4um: An Open Letter to the Parents of Trayvon Martin

Title: An Open Letter to the Parents of Trayvon Martin
Source: [None]
URL Source: [None]
Published: Aug 6, 2013
Author: Glenda Wells
Post Date: 2013-08-06 00:10:23 by James Deffenbach
Keywords: None
Views: 1987
Comments: 237

Ms Fulton, Mr Martin I mourn your loss more than I can possibly say but let's be clear. Your son had as much opportunity to walk away as Mr Zimmerman did but chose instead to be aggressive himself.

Just as a reminder, Mr Zimmerman did not use Stand Your Ground as a defense. The facts are indisputable that your son was on top and pounding Mr Zimmerman. Your son was not stalked. Mr Zimmerman was judged in a court of law to be not guilty therefore no punishment is warranted.

Your son was depicted by the media as a young boy and portrayed as an innocent but let's be honest. We know that was not a true picture. Instead we learned you're son was a drug dealer and petty thief. Where were you when he should have been learning respect? Where were you when he needed the kind of guidance that would make him a good and decent man?

Your efforts now seem like the desperate reach of parents trying to make up for in death what they failed in life. To think otherwise would paint you as a crass and heartless people looking for personal gain on the grave of a soul lost too soon.

I am the Florida state coordinator for Gun Rights Across America. I represent more than 2,000 law abiding citizens who believe in our God-given right to defend ourselves, our families and our property against the kind of aggression displayed by your son that awful night and by countless thugs and criminals across the nation every day.

GRAA has the support of thousands of members in every state and we have the backing of millions more in hundreds of Patriot and Constitutional groups around the country. We will fight any effort designed to give thugs and criminals power over law abiding citizens.

A lot better than all these people who are dead set on defending the little thug.

" If you cannot govern yourself, you will be governed by assholes. " Randge, Poet de Forum, 1/11/11

Nope. And at some point, even though your intentions are good, you have to decide that there is just no help for some folks. They will argue that up is down and black is white all day long and there is no getting through to them.

There is ample evidence that however the tussle developed at some point Martin put Zimmerman in fear of great bodily harm or death.

How did Zimmerman get that dislocated nose and all those cuts on the back of his head? You've got to bang someone's head pretty hard to get those kind of cuts contusions. Do you think Zimmerman did it to himself? No one else was observed in the area at the time. It's apparent that Martin was assaulting Zimmerman in a serious way.

It most certainly does and especially so when one who actually started the fight did so on foot with a gun! Now, had Trayvon been armed chances are he could have saved his own life. Believe me, were some punk following me on foot with a gun, I'd go crazy on their ass. And I mean it! No fucking joke here at all.

a. Jeantel - after the trial decision - said she believed Trayvon started the fight.

b.Trayvon didn't know Zimmerman was armed. There is no evidence that suggests Trayvon had any knowledge of Zimmerman being armed before the shooting took place.

Conceal and carry must be a familiar phrase to lawyers, as you insinuate, you are.

Or are you the physician persona? I forget. There has been a few faux "professionals" passing thru 4um while Obama/Holder/Big Sis have been at the helm of Titanic America.

c. I thought you were the get-along gal who posted a few messages up. "I'd go crazy on their ass" doesn't sound very peace seeking, "I'm ok you're ok" per the persona you presented in message #83:

"I've lived in Los Angeles for 22 years and I have lived with Iranians/Iraqs, Israelians, Lebanese, Syrians, Asians, Blacks and Mexicans. I learned how to live peacefully with them all. This thing about "Not his neighborhood, he was visiting" is a misnomer of speech. "

d. God I hope you're not a gooobment DHS/FBI/facsimile dept "I have no skills or talent so I applied & got hired for a gov't job" plant. Because if so, my taxpayer $ is being seriously mis-spent.

If he were found guilty of the 2 criminal charges/accusations you mentioned, it would be public record. You'd be able to find these records.

"When you have a father who is a retired judge and possibly giving you advice to plead the fifth in court, as well as pull some strings for you, then you're home free."

If A and B get into a tussle that A started and there are damages and claims and counterclaims, A might be held more responsible than B.

If B escalates the situation however, and presents A with deadly force, A is still within his or her right to self-defense and to respond in kind, notwithstanding how the fight got started.

You are actually proviing my point. How is any of that a conviction? Whare is the court action? Why do you have one standard for accusing Trayvon of things and another for Zimmerman?

