The American Spectator : Count Me Out On Trayvon Martin

Text Size

Another Perspective

Count Me Out On Trayvon Martin

By William Tucker on 3.29.12 @ 6:09AM

Why Gingrich, Santorum, and many conservatives are dead wrong on this one.

Personally, I can’t wait until Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum get offstage so we can start running a presidential campaign that isn’t based on trying to alienate the vast majority of Americans over irrelevant issues.

I’m referring of course to the Trayvon Martin case, where Newt and several other conservative loudmouths have managed to take a case that had absolutely nothing at all to do with Republicans and turn it into another brouhaha where the GOP are the bad guys.

Let’s go over the facts. A 17-year-old black kid who’s visiting in an Orlando suburb goes to the corner for a snack at halftime of an NBA All-Star Game. On his way back he is spotted by one George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old self-appointed neighborhood crime watcher who decides Martin looks suspicious, apparently because he’s never seen the kid before. Zimmerman calls 911, says he’s following someone he thinks may be a burglar, and is specifically told by the operator not to pursue the kid any further. He ignores this instruction, gets out of his truck and starts following Martin on foot. Zimmerman is inept enough so that the kid soon realizes he is being pursued. He calls his father’s home and tells them some strange guy is shadowing him. What happened next is under dispute. Zimmerman says he decided to go back to his truck and Martin jumped him. Maybe it happened, maybe it didn’t. In any case, the two end up fighting with Martin beating Zimmerman’s head into the sidewalk. At this point, Zimmerman pulls a gun and shoots Martin dead.

Not the kind of situation the shooter is likely to walk away from without some kind of investigation, right? But no, the Sanford police choose to take Zimmerman’s story at face value. Moreover, like 30 other states, Florida has a “Stand Your Ground” law, written mainly to protect homeowners but containing a clause saying a person can use deadly force if he fears for his life or from suffering “great bodily harm.” It’s an ambiguous situation where it would be nice to have a judge and jury decide. But the police decide to accept Zimmerman’s story and he walks. It doesn’t seem very logical. If Martin had wrested the gun away from Zimmerman and shot him, would he have gotten off so easily? He’d have a better case, since Zimmerman was obviously intending to use the gun on him. Well, I’ll let you decide that one.

So as anyone could have predicted, the case quickly becomes a cause célèbre. “No black teenager is safe,” “This is Emmett Till.” “It’s just like Mississippi in 1935.” Not quite true, but this is what happens when the police make dubious decisions like this one. So now we’re back to the situation where the federal government has to intervene against Southern racists and all this will probably stretch out into November.

The point is this. Republicans have no reason to intervene in this fight. Seventy-five percent of the public thinks Zimmerman should be charged with something. Second-degree manslaughter certainly sounds pretty good to me. This wouldn’t be “scapegoating,” as conservative talk show hosts are already nattering, it’s just common sense. Zimmerman wouldn’t be guilty of anything until tried by a jury, but it’s better than being tried in the newspapers. In any case, the idea you can gun somebody down in the middle of the street and just walk away doesn’t appeal to me and probably not to the vast majority, either.

I spent several years going out with a neighborhood crime watch in Brooklyn, a much tougher neighborhood than Sanford, Florida. One thing I can tell you is that every one of these patrols has at least one wannabe cop. This guy lives by the police radio, knows every officer by name, and is just itching to get out there and show he can collar a perp as well. Reining these people in is a principal tasks of the police advisors. “You never confront a criminal yourself. You never try to make an arrest. You never intervene in a situation. You are not a police officer. You are only there to observe. If you see something, call us and we’ll handle it.” That’s the mantra.

Zimmerman had pestered the station for months with reports of “suspicious 12-year-olds” walking through the neighborhood. He was an overenthusiastic pest at best. He was definitely headed out of bounds. That he would get out of his truck and shadow Martin after specific instructions of the 911officer is bad enough in itself. That he was doing this while carrying a gun in his pocket says to me he was definitely courting trouble.

And “Stand Your Ground” — what the hell is that supposed to mean? Once a fight begins, can’t Martin stand his ground as well? And if both can stand their ground, doesn’t it just become a contest of who is better armed? It sounds to me like the guy who brings the deadliest weapon wins.

In any case, why do Republicans have to get involved in this mess? Wouldn’t it be better to utter a few words of regret and move on to something more political? But no, good old Newt can’t miss the chance to alienate three-quarters of the American population. What sets him off is President Obama’s comment, “If I had a son, he would look just like Trayvon Martin.” What’s wrong with that? When President Obama went to Israel he said, “If somebody shot rockets at my house where my two daughters were sleeping at night, I’d do everything in my power to stop them.” Was that introducing sex and religion into international relations? No, he was just empathizing. That’s what Presidents are supposed to do.

But old Newt can’t let that pass. Like a big, lazy trout he jumps for the bait. Obama’s comment is “disgraceful” and “appalling,” “trying to turn this into a racial issue.” Good old Rick Santorum isn’t far behind, accusing Obama of “introducing divisive rhetoric.” So all of a sudden, it’s Obama versus the Republicans with three-quarters of the population on Obama’s side.

Look, just because President Obama says something doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Let’s not be naïve. George Zimmerman introduced race into the incident at the beginning when he decided to follow Martin because of the way he looked. If Martin had been a white preppie in a suit and tie, he never would have given him a second glance. Zimmerman is now trying to play this game himself, arguing that he couldn’t have done anything wrong because he’s half Hispanic. Let’s just forget all this pedigree stuff and concentrate on what happened.

But sure enough, once Newt has served up the ball, conservative commentators are rushing to Zimmerman’s side, trying to defend him from “scapegoating.” Rush Limbaugh says Obama is just using the case as a “political opportunity” and wonders why everyone is so excited about something that happened a month ago. Dennis Prager says Obama has “disgraced the Presidency” and compares Zimmerman to the falsely accused Duke rapists. Geraldo Rivera even suggests Martin brought it all on himself by wearing a hood. Glenn Beck discovers the kid was suspended from school for traces of marijuana. (Twenty percent of the youth population could be nailed on that one.) Then there are rumors that he was caught with some jewelry, that he entered an unauthorized school area and even wrote “W.T.F.” on a door. (The Sanford police have been good at leaking all this.) And all this is supposed to suggest he deserved to be shot?

And so the noble effort to unseat President Obama and save the country from economic ruin ends up stranded on the beach in a crusade to defend a Florida wannabe cop. There are two presidential candidates who have sensibly kept their noses out of this one. I won’t mention them by name but they are to be commended.

I spent five years writing a book about crime in the 1980s. Much of my research consisted of listening to liberals blather about how “Criminals are impulsive,” “They can’t be deterred,” “Punishment doesn’t work,” “They don’t think about what they do,” plus “Better a hundred guilty people go free than one innocent person be convicted.” And on and on. Liberals were wrong then, just as conservatives are wrong now for trying to keep Zimmerman from being charged with anything.

Page: 1 2 >

About the Author

William Tucker is news editor for RealClearEnergy.org.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (634) | Leave a comment Leave a comment

Jack in Wi.| 3.29.12 @ 7:21AM

Amen: I agree with almost everything writtten here. I sure am glad everytime I got in a fist fight the other guy didn't pull a gun. This whole case stinks. It needed dispassionate investigation not a coverup.

vtwin| 3.29.12 @ 10:16AM

I agree, let the Governor appointed special prosecutor do his job.

Occam's Tool| 3.29.12 @ 2:29PM

Jesus, I agree with Jack. First and last time.

An appropriate investigation is needed. In addition, Spike Lee doesn't need to be tweeting THE WRONG PEOPLE'S HOME ADDRESS as the address of the shooter. 1) He shouldn't have done that to Zimmerman, and 2) He definitely shouldn't have done that to the McClains. He's apologized, but I would want money from that POS. I'd recommend a million dollars as this was done with malice.

Occam's Tool| 3.29.12 @ 2:32PM

By the way, Zimmerman may very well be innocent of a charge. I'd like to see this dispassionately investigated by the system, as Jack put it.

Jack, you are still a loathsome scumbag, and I do hope one day you get into a fistfight with someone inclined to "finish" it. Moron. I haven't been in a fistfight since age 20, and I have worked in extremely dangerous places. Alabama Death Row, anyone?

Sam Vaughn| 3.29.12 @ 4:26PM

I disagree, it's been liberal media and the President jumping all over this case attempting to create what they say they despise, lynch mob. Do conservatives need to ask for permission to have an opinion? And by the way Zimmerman is hispanic and a registered Democrat to-boot. Who the heck are you William Tucker? Nobody is suggesting it was okay to shoot Martin, but, it is obvious to everybody but you the left was trying to drum up race conflict, not the Republicans.

ttj| 3.30.12 @ 12:23AM

What Barack Obama and the liberal media say about this case likely don't have any relation to the facts involved. Tucker is making an argument based on the facts that have been aired, and thus he has as much knowledge of what happened as any other average duffous. From the story that has been revealed through various media accounts, Zimmerman, whether a victim or not of battery, contributed significantly to provoking the unfortunate outcome in this case. Whatever his argument regarding "self-defense," he is clearly not an "innocent victim." He had no legitimate police authority and in fact ignored the recommendations of the police. It's entirely stupid that the left-wing media and Barack Obama have blown this case into a race riot, but that's no reason to come running to the defense of Zimmerman without analyzing all the facts. Tucker did give a dispassionate analysis of the situation and unlike a lot of other people is showing he is thinking rationally about this case.

