysis… Damn, another night of crying myself to sleep clutching my banky! ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/751 "2013-07-18T20:38:32Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > In other words: the jury could have decided the self-defense story was pretty unlikely, and still acquitted. Yep. I was on just such a jury a couple weeks ago. It’s possible that the defendant in my case was innocently driving along and some crazy woman just launched herself at his car and started pounding it with her fists, then left him alone as he backed the car up and went inside his mom’s apartment to call the police, then charged him again when he came back outside with his brother and wife to assess the damage, that she poked him with her finger and spit in his face and then somehow managed to both bruise the base of his neck and put wounds neither the EMTs or the police noticed on his cheeks with one swipe of her fingernails, that he punched her once, knocking her down, and then she quietly walked away toward her own apartment with no further issue. Oh, and that while all this was going on her boyfriend was running at them with a hammer. Possible, but none of us believed him. But the prosecution hadn’t really put forth any evidence it didn’t happen that way, so we couldn’t really convict. ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/752 "2013-07-18T20:44:05Z")
Was Zimmermans gun latched in its holster and did it have a safety? I read(after some Googling) that his gun had a “hard trigger pull” versus a “soft pull” to release its “internal” safety, and I wondered if someone could clarify that here. I have limited knowledge of weapons. I ask because I was thinking if it would be difficult to one handedly unsnap a gun and the safety in the middle of a fight. Or, the implication, did Zimmerman have his hand on his weapon already, as he was hit and went down? Was this discussed in court? Thanks for any replies. I have read this thread from the start, and its nice to see the vitriol toned down abit.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/753 "2013-07-18T20:46:15Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Lest my previous reply seem **elucidator** -like in the substitution of snark for analysis, I mean to suggest that the list you have provided is bare conclusory allegation, bereft of anything approaching proof. > > Why, pray tell, are we permitted to demand proof when Zimmerman is being accused, but when Martin’s misdeeds are on the table, the barest hint of a rumor is sufficient? I never said it would stand up in court, especially because of the coverup. You asked me for a cite. I gave it to you. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/754 "2013-07-18T20:55:51Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > I never said it would stand up in court, especially because of the coverup. You asked me for a cite. I gave it to you. I think he meant a reputable cite. ---
**Author:** ![Tee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@Tee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tee)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/755 "2013-07-18T22:18:47Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > But, on to the larger concept of black criminality and this case. Is there something wrong with this case leading to a frank discussion in the black community about criminality? Wouldn’t that be more appropriate for a case in which the perp is black? ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/756 "2013-07-18T22:25:27Z")
[So it looks like the jury wasn’t all that much sequestered after all.](http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/...y-durin/nYwNG/) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/757 "2013-07-18T22:30:51Z")
Linky no worky. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/758 "2013-07-18T22:34:23Z")
> [@Tee](#): > > Wouldn’t that be more appropriate for a case in which the perp is black? Haven’t you been paying attention? This **is** one. Some AA commentator, I forget who, recently remarked, “Only in America could a black boy be put on trial after he’s dead.” ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/759 "2013-07-18T22:41:58Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Linky no worky. [http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/zimmerman-trial-jurors-had-alone-time-family-durin/nYwNG/](http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/zimmerman-trial-jurors-had-alone-time-family-durin/nYwNG/) ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/760 "2013-07-18T23:01:55Z")
Kudos to Charles Barkley. It takes some special strength not to follow the herd. [http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2013/07/18/charles-barkley-i-don-t-think-media-has-pure-heart-or-clean-hands-whe#ixzz2ZRI8CwmD](http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2013/07/18/charles-barkley-i-don-t-think-media-has-pure-heart-or-clean-hands-whe#ixzz2ZRI8CwmD) MARIA BARTIROMO, HOST: Any thoughts on the George Zimmerman verdict? CHARLES BARKLEY: Well, I agree with the verdict. BARTIROMO: You did. BARKLEY: I feel sorry that young kid got killed, but they didn’t have enough evidence to charge them. Something clearly went wrong that night. Clearly something went wrong, and I feel bad for anybody who loses a kid. But if you looked at the case and you don’t make it - there was some racial profiling, no question about it. But something happened that changed the dynamic of that night. And I know, and that’s probably not a popular opinion among most people. But just looking at the evidence I agree with the verdict. I just feel bad because I don’t like when race gets out in the media, because I don’t think the media has a pure heart, as I call it. There are very few people have a pure heart when it comes to race. Racism is wrong in any, shape, form. There are a lot of black people who are racist too. I think sometimes when people talk about racism they act like only white people are racist. There are a lot of I black people who are racist. And I don’t like when it gets out there in the media because I don’t think the media has clean hands. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419.md?page=37) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419.md?page=39)