Trayvon has been called a gangster, a thug, a wannabe thug, a criminal, a drug addict, and everything else under the sun on every one of these threads.

Why is throwing shit against a wall to see what sticks O.K. in the case of defaming Martin, but only a conviction is acceptable when it comes to Z?

There is no such crime as wanting to be a thug. We don't have a department of precrime.

What does any of your comment have to do with why Tracy Martin's first call (his g/f called at his request) regarding his missing son was placed to the local juvenile detention center? To the rational, his call shows the first place he thought of when TM was missing x 13 hours.

How a Miami School Crime Cover-Up Policy Led to Trayvon Martin’s Death

The February 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martion

might never have happened if school officials in Miami-Dade County

had not instituted an unofficial policy of treating crimes as

school disciplinary infractions. "http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2013/07/trayvon-martins- involvement-in-local-burglaries-covered-up-by-media-school-police- prosecutors.html">

Revelations that emerged from an internal affairs investigation

explain why Martin was not arrested when caught at school with

stolen jewelry in October 2011 or with marijuana in February 2012.

Instead, the teenager was suspended from school, the last time just

days before he was shot dead by George Zimmerman.

Trayvon Martin was not from Sanford, the town north of Orlando

where he was shot in 2012 and where a jury acquitted Zimmerman of

murder charges Saturday. Martin was from Miami Gardens, more than

200 miles away, and had come to Sanford to stay with his father’s

girlfriend Brandy Green at her home in the townhouse community

where Zimmerman was in charge of the neighborhood watch. Trayvon

was staying with Green after he had been suspended for the second

time in six months from Krop High School in Miami-Dade County,

where both his father, Tracy Martin, and mother, Sybrina Fulton,

lived.

Both of Trayvon’s suspensions during his junior year at Krop

High involved crimes that could have led to his prosecution as a

juvenile offender. However, Chief Charles Hurley of the Miami-Dade

School Police Department (MDSPD) in 2010 had implemented a policy

that reduced the number of criiminal reports, manipulating

statistics to create the appearance of a reduction in crime within

the school system. Less than two weeks before Martin’s death, the

school system "http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2013/05/01/m-dspd-cover-up-the-curious- case-of-trayvon-martins-backpack-with-stolen-jewelry-and-burglary-tool/">

commended Chief Hurley for “decreasing school-related juvenile

delinquency by an impressive 60 percent for the last six months of

2011.” What was actually happening was that crimes were not

being reported as crimes, but instead treated as disciplinary

infractions.

In October 2011, after a video surveillance camera caught Martin

writing graffiti on a door, MDSPD Office Darryl Dunn searched

Martin’s backpack, looking for the marker he had used. Officer Dunn

found 12 pieces of women’s jewelry and a man’s watch, along with a

flathead screwdriver the officer described as a “burglary tool.”

The jewelry and watch, which Martin claimed he had gotten from a

friend he refused to name, matched a description of items stolen

during the October 2011 burglary of a house on 204th Terrace, about

a half-mile from the school. However, because of Chief Hurley’s

policy “to lower the arrest rates,” as one MDSPD sergeant said in

an internal investigation, the stolen jewerly was instead listed as

“found property” and was never reported to Miami-Dade Police who

were investigating the burglary. Similarly, in February 2012 when

an MDSPD officer caught Martin with a small plastic bag containing

marijuana residue, as well as a marijuana pipe, this was not

treated as a crime, and instead Martin was suspended from

school.

Either of those incidents could have put Trayvon Martin into the

custody of the juvenile justice system. However, because of Chief

Hurley’s attempt to reduce the school crime statistics — "http://www.scribd.com/doc/135564937/Sergeant-William-Tagle-Internal-Affairs- Investigative-Report">

according to sworn testimony, officers were “basically told to

lie and falsify” reports — Martin was never arrested. And if he

had been arrested, he might never have been in Sanford the night of

his fatal encounter with Zimmerman.

In fact, the reason Zimmerman was patrolling the townhouse

community the night of the February 2012 shooting was that "http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/25/us-usa-florida-shooting-zimmerman- idUSBRE83O18H20120425">

there had been a rash of burglaries in the neighborhood,

although there was no indication that Trayvon Martin was involved

in any of those crimes.