Frank Dahl| 3.30.12 @ 3:28PM

Mr Tucker haven't you been watching the news lately;All the hate spewed by the race hustlers;You come across as an ivory tower fart

loupgarous| 4.2.12 @ 10:06PM

Tucker's analysis was anything but dispassionate. It was craven. And in declaring Zimmerman guilty of manslaughter in advance of an investigation, he's just as guilty of pandering to the bloodlust of a racist mob - and it is in every important way a racist mob - as Orval Faubus or George Wallace ever were.

runningdeer| 3.30.12 @ 3:11AM

Well said!
Listening to the 911 call from Zimmerman to the operator I heard him say that the police would get there too late just like they usually did. That was when he decided to continue to go after the 19 year old young man. The operator was the one who said "we don't need you to do that sir". That was the operators (opinion) not a command from the police.
The media are the ones who have been trying so hard to keep up a campaign to make this all about racism. Zimmerman is no racist.
The NOBLE unit of the Atlanta , Ga. police have requested the chance to investigate this case and the Mayor of the Florida city where it happened has said he thinks it is a good idea. NOBLE is a very good, well respected unit of black officers and detectives.
I will note that until a person has had to fight for their life and defend themselves against an attacker one never can say for certain what one might or might not do. You can speculate all you like and can say that you would never do this or that- but you do not know until you walk in those moccasins.

loupgarous| 4.2.12 @ 9:59PM

I think the incident should be investigated - to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Trayvon Martin initiated violence - because you should be able to walk on the same street as someone else without being beaten. Zimmerman's crime appears to have been Walking While White.

George| 3.29.12 @ 8:57PM

Give it a rest, Tool, you and Jack, Jack and you, enough already.

Anthony| 3.29.12 @ 9:38PM

You don't need a special prosecutor moron, let the criminal justice work as it does in all these types of cases.
Pretend this was a black on white crime,vtwin,sit back, yawn and do what Holder does when it comes to black on white crime.NOTHING!!

loupgarous| 4.2.12 @ 10:02PM

Eric Holder has had Justice Department attorneys resign in protest over his failure to prosecute the armed New Black Panther Party members who stationed themselves in front of a polling place during the 2008 Presidential elections. On the matter of Federally-sanctioned racism, Holder is the John Mitchell to Barack Obama's Nixon.

loupgarous| 4.2.12 @ 10:02PM

Edward White| 3.29.12 @ 10:19AM

Bravo, Mr. Tucker!

A breath of fresh air on the subject is just what we need, and you have given it. I was waiting to see if AmSpec was going to offer any objectivity on the subject. Thank you for shining a little light on the disturbing topic.

Had Zimmerman been arrested and put in jail, this terrible racial imbroglio would never have occurred. The tragic death of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman has created a fire storm of racial animosity that is gaining momentum with each passing day.

It's time for the city of Sanford, Florida, to do the right thing: issue an arrest warrant . . . and soon!

Red Bubba| 3.29.12 @ 12:01PM

From the known facts it is clear that there were two parties looking for certain kinds of trouble. One was at worst rude to follow another. That other launched a criminal attack and died in the attempt. THe lesson is that it is better to be a cop wannabe than a gansta wannabe.

karla| 3.29.12 @ 12:30PM

How can you possibly say Trayvon criminally attacked Zimmerman? No one knows that for sure, and taking Z at his word is dubious at best.

The cop on the scene wanted to charge Z that night and was prevented by the local district attorney. I guess having a father who is a judge in a neighboring county didn't hurt Z a bit.

Z is loose cannon who appointed himself as a watchman and he needs to be charged. Let justice take it's course.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 12:56PM

Karla:

If you want "justice to take its course," then you shouldn't be saying Zimmerman needs to be charged. You're speaking out of both sides of your mouth.

Ed Norris| 3.29.12 @ 1:48PM

I disagree, there's plenty of facts to consider. Justice would demand, based on facts that if Zimmerman so much as killed Trayvon out of a reflexive action, he should be tried for manslaughter. There's plenty not to jump into right here, especially from the candidates, especially when they need to be talking their plans for what they can do as president of the United States, which is being prepared to contest and veto bills that aren't helpful and contain riders, pork, and other inconvenient excesses to them. That's how the budget gets cut, sidetracking on this issue is going to pretty much screw anyone who can show that they will in the general election, much less the primaries.

If the complete story were actually compiled, some of us might actually think differently about the issue.

Frank Dahl| 3.30.12 @ 3:29PM

How boring!

seanmom| 4.1.12 @ 3:40AM

"Justice would demand, based on facts that if Zimmerman so much as killed Trayvon out of a reflexive action, he should be tried for manslaughter."

No, it wouldn't. If Zimmerman fired, defending himself with a legal weapon, against an assailant that was beating on him, that's self-defense. It's not manslaughter. You can't make a credible case that Zimmerman, living in a neighborhood plagued with break-ins and robberies attributed to African-American teenagers, did not have reason to fear for his life.

D| 3.29.12 @ 1:54PM

At least if he's charged he can defend himself in an actual court instead of the court of public opinion. Right now it's the worst kind of he-said/he-said.

loulou| 3.29.12 @ 3:40PM

Innocent until proven guilty.

ttj| 3.30.12 @ 12:31AM

If he shot the guy, then at minimum he is guilty of manslaughter. Ed Norris is right. They need to at least charge the guy. He can't be "proven" innocent, or guilty, until the case comes to trial. That is the point here. Ideally, in our justice system, the facts should speak for themselves, but the facts won't be heard without a trial.

Todd S| 3.30.12 @ 10:07AM

Wrong, you act like there is no right to shoot someone in self defense. There will be a trial you can be sure, the question is if the jury pool has been tainted and the threat of violence if the "right" verdict is not given. Remember OJ Simpson?

Lord Elrond| 3.29.12 @ 10:19PM

Hitting someone until they are bloody is assault and battery. So yeah, it's a criminal attack. Following is not a justification for such an attack and certainly doesn't justify Trayvon's actions.

M. Simon | 3.30.12 @ 2:01AM

How? Blood. Head injuries. Per police report. Or did you fail to read it?

seanmom| 4.1.12 @ 3:36AM

"The cop on the scene wanted to charge Z that night and was prevented by the local district attorney."

"Prevented" is not the word. The police don't "charge." They "arrest." Z was brought in, questioned, turned to the DA, who said "WE DON'T HAVE THE EVIDENCE TO CHARGE HIM WITH ANYTHING." Which they did not.

Shooting someone who is actively beating you up, however that episode came about, still qualifies as self-defense--regardless of whether there is a "stand your ground" law or not.

Hispeed| 3.29.12 @ 12:32PM

Are you just trolling or are you really that dumb?

Tim B| 3.29.12 @ 12:42PM

By 'the known facts' you appear to mean 'the account Mr Zimmerman gave to the police'.

eliot| 3.29.12 @ 4:34PM

Don't forget the black witness who was at the scene and backed up Zimmerman's account. Of course, now that ABC has published the name of this 13-year-old black boy, his life isn't going to be worth a plug nickel, now is it? So you can rest easy; either his story will change or he'll be murdered. Either way, he won't be a witness for Zimmerman anymore.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:00PM

That's not actually what the witness said. His mother was interviewed on several stations over the past few days; and his sister's 911 call on the night has been played. None of the above confirms the lies you are spouting. As has been said many times, you are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts.

Lord Elrond| 3.29.12 @ 10:22PM

Yes that's called testimony and it's up to a District Attorney to decide if it's truthful or a falsehood. Everyone thinks it's a piece of cake to lie to the authorities. Unless you are a hardened sociopath, it's a lot harder than you think it is. And given the fact that Zimmerman has no history of criminal behavior or a criminal record, it's not likely he's the type who's going to baldly lie to the authorities.

Mike Gilles| 4.1.12 @ 9:19PM

I believe Mr Zimmerman does have a history of criminal behavior, including physically resisting arrest and domestic violence. As for Mr. Zimmerman lying to the police, a dead body lying at your feet might be incentive to "shade" your explanation a little bit your favor.

sirbourbon| 3.30.12 @ 1:41PM

The Neighborhood Watch patrol dude has perhaps tuned his radio too many times to the wrong stations and gotten some pretty serious shots of propaganda psy-ops directed at his addled brain from Ed Shultz,Randy Rhodes and Tom Harmon, and, boy howdy, he's ready to defend his territory from suspicious-looking interlopers wearing preppy blazers with fraternity monograms stitched on the breast pocket. The shoes are a dead give-away. That is one dangerous dude. Stop!

Phil| 3.29.12 @ 12:51PM

Tucker makes too many suppositions. The investigation is ongoing. Judges and juries are not assembled to sort things out. An indictment, based on the facts, starts the court process. Arrest warrants are based on evidence of guilt. If/when that evidence reaches the tipping point a warrant should be issued. Not one second, before.

