Open-and-shut Trayvon Martin case gets cluttered up with facts

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Yesterday we looked at how the media is testing out the phrase “white Hispanic” to explain why George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin. And now, here’s another example of how they’re scrambling to make the facts fit the story they’ve already written. Miami Herald:

Multiple suspensions paint complicated portrait of Trayvon Martin

As thousands of people gathered here to demand an arrest in the Trayvon Martin case, a more complicated portrait began to emerge of a teenager whose problems at school ranged from getting spotted defacing lockers to getting caught with a marijuana baggie and women’s jewelry…

In October, a school police investigator said he saw Trayvon on the school surveillance camera in an unauthorized area “hiding and being suspicious.” Then he said he saw Trayvon mark up a door with “W.T.F” — an acronym for “what the f—.” The officer said he found Trayvon the next day and went through his book bag in search of the graffiti marker.

Instead the officer reported he found women’s jewelry and a screwdriver that he described as a “burglary tool,” according to a Miami-Dade Schools Police report obtained by The Miami Herald.

And with a slight variant, here’s CBS News:

New details deepen Trayvon Martin controversy

New information is putting a new twist on the Trayvon Martin case.

It has come out that the unarmed teenager was suspended from school, and is accused of beating up the man who then shot him dead…

Revelations surfaced that the teen’s high school had suspended him three times for offenses including vandalism, truancy and tardiness, and, at the time of his death, he was in the midst a two-week suspension for a baggie containing marijuana residue found in his book bag.

The family reacted angrily, accusing Sanford police of maligning their son.

No, these new facts aren’t “complicating” or “deepening” the issue. It was deep and complicated already. Our moral, ethical, and intellectual superiors in the media have tried and failed to make it shallow and simple.

Which isn’t to say that this new information proves Zimmerman was right to shoot Martin. But it does cast doubt on the instant narrative of Martin as a cheerful, cherubic little boy who was just minding his own business when a gun-wielding vigilante came out of nowhere and gunned him down for the crime of being black and wearing a hoodie. We still don’t know exactly what happened, or how close to the truth that is. Hey, it could be that’s what happened after all. But knowing more about these two guys only “complicates” things if you’re in the business of dumbing things down.

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Careful, Aye will consider any hint of criticism of Trayvon as being evidence of you being a “racist”.

Under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, if Martin felt fear of bodily harm from Zimmerman, then Martin had the right to shoot Zimmerman, right?
I guess we’ll never know, since Zimmerman decided to follow Martin and then shot him to death. Pretty convenient!

Interesting PS’s from that link, Curt.
Zimmerman was a registered Democrat, for instance.
And looking further on his Democrat registration form we see he describes himself as “Hispanic.”

From a commenter at one of the PS’s:
Trayvon’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, said, “They killed my son, and now they are trying to kill his reputation.”
Who is the ”they?”
That’s a good question.
Is Fulton a racist who paints all non-blacks with the same broad brush?

@rewinn: I guess we’ll never know, since Zimmerman decided to follow Martin and then shot him to death. Pretty convenient!

So please tell me how you know this to be true.

Evidently there are eye witnesses to the contrary. In addition and only time will tell there is evidence from the phone calls that he is near his car because they can hear the ding sound the car makes when the car door is open when the keys are left in the ignition. Regardless until all the witnesses give their testimony (and it is so convenient the major news outlets failed to provide the testimony of witnesses in favor of George Zimmerman) and the facts are sorted out that the truth will prevail.

For those who are black and wanting to lynch the man without a trial are no better than those men who lynched black men prior to the Civil War.

barry saw an opportunity to exploit a situation for his campaign and took it. Just like rahm says, don’t let a crisis go to waste.