As for Chief Hurley’s policy, it was the controversy over

Martin’s death that accidentally exposed it. In March 2012, the

"http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/26/2714778/thousands-expected-at- trayvon.html">

Miami Herald "http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/26/2714778/thousands-expected-at- trayvon.html">

reported on Martin’s troubled history of disciplinary incidents at

Krop High. Chief Hurley then launched the internal affairs

investigation in an attempt to find out who had provided

information to the reporter. During the course of that

investigation, MDSPD officers and supervisors described Chief

Hurley’s policy of not reporting crimes by students. Chief Hurley

was subsequently accused of sexually harassing two female

subordinates. He "http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/03/06/3270822/former-miami-dade-schools- police.html">

resigned in February, about a year after Trayvon Martin’s

death.

You are correct. What you refuse to accept is that the only crime relevant to this case is assault, not prior action by Trayvon or by Zimmerman. The evidence in this case substantiates an assault on Zimmerman by Martin which warranted self defense with a firearm. Hence, an acquittal of Zimmerman regarding the death of Trayvon Martin.

" If you cannot govern yourself, you will be governed by assholes. " Randge, Poet de Forum, 1/11/11

James Deffenbach - I think you can drop the wannabe when referring to Trayvon as a thug.

I said: not self defense so much as an accidental shooting, meaning more like an ~~alleged~~ accidental shooting than self defense.

This case has morphed into a vitriolic "Stand Your Ground on the Narrative, right or wrong" thing for many against any questions, objections or attempts to right the record. I don't know what it is about this issue that seems to make the very same people who have strongly opposed harassment and overreach by so-called "authority" figures suddenly toss all that out to condone it for Zimmerman who never even identified himself as a Neighborhood Watch official and wasn't dressed like a Security Guard either. But I'm not set on standing my ground on the accidental shooting possibility rather than self defense. It might have been to Zimmerman's advantage if considered an accidental killing but I'm willing to debate it as a strictly self defense issue.

Zimmerman was examined and treated by Paramedics at the scene and his alleged injuries were not determined to be serious enough to be transported to the hospital for stitches or x-rays, etc. He was taken directly to the police station for questioning. It's being asserted that it was wrong for Trayvon to use unarmed force to try and incapacitate Zimmeran but not wrong for Zimmerman to deliberately shoot him to death in the heart rather than try to stop the fight by firing a warning shot or aiming at his arm. Explain, please, how that amounts to "necessary force" under the definitions of self defense. In your opinion, did Zimmerman have more right because he was armed to use more force against his opponent to cause their death than they did to subdue him?

"They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time." -- Col. Puller, USMC

I see some of y'all are still trying to be jackass whisperers when your time would be better spent doing more productive things. Like washing your hair or trimming your toenails, you know, useful activity. It is of no benefit to you or anyone else to try to help those who have shown, over and over, that no help is wanted and none will be accepted. Still, if that is your mission in life carry on. >(;^{]

That was kinda tongue in cheek when I called him a "wannabe." He was already a thug but not graduated yet to the level and with the street cred he would have liked to have had.

And you remain the only person that has mentioned accidental shooting, alleged or otherwise, in connection to the Zimmerman case.

He was driving to Target to go grocery shopping. Are you suggesting he should have done that in some type of uniform?

It was Zimmerman's decision to not go to the hospital, not the paramedics at the scene.

Assertions no longer apply since the matter is legally settled; the jury disregarded the State's case and found for the defense. That means your comment above is now irrelevant and quite possible hallucinogenic.

Zimmerman used necessary force to terminate a potential life threatening felonious assault. His single shot to TMs center mass is the textbook method taught to civilians and LEOs alike. Warning shots and shots to the toes, finger tips, etc are the things of TeeVee, not real life.

I actually agree with you that both Trayvon and Zimmerman's actions or alleged actions should be judged on what they were doing that night, and not on a bunch of innuendo about their previous lives.

My point is the same standards should be applied to both. If Zimmerman's past life is irrelevant because he was never convicted then the same applies to Trayvon.

That part is true. And just as any normal person would think and react, Trayvon reacted in fear and tried to defend himself. He died in his attempt. And like I said, had Trayvon been armed, chances are he'd still be alive.

Somebody had posted on this forum that Trayvon was a juvenile delinquent. If that were true, Trayvon would have either been in the custody of the county or state under close supervision, or he'd have been under house arrest. And even were this the case, he would never have been allowed to walk the streets at night as he did. And since there is no record of him being under house arrest or serving time in county or state custody, Trayvon had just as much right to walk to the store and back home. He was a free young black man until, some trigger happy vigilante decided to take that freedom and life away from Trayvon.

c. I thought you were the get-along gal who posted a few messages up. "I'd go crazy on their ass" doesn't sound very peace seeking, "I'm ok you're ok" per the persona you presented in message #83:

Oh I am but if somebody is tailing me from behind with a loaded pistol, I am in fear of my life and will defend myself all the way. I will not cower like a pussy with my tail between my legs running home. I will fight!