Anthony| 3.29.12 @ 2:53PM

You're a complete and total fool Edward. Even if Zimmerman was incarcerated, the mob would be screaming for blood, just like those old wild west movies.
Regardless of what actual crime(s), if any, Zimmerman may have committed, if you think for one moment Zimmerman will not be sacrificed in order to appease the racial bloodlust stirred by Obozo, Sharpton, Cong. Rush, and the New Black Panthers, then I only wish it was you instead of poor Zimmerman.
Even if Zimmerman acted improperly, or even criminally, do you honestly think this man is going to get fair justice?
Do you think the state will not now have to arrest Zimmerman for something, given the bloodlust?
Do you think a state prosecutor will allow Zimmerman to "walk" from a guilty plea, even if a suspended sentence is warranted?
Do you not think the corrupt Justice Department under hack Holder will not step in and prosecute on a federal civil rights charge?
Do you actually think Zimmerman will now not be charged with murder, given the lynch mob mentality stoked by the left?
Do you honestly believe a jury will not convict, even if the facts call for an acquital?
You and Tucker have much in common; a complete and total lack of common sense and a basic understanding of human nature for starters.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:02PM

And you have no empathy. A boy is dead. Perhaps you should spend a bit more time being concerned about this tragedy and not some killer's prospects.

Todd S| 3.29.12 @ 7:12PM

So is going to be the reverse of OJ? Unless Zimmerman is found guilty of murder regardless of evidence, are the hordes going to threaten to riot? We all know that is why OJ got off, the jury was scared for their lives and for a repeat of the Rodney King riots. Here is a question for you Punj, would the media and race hustlers be so concerned over this if the shooter's name was Pedro Gonzales? I think we all know the answer to that, see the NYT's calling him a "white Hispanic".
Kind of like how Obama is a "white African" right?

Anthony| 3.29.12 @ 8:05PM

Yes, a young man is dead, and the circumstances don't mean a thing to the left. The lynch mob wants justice, black panther style.
You dare talk about empathy. When the facts come out, if they ever do, then we'll talk empathy.

Lord Elrond| 3.29.12 @ 10:25PM

I'm not having empathy for a kid who thinks there's nothing wrong with nearly beating a man to death with little or no provocation.

sirbourbon| 3.30.12 @ 1:56PM

Public teach their subjects that we are a democracy. Majority rule and all that.

If the mob in the old west scenario that you write about were to haul out an accused person and lynch this individual would a "majority vote justify the lynching?

It's curous that Obama and the GOP recently erased jury trials using the "war on terrorsim" as justification. In congress a "majority" voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act. That act nullifies (at least in the minds of the federal government) the right to a trial and the right to a lawyer, to present evidence and witnessess on one's behalf, etc..

Like the lynch mob mentality, does a majority have a right to nullify the portion of the Bill of Rights that deals with trials? Is it legal to skip the the long process of amending the Constitution by removing jury trials from the Bill of Rights if Bill Oreilly, Rush and Hannity don't mention it on their GOP suckup shows?

Floyd Krautner| 3.29.12 @ 4:27PM

The more evidence that comes out the more guilty Zimmerman becomes. The latest shows that the cops were lying about Zimmerman's nose being broken (a broken nose bleeds profusely and there were no blood stains on Zimmerman's clothing), ergo no fight with Trayvon Martin— no provocation for the shooting.

Zimmerman is a vigilante gunman who will soon face a long prison sentence for murdering an innocent teen. The more facts that come out the more guilty he becomes.

There is no SELF-DEFENSE when someone follows a person for blocks and then shoots them.

The cops need some jail time for trying to get Zimmerman off on a murder charge.

SBurns| 3.29.12 @ 5:39PM

HOLD ON there Floyd! A broken nose does not necessarily bleed profously as you stated (I have had a broken nose before and it did NOT bleed at all). Since you surmized from that there was no fight and no provacation then I can only assume you are incorrect in your logic.
However, I do think this should be investigated and if real evidence of a crime (not supposition) exists then charges filed and the legal process goes through it's steps.

Raving Rabbi| 3.29.12 @ 6:24PM

The cops NEVER said he had a broken nose; that was his lawyer.
The cop (Timothy Smith) said he was "also bleeding from the nose and the back of his head". He likely got punched in the nose (according to him, cold-cocked) btu it just bled, didn't break. The medics stopped the bleeding when they attended to him.

Lord Elrond| 3.29.12 @ 10:27PM

And what is the source of this 'evidence'?

Frank Dahl| 3.30.12 @ 4:55PM

You don't know the facts,you just go blathering on like all the phonies on the left

justice4all| 3.29.12 @ 6:39PM

apparently there was no "probable cause" to warrant an arrest. As for the terrible racial imbroglio, if the true racebaiters had been patient enough to let justice run its course and the POTUS hadn't become unnecessarily involved as he did in the Harvard professor's case(how'd that work out) this sad situation would not have become a divisively racial issue

EvilleMike | 3.30.12 @ 3:23PM

Zimmerman killing Martin didn't create any racial animosity - it was the result of a racial animosity which has been with us for a very long time and is always just under the surface.

Frank Dahl| 3.30.12 @ 3:31PM

Bravo? oh please what kind of sheltered life do you live?

The American Hitman| 3.29.12 @ 10:32AM

"Look, just because President Obama says something doesn't mean it's wrong."

TAS should put this pearl of wisdom on its masthead. Another gem from Wild Bill Tucker. Next week, Tucker argues for adding Romney to Mt Rushmore.

Chalkdust| 3.29.12 @ 11:47AM

Good golly Mr. Tucker, how do you like every fiddle-headed liberal in TAS land backing you up? So, in your vast experience of looking out for the public good, every neighborhood watch group has a Sgt. Friday wannabee. Maybe it's just like every police department has a bunch of 'Combat Joe" wannabes dressing up in their black combat boots, hoodies, gloves and helmets, arriving three hours late to the crime scene, but just in time to string out the yellow tape.
Your article was a long-winded affair, which proved nothing but your preconceived notions.

Ken| 3.29.12 @ 11:54AM

Nailed it!

karla| 3.29.12 @ 12:32PM

I wonder if your opinion would differ if it were your child dead in the street compliments of Zimmerman.

Chalkdust| 3.30.12 @ 9:35AM

My sons would not be running around behind someone elses house, late at night, wearing a hoodie.

EvilleMike | 3.30.12 @ 3:32PM

"Running around behind someone else's house late at night" was exactly what Martin wasn't doing. And - "wearing a hoodie"? - really?

Enigmaticaluna| 3.29.12 @ 1:06PM

Amen...! you're very right, no one talk about the rights of Zimmerman, but about the fact that this issue has created in over reached issue, but no one talk about the responsibility of Spike Lee in this, when with malicious account he decide to place in address of Zimmerman in his twiter account, to bring all kind of trouble to this guy, the problem was, that he put the wrong address that belong to a very old couple, who scare has to move of their home. I suit the crap of Lee for intent of destruction of another life.
The $10.000 on Zimmerman head is already a crime, for soliciting a crime to be committed against the life of another. But no one in the liberal nutshel house talk about this things. By the law, they are already committing a crime and it's being report all over the place. How stupid is stupid? Will be nice that for once, this liberals have some integrity if they know what that is.

Dai Alanye | 3.29.12 @ 1:10PM

With hardly a glimmer of the facts in this case so far confirmed, Tucker sifts through every second- or third-hand report and amateur analysis to pick and choose those which fit his preconceived notions, coming to conclusions that are vastly premature. It's a disreputable job of reporting and analysis on his part, and TAS ought to ban such pathetic work from this site.

We don't know the facts in this case as yet, and possibly never will be completely sure of them, so none of us should as yet should be deciding whom is at fault. But there are a few strange opinions cropping up, perhaps the most prominent of which is the idea that following someone is a criminal act which justifies a violent response. Tucker, not unexpectedly, seems to subscribe to this strange notion.

As far as the bizarre blathering of Obama, not only is it part of a pattern of racist pronouncements on his part, but Gingrich and Santorum had excellent reason to criticize him, and ought to be congratulated for standing up on behalf of proper Presidential behavior.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:05PM

I don't think "bizarre blathering" means what you think it means. If you did, you'd be accusing yourself, Newt and Ricky of same.

Zak Klemmer | 3.29.12 @ 6:15PM

A stopped clock is correct twice a day. In Obama's case it's most likely miss-direction.

wally| 3.29.12 @ 11:45AM

I doubt you've ever been in a fist fight in your life.

buckeyeman| 3.29.12 @ 1:07PM

No, he fight off his attackers with that multicolored scarf he wears around his neck.

Vern Crisler| 3.29.12 @ 12:42PM

Just more Newt-bashing from a conservative looking for "Strange New Respect" from liberals.

Republicans are not taking Zimmerman's side. They are criticizing the media for its biased narrative -- the white (conservative) man shoots innocent black kid narrative.

Here's the real story provided by none other than Tucker: "Zimmerman says he decided to go back to his truck and Martin jumped him. Maybe it happened, maybe it didn't. In any case, the two end up fighting with Martin beating Zimmerman's head into the sidewalk. At this point, Zimmerman pulls a gun and shoots Martin dead."

I guarantee that hardly anyone but conservatives knows this version of events. They only know the black kid killed by out-of-control white conservative narrative because that's the moron-stream media version.

Obama once again sticks his foot in his mouth based on a false racial narrative. It's sad that some faux-conservatives have fallen for this game.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:09PM

"I guarantee that hardly anyone but conservatives knows this version of events. They only know the black kid killed by out-of-control white conservative narrative because that's the moron-stream media version."

The above suggests you're delusional and/or not very bright. Most people in the center and on the left know that this is a murky situation and are interested in the killer being arrested so that this can be tried in a court of law. To say otherwise is a lie.

Also this detail: "Martin beating Zimmerman's head into the sidewalk" is not confirmed--and suspect now that we have the post-murder surveillance tape; all we know is that there was some kind of scuffle and then Trayvon ended up getting shot.

Vern Crisler| 3.29.12 @ 5:21PM

You're comments show that you're delusional and/or not very bright.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:44PM

Wow, hilarious. This reminds me of kindergarten and that infantile I'm rubber/you're glue taunt. I'd guess that's likely where you still are mentally. I'd ask my 6 year old to respond to you, but he tends to be afraid of mentally challenged adults.

Wiley from Denver| 3.29.12 @ 6:09PM

Right you are, Punj.

Whenever I read some of these comments, Punj, I think, "Opened mouth, Closed mind."

Vern Crisler | 3.30.12 @ 1:41AM

Yes, using insults is on the level of kindergarteners; thanks for evaluating your own contribution.

Nick| 3.29.12 @ 8:04PM

Punj,

You obviously have no idea how American jurisprudence works. And, neither does Mr. Tucker, apparently.

We don't go around arresting and charging people that we think might be guilty of a crime, and, then have a trial, in order to see if a jury might agree.

In this country, we charge people who we can prove are guilty. We then go about the process of proving to twelve citizens that the person charged did, in fact, commit said crime. At least, that's the way it's supposed to work.

It is the prosecutor's office that decides if an individual should be charged, or not. Not the police.

You, and Mr. Tucker, need to study the criminal justice system some more before you pontificate on this subject any further.

ttj| 3.30.12 @ 12:51AM

By equal measure and by your very argument, Nick, "in this country" we also wouldn't go around following people with the idea that they "might" be criminals. But that, apparently, is exactly what Zimmerman did. Further, the very fact that Zimmerman shot Martin is enough to have the case investigated and brought to trial. Is it possible that Zimmerman wrongly provoked this conflict? Yes. Is it possible that his provocation wrongly led to the death of another individual? Clearly, yes. Regardless of how one feels about the possible guilt or innocence of Zimmerman in this case, it is not at all inappropriate "in this country" to suggest that this case should be brought to trial.

Nick| 3.30.12 @ 2:38AM

ttj,

"[...] we also wouldn't go around following people with the idea that they 'might' be criminals."

This is a free country. I can follow anyone that I want to, for whatever reason I want. Mr. Zimmerman violated no law by surveilling Mr. Martin that night.

"Further, the very fact that Zimmerman shot Martin is enough to have the case investigated and brought to trial."

The case was investigated and the prosecutor's office decided not to file charges. You need to get the facts straight.

"Is it possible that Zimmerman wrongly provoked this conflict?"

Anything is possible. Unlike you, I am keeping an open mind and will follow the evidence. Not media reports and the fomenting of hatred by Al Sharpy-Sharp and Jesse "Love Child" Jackson.

"[...] it is not at all inappropriate 'in this country' to suggest that this case should be brought to trial."

Yes, it is. If there is not enough evidence to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a crime was actually committed, it is highly inappropriate to make a man stand trial.

See my reply to your comment, below.

chemman| 3.29.12 @ 9:58PM

Killer is a pejorative term used to indicate someone has done something illegal. Your own words indicate otherwise. You don't arrest someone because of a murky situation. You don't put someone on trial because of a murky situation.

If enough facts are collected to warrant an arrest and trial then it will happen. So quit being judge, jury and executioner all in one.

Lord Elrond| 3.29.12 @ 10:32PM

Well who else gave him the bloody nose and the gash on the back of his head? The Tooth Fairy?

Brian| 3.30.12 @ 1:54AM

Yeah, he looks like a guy who was just punched and kicked and had his head smashed into the sidewalk:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayv.....3U8Odn8mDQ

Boar Hunter| 3.29.12 @ 3:05PM

Oh course you do. You are an ignorant baffoon.

Quartermaster| 3.29.12 @ 4:23PM

Frankly, it wouldn't matter if 100% of the population thought Zimmerman should be charged with something. If there is no evidence that he did anything wrong, then he should not be charged.

I don't know of anyone that has come out and said absolutely that Zimmerman should not be charged.

Alan Brooks| 3.29.12 @ 6:19PM

Zimmerman will walk; there's not enough evidence or witnesses. he is only guilty of poor judgment-- but Martin's parents are correct, their son WAS demonized.
What did an empty bag of marijuana have to do with it?

Martin was a delinquent, not a criminal, but was somehow portrayed as the latter..

Alan Brooks| 3.29.12 @ 6:27PM

...technically it was a 2nd or 3rd degree murder- but "technically" is not the issue. If someone shoots Emmett Tyrrell's or Mr. Regnery's 17 year old dead, there would have been an investigation from the get-go, because such men are hands-on and well-connected; but again, such is technicality-- not enough evidence exists for so much as a Manslaughter arraignment let alone conviction.

So whatever the sound and fury might be now and in the weeks ahead, Zimmerman WILL walk.. just you watch.

Nick| 3.29.12 @ 8:20PM

Mr. Brooks,

Mr. Zimmerman just might be innocent of committing any crime. Has this occurred to you?

Also, there was an investigation. I have seen several witnesses, or their parents, say that detectives interviewed them extensively after this incident.

I agree that Mr. Martin's alleged empty bag of marijuana has nothing to do with this case. Neither does Mr. Zimmerman's prior arrest, his alleged "super-cop" mentality, or his accurate description of Mr. Martin as a black teenager.

You seem conflicted. You state as fact that it was "2nd or 3rd degree murder," but, then say there wasn't enough evidence for a "Manslaughter arraignment". If there is not enough evidence, how can you assert that it was murder?

If Mr. Zimmerman was being beaten, as he claims, then it was self-defense. Period.

ttj| 3.30.12 @ 12:57AM

Yes, but as Zimmerman "claims" is the key concept in this case. It's his word against a dead man's. The dead man's family and the community at large should have the right to verify in court whether Martin was wrongly killed. All citizens should have that right in any similar case.

Nick| 3.30.12 @ 2:21AM

ttj,

No, that's not how it works.
First, the police investigate the incident. In this case, a homicide.
Then, the prosecutor's office decides if there is enough evidence to prove that a crime was committed, and by whom. If so, then charges are filed.
And, if no plea-bargain can be reached, the case goes to trial.

This case is being reviewed by a grand-jury, though. So, Mr. Martin's family is currently having their day in court. Why are all of you still complaining?

Lord Elrond| 3.29.12 @ 10:15PM

Fascinating that you should agree with EVERYTHING when as I mentioned below, we have no idea what Zimmerman did after the 911 operator's advice.

It's also extremely hard to not believe Zimmerman's report of the incident when the injuries he had support his testimony.

I find it pushing ridiculous to imagine that after maliciously shooting Trayvon Martin, he rolled around on the grass and smacked his nose into the pavement several times? And this guy, this 'supposed racist' has a black friend and tutors black children in the neighborhood?

And you agree with all of this?

REALLY?

pointytoedboot| 3.30.12 @ 12:50AM

Love the scarf! Love it!

Where'd ya get it?

Ed| 3.30.12 @ 12:17PM

The article does not reflect Trayvors behavior at school, filthy mouth , no respect for teachers smart ass, where does he get money for tattoos? stealing?
vandalized the school, burgerler tools in his possession, MJ leaves in his school bag...this smart ass got what he was looking for

LarryK| 4.2.12 @ 10:15AM

J in Wi suffers from DOTM

loupgarous| 4.2.12 @ 9:51PM

The "fist fight" was actually that a young man who wheeled around after being followed on a public street where both principals were entitled to be and initiated violence, and did not stop hitting the other guy until he was shot. Let's not do more of the press's work in obfuscating that issue. In over half the states of the Union, that would have been an unequivocally good shoot, even if the President hadn't been at the front of the lynch mob crying for "justice" - which appears to have been done.

Timothy L. Pennell| 3.29.12 @ 7:41AM

There's a 6' 2" 180 lb guy on top of you. He's sucker punched you to the ground, bashed your head in to the Concrete, broken your nose, he's still punching you, and you have a GUN.

What do you do, you stupid Bastard?

And, what do you want to charge him with?

Let's lose the Holier than Thou routine, shall we?
He got what any Punk gets, when they pick a fight with the wrong guy. The guy with a Gun.

That's right, I said it!

If we all had guns, think how fewer Fights, started by "Tough Guys" there'd be.

Teaghan| 3.29.12 @ 9:49AM

Mr Tucker, who the hell's side are you on? I'm stunned!

vtwin| 3.29.12 @ 10:14AM

I think Mr. Tucker has taken the side of common sense. People should have the right to defend themselves but we don’t want our streets spilled with blood of innocent young men black or white.

Timothy L. Pennell| 3.29.12 @ 10:28AM

He was the AGRESSOR. He asked Zimmerman if he had a Problem. Zimmerman said, No. And then the little boy we see in all the Papers, and on Television News, said to Zimmerman - Well, you do now, and punched him in the face. Then he smashed the back of Zimmerman's head against the cement. Then he kept pounding him in the face. Then he was DESERVEDLY Shot.

I'da shot him, and so would you.

Like I said, earlier. Martin picked the wrong place, the wrong time, and the wrong guy, to play the part of the Tough Guy.

This guy was Armed, and now Tough Guy is Dead.

If he hadn't thrown that punch, he'd still be alive, today.

vtwin| 3.29.12 @ 11:06AM

How do you know what happened? Where you there?

Aquanomics| 3.29.12 @ 11:29AM

Mr. Pennell has NO LESS knowledge than any of the insufferable douchebags, Mr. Tucker included, that have filled the internet with their $0.02 opinions.

By the bye: stand your ground laws exist as much to prevent lawsuits after the fact as allow potential victims to protect themselves.