Jethro Tull already posted that Saint Skittles own mother called juvenile detention FIRST when he came up missing. That speaks for itself.

I don't the Florida laws on this but it appears to me that the mother was aware her son was up and around the neighborhood and unless Florida Juvenile Detention Center has some exceptions to juveniles basic freedom and liberties then Trayvon really was a free man and had every right to be where he was.

I don't the Florida laws on this but it appears to me that the mother was aware her son was up ~~and~~ to no good around the neighborhood...

Apparently, there are only 3 streets in the entire complex. Retreat View Circle goes all the way around it circularly and is the street Zimmerman lived on, as well as the fiancee of Trayvon's father on the other side of the neighborhood. Zimmerman lived where a short street named Long Oak Way went in a straight line to Twin Trees Lane, which is the main street that winds from the front entrance of the complex, along the clubhouse and to the back entrance. According to Zimmerman's statements, he knew that he wasn't on the huge, circling street that he lived on. He was on The Long and Winding Road, so it couldn't have been Long Oak Way, the short street that ran directly across from his house to Twin Trees Lane, the street he was on that night, which was the only one left of the three to pick from. He claimed in his police station interview to be unfamiliar with that street name because he didn't live on it [never mind his patrols of the area for months?] and because it was "just a sidestreet" that cut through the neighborhood. But everytime he went in and out of the complex in his vehicle (like his weekly trip to the grocery store, as he said he was doing that night), he would have had to encounter that street intersection, Twin Trees Lane -- the main thoroughfare connecting both gates, which he claimed to be unfamiliar with and so didn't know the name of it.

There is much more than that about his statements which isn't credible. He never had to go beyond the house he parked in front of to get an address number by the garage door and say it was for the main street connecting the entrances or he could have gone a short distance to his left through the walkway between the buildings to get to an address for Retreat View Circle -- a street that he wasn't on but oddly wanted to give as directions for the police. Reference: Reenactment video 7:00-7:45. He did not shoot Trayvon to stop his head from being bashed into the cement. He says that he had moved off the cement and he stated numerous times to the police that he was being suffocated but then the screaming recorded likely wouldn't be his.

Turns out that he wasn't even acting as an on-duty Neighborhood Watch Patrol that night and, reportedly, the HOA/Homeowners Association stated that they aren't supposed to be armed there. What he was acting like is a Janet Napolitano "See something, say something" spy/vigilante because someone who actually might still have been unfamiliar with the area was looking around... not walking fast enough in the rain... running... not running... looked out of place. Zimmerman's actions are comparative to the person who got their neighbor killed by the police because she reported him as up and about at strange hours when that was because he worked nights.

"They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time." -- Col. Puller, USMC

He has been a firefighter/EMT for 10 years. They responded to the incident while heading back to the station from another call. They arrived on the scene about 5 mins after the call, and there were police present. They were directed to the back of the building and where they were told was gunshot victim. They placed their 4-lead monitor on Martin and found he was asystole in all four leads. The medic on scene, Mike Brandy called it. They gathered their equipment, and the police told them there was another patient.

Zimmerman had what looked to be a fractured nose. Bleeding was under control, and he had lacerations on the back of his head. They cleaned him up and headed on their way. They cleaned blood off his hands and face. They left him in the care of the Sanford Police Department. O’Rourke was Rescue 38, he and his partner, Mike Brandy. The medic on the scene is in charge of the scene. He got on the scene and he grabbed the airway bag. He placed him on the monitor, if he remembers–he put the stickers on him. Once it was done, he disconnected him. He says the monitor indicated no heartbeat whatsoever. “He is DOA and unworkable.” Mike Brandy is responsible for making that call.

Martin was DOA, and was never conscious. He had a gunshot wound to the chest. His shirt was already rolled up. They had been busy that night. At the time they didn’t have ID on Trayvon. Zimmerman declined transport to the hospital.

No felonious assault against Zimmerman was said to be witnessed, just a fight in-process and Zimmerman said that he had moved to the grass, so he did not shoot Martin to stop his head from being banged into cement. At #30, you said:

You seem to be saying there that if an unarmed person is defending themself successfully in a struggle against an attacker, their attacker can shoot them to death in the heart and that is considered necessary force for the attacker's self defense, so they shouldn't be charged with anything if they claim the deceased made them fear for their life.