Timothy L. Pennell| 3.29.12 @ 11:40AM

This is not an opinion, Douche Bag (It's 2 words, Douche Bag) these are reported in the News. These are Zimmerman's accounts, the Eye Witness' account - "Martin was on top, beating Zimmerman", the Police Accounts -"Zimmerman had a broken Nose, was bleeding from the back of his head, and his back was covered in grass stain. So, yeah, I've more knowledge than a dumbfck like you.

He got what he got, because he picked the wrong guy to go "Tough Guy" on.

Pure and Simple.

Dumbass.

Bob Bear| 3.29.12 @ 12:02PM

Pennel, you are a crazy bastard, and you are the reason I pack in Florida everyday, because of Douche Bag idiots like you!! My guess is you'll end up on death row!!!

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 12:24PM

Yeah, Bob. Pennell sounds like the kind of guy who's break into your home or carjack you. What an utter moron you are.

Timothy L. Pennell| 3.29.12 @ 5:16PM

TWO L's, dumbass.

Get it right.

Paul| 3.29.12 @ 12:05PM

Here, Timothy. Read this and then tell us all about broken noses and heads bashed to the ground.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-20.....-injuries/

And then tell us all about how much knowledge you have.

MATT LITVAK| 3.29.12 @ 12:14PM

No one with a brain reads anything put out by S^&TBS; or any of the other worthless news agencies. There is plenty of information on that net that they failed to find or refused to print starting with the eyewitness to the beating that was being dealt out by No_Limit_Ni.

Tell us why your little Treeboone was caught with stolen property and burglary tools several weeks earlier and his attack on a bus driver.

Next time pick a better saint.

Tim B| 3.29.12 @ 12:48PM

'Tell us why your little Treeboone was caught with stolen property and burglary tools several weeks earlier and his attack on a bus driver.'

Sure, right after you tell us about Zimmerman's prior arrests: 'one for assaulting a cop, the other for domestic abuse.'

Strider| 3.29.12 @ 4:58PM

Those arrests obviously went nowhere, and the cases were dropped or dismissed. Otherwise Zimmerman would not have qualified for a CCW permit, or if he already had a permit it would have been revoked.

Paul| 3.29.12 @ 12:53PM

Your comment is a perfect republican response, in that it contains 2 important elements:

1) Complete denial of observable facts that counter your worldview. If you have a problem with CBS' coverage, then what will you say when you can read that same exact story in any number of media outlets?

2) Strawman argument: In your view, those whose humanity is still intact (read: not you) regard Trayvon Martin as a saint. It's not simply that it seems justice was not served. No, we're looking to canonize the guy.

Finally as a bonus, you got to throw in a bit of racism on top of it ("Treeboone"). You are the picture perfect republican. Congratulations. Your parents must be so proud.

SUBVET| 3.29.12 @ 3:40PM

What makes you think Matt is a repub........

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:46PM

If it walks like a duck...

Paul| 3.29.12 @ 8:48PM

SUBVET: You know that saying about walking like a duck? Question for you: what on earth makes you think he's not a republican?

buckeyeman| 3.29.12 @ 1:31PM

I took you advice and clicked on the link. You can't tell much of anything from it. Zim's clearly not a bloody mess (like Vince, the Sham-Wow guy's mugshot after the hooker in Florida busted his chops).

The Daily Caller posted an enlargement which MIGHT show a long (6" ?) vertical mark on the back of his head. Maybe a laceration. Maybe not. It's logical to believe that blood might have been cleaned up. Also, blunt injuries don't always have a lot of bleeding.

One question: What the footage DOES show is Zimmerman under arrest at the police station with his hands cuffed behind his back. The police chose not to file charges against Zimmerman and keep him under arrest but he was quite clearly arrested and not simply allowed to go home from the scene of the incident as has been repeatedly trumpeted from the left. I'm willing to wait for more facts to come out.

Naturalborn Texicanette| 3.29.12 @ 3:36PM

....and trust the reporting of CBS??????

NO WAY!!!

Todd Doug| 3.29.12 @ 12:59PM

You're a troll, or you're honestly retarded. Think harder.

Dai Alanye | 3.29.12 @ 1:17PM

Facts "...reported in the News."

Sure, we can always trust the facts reported by our news organizations, including, I suppose, MSNBC who edited the 911 recording to make it seem that Zimmerman was following Martin because he was black.

Slow down and let the actual facts come out, not the first misreported partial "facts."

Occam's Tool| 3.29.12 @ 2:35PM

Yeah, Dai. A dispassionate evaluation. Not "Al Sharpton" or "Spike Lee" acting like idiots. Lee, especially, needs to be keelhauled in Civil Court for MILLIONS. He tweeted the wrong address! If it destroys him financially, thaaas too baaaad, greaseball.

Aquanomics| 3.29.12 @ 1:31PM

I was defending you......

massengill| 3.29.12 @ 1:40PM

Used as a pejorative, douchebag (one word small case) is perfectly acceptable. Libtard needs to be capitalized however.

vtwin| 3.29.12 @ 2:08PM

Police video of Zimmerman reportedly “taken shortly after the shooting.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....86764.html

Anthony| 3.29.12 @ 3:10PM

vtwin, the good news is Oakland is just over the bridge from your beloved San. Fran.
This summer, your fellow lefties will be com'n on over to pay you boys in San. Fran. a little visit.
Better make sure your bike is gassed up, San. Fran's gonna look like South Central L.A.
Does that fall under the rubric of Hope & Change???

SUBVET| 3.29.12 @ 3:43PM

It's called HUNTERS POINT........

The Bruce| 3.29.12 @ 4:59PM

VTWIN: I'm glad you posted that video. You helped my find a smoking gun. I had watched a link to "this" video last night and when I watched yours something didn't seem right.

And here it is. At least one of these videos is a fake because THE VIDEO WAS STAGED AND SHOT TWICE.

First watch video # 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?f.....WWDNbQUgm4

First thing that should be obvious is that was filmed by stationary security cameras. When you get to about 2:00, you see the scene replayed, from a different camera angle (from the front).

Now here's what's crucial. Look at the area behind and to the right (driver's side) of the police car. Notice that there's no second floor flooring or scaffolding, and there's no cameraman filming from an elevated position. All you see is the other security camera up in the corner.

This important because when you watch video #2
http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayv.....3S6ai8a5v8

This version was clearly shot by a human being with a hand-held camera (notice all the camera movement), from a position in which you would have seen him in video #1 (but he isn't there in video).

Obviously this has been staged and shot twice. Some obvious questions... why would it need to shot twice? And why, if you have mounted surveillance cameras, would you need a human to shoot video in addition to that? And let's not forget that that human cameraman isn't in the first video.

The Bruce| 3.29.12 @ 5:09PM

One more thing... the human camera man from video # 2 would have been blocking the view of the first surveillance camera from video # 1.

The Bruce| 3.29.12 @ 5:14PM

Another thing I missed is that in video #2 (at the end), there's a scene showing them passing through an office (as viewed from the ceiling). Why would a cameraman been up THERE?

GavInTucson| 3.29.12 @ 6:25PM

Bruce, there's another possibility to consider: Video #2 might simply be a cameraman (hand-held camera) recording the original footage (video # 1) off of a computer monitor (filming the video feed off of the monitor)

The Bruce| 3.29.12 @ 6:30PM

Doh!

Yep, that's probably what's really going on here (the simplest answer is usually correct).

And here I thought ABC had gone all conspiratorial. :)

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:13PM

The only thing "simple" here is you. Case in point: I don't think "opinion" means what you think it means. You're clearly seeing this whole incident through a racist lens. Otherwise you're not bright enough to understand what "journalism" and "evidence mean. I'd wager both; idiocy and bigotry tend to go hand in hand. N.B.: Stormfront is not a legitimate news site.

The Bruce| 3.29.12 @ 6:03PM

Punj,

If that was directed at me, where did I mention or link to Stormfront?

Anthony M| 3.29.12 @ 10:20PM

Yes, your obvious ant-hispanic bias and that of all the blacks in this country is unbelievable. I'm sure if a black man were punched in the face and slammed against the ground by a hispanic, you'd all be okay with it. I am truly shocked by how racist you all are against this hard working Hispanic-American. You should really be ashamed of yourselves.

Alan Brooks| 3.29.12 @ 7:32PM

"Zimmerman had a broken Nose, was bleeding from the back of his head, and his back was covered in grass stain"

Well he sure recovered quickly! Zimmerman must have remarkable regenerative genes.

MikeBee| 3.29.12 @ 9:33PM

Alan,
Zimmerman was treated for these injuries. I know; you were expecting to see blood in the picture, and liberals are claiming that the lack of blood is evidence that no fight occurred. You should check the paramedic's records; they will show what they treated on Zimmerman and when. With the possibility, in these days, of HIV and other infections through contact with blood, it is perfectly logical that the cops had him treated and all bleeding stopped before even placing him in their cruiser, let alone taking him to the station.

Timothy L. Pennell| 3.30.12 @ 7:11AM

Oops. It would appear that I owe you an Apology.

Sorry.

loulou| 3.29.12 @ 3:42PM

vtwin: were YOU there?

MikeBee| 3.29.12 @ 11:43AM

Tim,
I usually agree with you, and now agree that, given the situation that Zimmerman found himself in, the result, shooting Trayvon, made sense as a self-defense measure.

However, I think that what Tucker is trying to point out is that, if Zimmerman had remained in his truck, reported the situation to the police and let them handle it, we would have had an entirely different result. Zimmerman's zeal in zipping out of his truck and pursuing Martin didn't end up placing Zimmerman in a good situation. He may end up serving some time for this assault, even if in self-defense.

Cliffystones| 3.29.12 @ 12:18PM

Zim's only crime is not having his "reverse 20-20 vision" activated.

Zak Klemmer | 3.29.12 @ 5:53PM

Where are the "Guardian Angels" when you need them? 'Ping' Curtis Sliwa!

buckeyeman| 3.29.12 @ 1:44PM

The 911 tape reveals Zim describing Martin to the dispatcher while the two of them stare at each other. Zim then describes Martin as fleeing between the buildings, thus making pursuit in the SUV impossible. The tape reveals sounds of a car door opening and the dispatcher asks Zim if he is pursuing the subject and Zim says that he is. The dispatcher says "We don't need you to do that." This is NOT and order not to follow Martin, nor does the dispatcher have any authority to order Zim (or anyone else) to do or not do ANYTHING. The tape reveals Zim trying to figure out where he is so the police cruiser can find and meet him, and the dispatcher continues to discuss this with Zim and does not advise him to stop the pursuit. Finally, Zim tells the dispatcher to ask the police in the cruiser to just call him (Zim) on his cellphone when they arrive so he can guide them to his location and ends the call.

It seems clear that Zim believed that Martin (who he thought was "suspicious" for whatever reason) would simply flee if he didn't follow him and report his location to the police, who were en route at the time. Zim was within his rights to do so.

What happened when the two met is unclear, and we have only one side of the story, Zimmerman's. Even if you don't believe Zim's story, is there enough EVIDENCE to indict him, let alone convict him. Doesn't look like it to me, but I want more info, if there is any. The left will never believe Zimmerman's version.

MikeBee| 3.29.12 @ 5:47PM

Buckeye,
You're right that the Left will never believe Zim. I just look at the situation and ask, "What would I have done?" I would have followed in my SUV, and waited for the police to arrive. Here, in the Detroit area, if a black man looks suspicious, you assume that he is carrying. This means, don't mess with him without expecting possible bad results.

I'm now starting to think that two very bad points converged, in this event. One, an overzealous neighborhood watchman, the other, a thug wannabe. The two don't mix; like oil and water. The result of their meeting was going to be bad, and it was.

Once, I was witness to a black man shooting a car, down the street from where I lived at the time. No one was in the car; he just put multiple bullets into it. I called the cops and reported it. When they arrived, I told them what I saw, and which direction the man headed. I would have been a fool to follow that man, even if I had a bigger gun. Let the cops find him.

Teaghan| 3.29.12 @ 10:46AM

I want to take all the bleeding heart liberals and drop them into southside Chicago and Detroit for a week UNARMED, come back and THEN tell how you feel about this case.

cuban pete| 3.29.12 @ 11:34AM

A fair amount would not "come back" to tell you how they feel.
Bleeding heart liberals would not drive through those neighborhoods in a Brinks truck

Occam's Tool| 3.29.12 @ 2:37PM

I used to stroll down Hollywood Boulevard unarmed. Anything my size I could take, and anything larger I could outrun (in my 20s). Loved the Newstand on Hollywood and Cahuenga.

Now, I'd want my baby eagle with me. Always go IMI.

Zak Klemmer | 3.29.12 @ 6:02PM

I miss going to Shelley's Manne Hole Jazz Club.

The great Satan| 3.29.12 @ 12:01PM

I have been there and done that, and I still feel the same. What's your point?

grumpyoldbitch| 3.29.12 @ 3:43PM

Sanford isn't the south side of Chicago. By all accounts it's a middle class community. Trayvon wasn't a gangsta, just a kid walking back with snacks to watch the game with his father. The fact that you see him as some sort of gang banger, when his teachers have said he was a sweet kid, is just you projecting your fears into the situation. He was a typical middle class kid. He had every right to walk back to the house without being hassled. One of the key issues for me is that Zimmerman had no reason to call the cops in the first place, since no criminal activity was taking place. He was a paranoid cop wannabe and now someone is dead. I doubt he'll be charged, since there's no longer a crime scene to collect evidence from and no forensic evidence was collected that night, by all accounts.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 5:20PM

"The fact that you see him as some sort of gang banger, when his teachers have said he was a sweet kid, is just you projecting your fears into the situation."

Yeah. Such a "sweet kid" that he was suspended from school, found in possession of burglary tools & women's jewlery. What a "nice" kid.

chemman| 3.29.12 @ 10:21PM

Maybe, maybe not. I taught in a low socioeconomic school district in southern California for 17 years. My classes were mainly blacks and Hispanic's. Funny thing though is that in those 17 years none of my students were suspended for having been in altercations with bus drivers or for carrying even minor amounts of drugs. He may have been a typical kid for that neighborhood but I'll question his teachers description of him being sweet.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:15PM

Duh, Most people that live on the south side of Chicago are liberals. What's your point?

Oh, right, you're a racist.

chemman| 3.29.12 @ 10:22PM

I can see racists from my front porch.

loupgarous| 4.2.12 @ 9:53PM

And when innocent young men get their blood shed, we can talk. Trayvon Martin thought he had an opportunity to beat someone into a coma and get away with it. He miscalculated. Many things he might have been, but "innocent" isn't one of them.

Barry Wolk| 3.29.12 @ 11:49AM

Tim: Have you not seen the ABC released video tape of zimmerman being brought into the police station with not ONE mark, bruise or drop of blood on him, especially zimmerman's perfectly clean and uninjured back of his head?!? No broker nose, no NOTHING! So, where are you getting your information from, his father who wasn't there, zimmerman's friend who wasn't there? And, BTW: zimmerman had 80 pounds on Travor!!

SMK| 3.29.12 @ 12:08PM

As a physician, I can definitively say that you are unable to discern whether someone's nose is broken based on grainy web video. Sorry.

L. Ross| 3.29.12 @ 12:52PM

I agree. I had a body surfing accident (nearly broke my nose and my neck) suffered a serious concussion, split the skin on my nose nearly to the bone and ground off much of the skin on my forehead. After a few hours in the emergency room getting sand picked out of my wounds and a few butterfly bandages, I looked OK. In a few days I looked like a special effect (Worf from Star Trek NG to be exact). I suffered from the concussion for several months. The point is, a couple hours after the accident, nobody paid any attention to how I looked. Five days later, everybody did. I was unimpressed by the grainy video as well. Keep in mind, those video cameras are recorded at low resolution so that many simultaneous video cameras can be recorded in a sensible amount of storage space.

rusty| 3.29.12 @ 1:09PM

"After a few hours in the emergency room getting sand picked out of my wounds and a few butterfly bandages, I looked OK."

Did you see any butterfly bandages on Z? Has ANYONE said that he went to the E.R.? Why is their NO BLOOD as evidenced by the lack of latex gloves on the attending officers?

Personal anecdote is not data.

L. Ross| 3.29.12 @ 2:01PM

Rusty, I think you missed my point. The real swelling took HOURS. The enormous scabs took a couple of days to form. Just because you can't see a lot of damage in a grainy video a couple hours at most after the attack doesn't mean that there was no serious injury.

MikeBee| 3.29.12 @ 9:41PM

Rusty,
See my post above. In this day and age, with all sorts of bad things being transmitted via contact with blood, it makes perfectly good sense that the cops had Zimmerman treated, and ALL BLEEDING STOPPED, even before putting him in their cruiser, let alone taking him into the station.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that Zimmerman was treated for his wounds. There should be records with the paramedics of this treatment: what was treated and when. This will all come out in the trial. But, for now, you do not want any bodily fluids soiling your cruiser or your police station. Not in today's world.

Dustoff| 3.29.12 @ 4:04PM

BINGO Doc.

One of the first things we EMS guys would have done is clean him up. Maybe some here don't know, but blood & body fluids are what we call Haz-Mat.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:16PM

Oh, you guys also do laundry? Do you take portable washing machines with you to the site of crimes? How cool!

Nick| 3.29.12 @ 8:30PM

You've watched too many episodes of CSI, Punj.
Try living in the real world, and do some homework.

Robert| 3.29.12 @ 1:17PM

The ABC video is a fraud. It was taken two months earlier than this incident and used deliberately with full knowledge by the lying MSM in an attempt to cast doubt that Zimmerman had been injured.

It is about as valid as obama's forged birth certificate.

...and what does having 80 lbs on another person have to do with anything? This is not a Sumo wrestling competition!

Brian| 3.30.12 @ 2:04AM

Vast left wing conspiracy!

The Bruce| 3.29.12 @ 4:01PM

Barry, maybe you weren't looking that hard, but I saw what resembled a gash on the back of his head (looked like a long straight line).

Mr. Jonz| 3.29.12 @ 5:16PM

Let's assess his injuries from a crappy video, we don't need the paramedic's report or anything substantive.

idalily| 3.29.12 @ 11:52PM

Exactly. Why let facts get in the way of a good liberal story?

I just want to know whatever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"? God help this country.

Cliffystones| 3.29.12 @ 12:15PM

The libtards would have liked it better if Zim was unarmed and had ended up beaten to death or within an inch of his life in critical care.

Todd Doug| 3.29.12 @ 1:01PM

Zimmerman never would have gotten into a confrontation with Martin if he wasn't armed. There would be no story. This is why you don't go around picking fights when you're packing. You might end up losing the fight.