Additionally, even though Zimmerman says the fight had moved to the grass where he wasn't in danger of the cement and his face didn't appear to have been beaten (just a small scratch on his nose and a small mark or two on his head alleged to the fight) and his hands showed no signs of a defensive struggle in a life threatening situation, you seem to be saying that it's ok to end a fisticuffs fight by shooting someone to death in the heart -- all that's required for that to be considered "necessary deadly force in self defense" is to claim to have been in fear of losing their own life, since the dead person can't contest the claim. That seems like it would be one way to reduce the workload of the police and courts but not reasonably.

"They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time." -- Col. Puller, USMC

John Good, from 20' away, witness TM on top of Z, beating him about the face & body "MMA style" *while* Zs head was on the concrete walkway, ergo, felonious assault given Zs subsequent injuries.

The unarmed person (TM) was the aggressor, and not the defender. Again, according to the sole eye witness, John Good, Z (the defender) was yelling for help. The jurists believed Z was indeed losing the fight badly as we subsequently learned and justifiably used deadly physical force to terminate the attack. Had TM survived he would have been charged with felonious assault.

Just the opposite happened. It moved from the grass up to the cement walkway. See Good's testimony.

At the axiomamnesia.com site: Florida Department of Law Enforcement – March 24, 2012 (~ min) [11:09 AM audio interview of Firefighter/EMT O’Rourke more than a year later]

axiomamnesia.com blurb: Zimmerman had what looked to be a fractured nose. Site Comment says that O'Rourke's lead crew member, Michael Brandy, wrote in the report that there was tenderness to the patient's nose.

At 2:44-2:50 of the audio, O'Rourke says they placed their 4-lead [monitor] on Martin and determined that he was dead then at 5:18-5:23 he says that Martin was assessed with 3-lead.

At 4:04-4:18, O'Rourke sounds agitated over being asked to clarify who he means by "we".

At 5:14-5:18, the questioner says he isn't a Medic and O'Rourke makes a reply about not having to use colloquial/informal speech. He then makes a strange statement at 5:28-5:34 that (after he disconnected Martin and walked away from that scene) he went to treat Nano-Zimmerman. Nano-Zimmerman?? Says there at Wikipedia that Nano is a prefix meaning a billionth; a Greek-derived prefix meaning dwarf; nanoscience/nanotechnology.

At 7:18-7:43 and again at 8:32-8:39, O'Rourke says that he recalls no statements made by Zimmerman in his presence. Meaning no statements from Zimmerman that he thought his nose or skull was fractured or that he was in pain and O'Rourke doesn't mention that he had a nosebleed.

Even if O'Rourke believed that Zimmerman declined hospital transport (in contrast with his comments about hearing no statements made by Zimmerman in his presence), that wouldn't be the same thing as hearing him decline transport there. If Zimmerman did decline an option of transport to a hospital instead of going to the police station first, then that would indicate he probably didn't think himself that he was very seriously injured or was more concerned with the financial aspect. However, he's indicated that the police made the decision to take him to the station for questioning first, evidently because he had not been determined at the scene to have been seriously injured enough to require stitches or fracture X-rays with immediacy or further treatment.

In addition to Zimmerman's CVSA-video statements cited above at 35:56-36:56 on the issue of his being transported directly to the police station, he also says with more detail earlier in the video at 0:06:38-0:07:26 that the police said they were going to bring him to the police station first. He says he spoke to his doctor later and was told that if he had been cleared at the site as not in emergency need of MRI/CT scans, that it was up to him if he wanted to pay for that after he was released from the police station. Around 0:04:40-0:05:00 he mentions his Psychologist and his medications at 0:15:27-0:15:47, Librax for his stomach and two narcotics: Aderall and Temazepam. Although he claims difficulty breathing through his nose at 35:04-25:15, it doesn't seem noticeable and he never complains of a headache from it being slammed into cement, nor does he appear to have trouble moving his neck and head.

Noting here also that he writes in the CVSA video with his left hand at 0:03:07-0:03:38 to sign for a swab-test, like he's ambidextrous -- gestures ~~twice~~ three times that his gun was on his right hip at 0:32:36-0:0:32:42, at 0:32:53-0:33:04, and at 0:41:37-0:41:40, as well as in his Reenactment video at 12:27-12:50.

"They're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time." -- Col. Puller, USMC