Mr. Jonz| 3.29.12 @ 5:18PM

What? That's the stupidest comment I've read yet. Makes absolutely no sense.

Ash McGonigal| 3.29.12 @ 7:05PM

Only an idiot carries a gun. Dude pulls a gun on you and you're unarmed, you might get shot. Dude pulls a gun on you and you're armed, you WILL get shot. You pull a gun and shoot an unarmed man, you go to jail. Except in Florida, apparently.

Todd S| 3.29.12 @ 7:24PM

That is some great logic Ash, what is the deal with that 2nd amendment anyway? You know who has very strict gun control laws? Mexico, how is that working out? Apparently the criminal gangs there don't respect the law, funny how that works.

Todd Doug| 3.29.12 @ 8:06PM

Sure it does. Zimmerman never would have approached Martin if he didn't have a gun for protection. Think harder.

Enigmaticaluna| 3.29.12 @ 1:19PM

The only reason that Zimmerman save his life, is the fact that he has stronger grid on the gun, because has been said that both man fought for the gun... in that fight one of the two was to be gone, the thug live like a thug die like a thug..." it's a proverb just in case no one knows. lol
Martin suspended for 10 days out of school, find out that he was involve in drugs, the report said that when George call the first time to 911 he report to see someone that appear to be black, that look like he's in drugs...
I believe that the system must do their role with out so many detectives try to make a person guilty before proof. Under the Florida Law, George is free because appears "again" that he actually, defended himself from a thug.

I been in a fight, when I was already old 43 to be exact, attack from the back by a black man, who looks very cut clean, so appearance don't said nothing. I fight back because I fight, when the police came, they told me that other women has been attack the same way, not only do I fight, I run to his car to see the license plate, the guy got cut couple day's later... in that moment, I wish I have a gun... it's our right to protect ourselves from thugs and anyone who try to commit crime against anyone, no race base, but anyone. The law is blind and shouldn't look color, news media and bloggers should do the same, report the news, no their ideas or thoughts. We have enough with our own.

I agree with you 100%

BARBBF| 3.29.12 @ 1:24PM

Broke his nose..bashed his head? So Zimmerman says..BUT..saying it doesn't make it so.

Trayvon Martin 911 Call - Did George Zimmerman Say 'F*ng Coons'? - YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNI5CA5jijw

justice4all| 3.29.12 @ 6:59PM

great point TP and I like your apparent frustration with so many being labeled racists when the true racists are the Al Sharptons, Black Panthers, Eric Holders and the POTUS

Lord Elrond| 3.29.12 @ 10:44PM

Zimmerman had NO duty to retreat.

Where was he going to retreat to? The pavement?

Frank Drackman| 3.29.12 @ 7:44AM

First of all, if George Zimmerman was really as evil as Me, I mean, the Rest of the World is making him out to be,...
He wouldn't have called 9-11, or if he had, would have had an untraceable, preferably with SN obliterated gun, or at least a knife, to put in the late Master Martin's Skittle-toting Hands.
And I've watched "Law & Order", they can't really tell if your careful about it.
SECOND OF ALL WHEN YOU USE BLACK ITALICS IT'S LIKE YOUR SHOUTING "N-WORD!"
and Mr. Zimmerman WASN'T(sorry) "Specifically told by the Operator not to pursue the kid any further"
He/She said "We Don't Need you to do that" which is at best ambiguous, and at worst an example of the "No Problem"-itis that's plauged our Service Industry since they stopped raising the minimum wage regularly.
Of course the Police "Don't Need" you to do anything, especially call in suspicious looking people, which in the A-T-L would be some 90% of the inner city populace.
They'd prefer to wait till the Mass School Shootings on Fox/CNN/MSNBC so they can assemble the SWAT team, put on there SAS Jump boots, and show up just in time to flex for the Reporters and draw chalk outlines.
Or put up that rediculous yellow Crime Scene tape. As good as they are, Cops are like any other profession, Surgeons, Pilots, Hookers, preferring an easy non-eventful shift every now and then.
And if MR. ZIMMERMAN HAD STOOD DOWN, and the Cops decided to leave Dunkin Donuts early, we'd just be talkin about another boring Cops-Shoot-Angry-Black-Guy story, actually we wouldn't be talking bout it, cause not even BET would break into the 2,000th rerun of "Menace 2 Society" to report Tray-Vons assumption of Room Temperature.
And if Mr. Zimmerman manages to survive the New Black Panthers(What a Joke) I hope he moves into my neighborhood...

Frank

L. Ross| 3.29.12 @ 12:54PM

Trust me, Frank, as a professional pilot, all pilots prefer non-event shifts. It isn't much fun when you have to put all that training on the line.

Occam's Tool| 3.29.12 @ 2:39PM

Yup, and as an inpatient shrink, I like it when we don't use restraints or seclusion.

Darin| 3.29.12 @ 7:50AM

This quote describes Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Eric Holder, and Barack Obama. They (and their cohorts) are all over the Trayvon Martin story for the sole reason Trayvon is black.
"There is another class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs -- partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs...There is a certain class of race-problem solvers who do not want the patient to get well, because as long as the disease holds out they have not only an easy means of making a living, but also an easy medium through which to make themselves prominent before the public."
- Booker T. Washington

Junction| 3.29.12 @ 8:03AM

Thumbs down on this one to the author, Mr. Tucker.

Worst article I've seen here all week and there are already a few that hit near bottom.

I don't think Mr. Tucker has been following the FACTS of this story at all.

Or is Mr. Tucker cynically counting on his obtuse position on this situation to up his TAS site Thursday article readership/comments?

numbatdog| 3.29.12 @ 9:21AM

Correct Junction, thumbs down on this one.
Tucker is welcome to his own opinion but not his own facts. He is at least 3 days behind the latest news.
This is my advice Mr Tucker -
Switch off MSNBC and put down the New York Times. You will make less of a fool of yourself on current forums like this.

Steve| 3.29.12 @ 10:07AM

Agreed. Mr. Tucker smacks of a typical blue state RINO still trying to win approval from the trendy/cool lefties who dominate his turf. Grow a pair and find some new sources of data, Mr. Tucker. Your reliance on the MSM makes you out to be fool and your *reasonableness* reeks of mere cowardice. Hint: T-von was just a young gangsta-in-training, Mr. Tucker, as is now coming out in the press. Maybe YOU should have shut up until all the facts came out.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:19PM

Why do you people all behave as if adults behave like middle schoolers? All this nonsense about wanting to win "approval" from the cool kids. All you teabaggers have the mentality of 7th grade girls; and the sense of humor of 6th grade boys (Limbaugh). Pathetic, and hysterically funny.

chemman| 3.29.12 @ 10:34PM

As a man judges so shall he be judged. So Rush is a 6th grader for his inane slut comment. What does that make you for your teabagger comment. What's that proverb? Oh, yeah "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones"

David W| 3.29.12 @ 9:35AM

I agree that the GOP candidates made a mistake by commenting (probably because they continue to hire advisers who really are democrats). However, it seems to me in reading half of the article that Mr. Tucker has already formed an opinion (it certainly seems to seep through).

loulou| 3.29.12 @ 3:45PM

Jubction, I agree.

Furthermore, I'd like to see ROMNEY exit the race so Santorum can take on Obama mano a mano.

loulou| 3.29.12 @ 3:45PM

Junction, sorry for the spelling error.

loulou| 3.29.12 @ 3:45PM

Junction, sorry for the spelling error.

Dr. X| 3.29.12 @ 8:14AM

I think that Tucker's analysis relies on a lot of the same type of speculation and induction of preconceived stereotyping that the black race-baiters like Sharpton are employing.

The latest reports indicate that the cops have a witness who saw martin beating Zimmerman. The latest reports indicate that Zimmerman was returning to his vehicle after the cops told him not to pursue Martin when Martin jumped him. It's also true that, unlike Tucker's Brooklyn neighborhood, a gated community is private property and Zimmerman, as a resident, had a legal right to go anywhere in it at any time. Martin, as a guest, not a resident, had a common-sense obligation to inform the resident community of who he was and why he was there.

One thing is perfectly clear: Martin did NOT politely stop when he saw Zimmerman following him and say "Sir, can I help you?" and then identify himself as a guest temporarily residing in the neighborhood. If he had done that, maybe Zimmerman would have identified himself as a neighborhood watchman who was trying to prevent burglaries.

The latest reports indicted that Martin is alleged to have said "Do you have a problem?" when Zimmerman responded "No" Martin allegedly said "Well you do now" and attacked him.

I f these reports are true, which we will not know until the grand jury convenes, everything else is idle speculation. If the reports are true, Martin is in fact a hoodlum and a criminal and got what he deserved. If the reports are not true, THEN Tucker can trash Zimmerman all he wants.

Erich| 3.29.12 @ 11:48AM

You and Tucker agree that the lack of an investigation is a mistake and the Republican hacks need to stop offering their ignorant opinions.

Cliffystones| 3.29.12 @ 12:27PM

You mean "Republican Hacks" like Sharpton, The New Black Panthers and Obozo? Oh wait! they are all lefites!
Never mind.

repsac3 | 3.29.12 @ 1:44PM

Just keep in mind that "the latest reports" you're quoting are regurgitating Zimmerman's statement to the police, not facts gathered via physical evidence and unbiased witness statements. (Though yes, some of what he claims is consistent with some of the physical evidence and at least one witness statement). That doesn't mean "the latest reports" are false, but it isn't as though Zimmerman had no motive to embellish his story, making Martin seem more thuggish, and himself more innocent.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:24PM

Ok, I'll say this very s l o w l y. "The latest reports" does not equal actual evidence. Just because some guy said something (and what you're referencing is an interview with Zimmerman's clearly biased father repeating what his son allegedly told him about the murder) doesn't mean that you should believe it hook, line and sinker. God, my 7 year old nephew understands that. Let me guess--you never made it out of 2nd grade.

idalily| 3.29.12 @ 11:56PM

Yes, God forbid the LSM wait for actual evidence before convicting a man of murder in the public eye. It seems to me that Al Sharpton and his ilk are the ones who bought something "hook, line and sinker."

Kenny| 3.29.12 @ 8:15AM

"If Martin had been a white preppie in a suit and tie, he never would have given him a second glance."

True, but if he looked like a baggy a** Eminen, Zimmerman would have stopped him.

Tucker should stick to nuclear power where he makes at least make some sense. Here he makes fool out of himself.

Frank Drackman| 3.29.12 @ 8:25AM

PS: Your Photo looks Gay.
More accurately, the Scarf, and does Andrew Sullivan know your stealing his material?
and I'm using "Gay" as a Homo-nym for "Stupid" as kids have done for the last 20 years or so, when it went from "Queer" to "Gay".
Thats right, I have no knowledge that you sleep with men, as far as anyone knows.
And THATs America's problem, kids growing up playing "GTA" instead of wholesome old fashioned "Smeer the Queer".
"Smeer the Gay"? doesn't even rhyme.
And "Slay the Gay"s too X-treme even for me.
But Seriously, 5 years to write a book on Crime?
It took less than 4 to beat the Japs/Nazis.
And only a little over 4 for the evil Yankees to beat the Good Guys.
OK, it took NASA 8 yrs to get to the Moon, but Space Travel's a little more complicated than why Tray-von can't fill out his parole forms.
And what did you spend the 90's on? African Americans love affair with Malt Liquor?
THATS what I'd pay to read.
I can understand the misogynistic black culture, disdain for Education, ruining perfectly good Crown Victorias with 24 inch rims and curb feelers.
But have you ever drank a Colt 45 Fawty?
It'd make me go back to Africa.

Frank

2323| 3.29.12 @ 11:53AM

The hate-filled, storm trooper mentality displayed by Frank Drackman is what gives conservative Republicans a bad reputation.

Oh, for those long-ago days when Republicans were more articulate and dignified. Drackman and his ilk almost want me to switch parties.

Elaine| 3.29.12 @ 11:56AM

Amen, 2323.

Many of the voices on this comment thread are too ignorant and boorish for my tastes.

Wiley from Denver| 3.29.12 @ 12:10PM

My business partners were discussing just recently how the lower classes have infiltrated the GOP and coarsened it.

So I'm with you, Elaine. Reading AmSpec can give you a headache.

Occam's Tool| 3.29.12 @ 2:40PM

Elaine: I'm sorry. Both for my crudity and liking Frank. Frank is a very likable rogue.

The great Satan| 3.29.12 @ 12:07PM

Come on over to the dark side 2323. Mwahahahaha!

Frank Drackman| 3.29.12 @ 12:54PM

Oh yeah? So's your Old Man!
and My Mom's a Horrorcost survivor, so I'd watch who you call a "Storm Trooper".
And yes, I did joke about opening a "Baruch Goldstein Kosher Deli and Shooting Range", its a JOKE, dammit.
Hardly anyone even remembers who Baruch Goldstein was anyway...

Frankie "The Nose" Drackman

SUBVET| 3.29.12 @ 3:52PM

If your a repub your just like the dem's.....I don't see any difference NOW.

vtwin| 3.29.12 @ 11:55AM

That’s an eyebrow raiser, casually expressing your concerns about another man’s apparel choices, and you own sexual orientation?

Frank Drackman| 3.29.12 @ 1:41PM

Well X-Scuzzzeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Me!
Whats America comin to when a guy can't bust another guys balls for wearing something gay?
And if you read what I wrote, you need a life.
But I used "Gay" in the common way its used in Modern English to denote something stupid or banal, like Mr. Tuckers essay.
And I'm so Hetero, if Wilt the Stilt was still around he'd give me a high 5 for what I've achieved with my modest package.
Of course my Gene-Simmons-esque tongue doesn't hurt.
Much.

Frankie "The Nose" Drackman

Occam's Tool| 3.29.12 @ 2:43PM

Like I said, a likeable rogue. Sheesh. Get a sense of humor.

My tongue is of normal size, Frank. G-d giveth and he taketh away. I would have applied for "the hung jury" but I didn't think it would go well with my medical license application.

Abby Normal| 3.29.12 @ 3:17PM

>And if you read what I wrote, you need a life.

Best advice ever.

Cliffystones| 3.29.12 @ 12:36PM

I had to click Tucker's name to see wtf you were talking about. Too funny! And unlike others who have commented I get the sarcasm.

At very least, Mr. Tucker would appear to be slightly eccentric. Anybody have any ideas about the blanket he's got wrapped around his neck? Could he be hiding a neck brace he got from his prior encounter with Martin?

Tonto| 3.30.12 @ 12:46AM

His blanket is fabulous, and I understand that he designed the gorgeous wall paper behind him.

And the wallpaper complements the blanket's design. The man is a master of couture.

izzy| 3.30.12 @ 12:48AM

Tucker was a friend of Yves Saint Laurant. So he should know something about couture.

And Tucker's a cutie too, and so is his boyfriend.

Gussie Fink-Nottle| 3.29.12 @ 7:42PM

Frank, You were so caught up trying to slam-dunk about 24-inch rims, you lost sight of the obvious killer of Trayvon: Michelle Obama!
When she realized Trayvon was Obama's love child (hinted to by BHO, "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon!"), she was ready to kill him. But then she realized he lived in a city named after Redd Foxx's character, and decided to let him live. But when she saw him buy Skittles, which could lead to childhood obesity, she flew into a rage and had him shot!

All American American| 3.29.12 @ 8:31AM

You can tell how far a sight's significance has fallen when the only reason you come to it is to read the comments of the folks responding to the asinine articles and not the asinine articles themselves anymore.

Where does TAS get these guys?

JimP| 3.29.12 @ 9:48AM

Touche! Well, and humorously, said and asked.

jothepro| 3.29.12 @ 10:35AM

Hey AAA, How do you know what you post? You must be something at The Huffington Post.

All American American| 3.29.12 @ 11:05AM

So I "must be something at the Huffington Post" (what exactly, a pen? an armchair?) because I feel the commentators who respond to the articles have more intelligence, wisdom, and common sense than the authors of said articles?

Well, not counting you joethepro. There are exceptions to every rule it seems. Congrats bro.

Occam's Tool| 3.29.12 @ 2:43PM

AAA, thank you, kind sir. Your posts are known for intelligence and wit.

JimP| 3.29.12 @ 11:46AM

Jo: AAA is indicating that Tucker and others are not conservatives but leftwingers: and he disapproves of the leftward drift. So, how do you conclude he's from HuffPo? I saw below that you made this same mistake regarding Alice Moore's comment. Please explain why/how you are so confused.

jothepro| 3.30.12 @ 11:37AM

Sorry JimP, I wanted to delete that post but couldn't. I got confused reading all this stuff and got it wrong. Will do better in the future.

Appleby| 3.29.12 @ 8:31AM

Ho hum, somebody else telling White folks to just shut up and sit down.

Sorry, Charley, that dog will no longer hunt.

Bob K.| 3.29.12 @ 12:16PM

Short, sweet and right on point Appleby!

Todd Doug| 3.29.12 @ 1:04PM

He's actually telling idiots to sit down and shut up while the grownups talk.

Bob K.| 3.29.12 @ 7:50PM

Then sit down and shut up!

theresa | 3.29.12 @ 8:41AM

This piece is as wrong as it gets.

Cryptoconservative in MA| 3.29.12 @ 8:55AM

I have to agree that the quality of thought and writing on the Spectator has dropped remarkably far in the last couple of weeks. Mr. Tucker's 'facts' and narrative consists of quotes from race pimps and agitators.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:27PM

Let me guess; you prefer to get your "facts" from bigots (Breitbart), college dropouts (Limbaugh) and race baiters like Hannity.

Rich D| 3.29.12 @ 8:53PM

???! Gates and Jobs were college dropouts. How many degrees do you have and how much money?

Red Bubba| 3.29.12 @ 8:59AM

There's one in every crowd, a judge wannabe who is eager to rearrange and make up facts to support his opinion.

Alice Moore| 3.29.12 @ 9:02AM

Maybe TAS wants to gain a strange new respect from the MSM.

jothepro| 3.29.12 @ 10:36AM

You people need to stay on the lefty sites where you fit in.

jlkthree| 3.29.12 @ 9:02AM

Eyewitness:Trayvon was on top of Mr.Zimmerman,no doubt punching him.No one is obligated to be beaten to death by fists,which are weapons.See:"hockey fights" on the internet.

Strider| 3.29.12 @ 5:09PM

Thanks for mentioning one of my favorite sports sites. Sometimes the commentaries are better than the videos!

Rocco| 3.29.12 @ 9:05AM

Kind of wondering how the New Black Panthers would react if the Salvadoran Mara Salvatrucha boys (MS-13) decided to act to defend their "Latino brother?" No love lost there.

Everyone should just butt out and let the justice system work.

martin j smith| 3.29.12 @ 9:06AM

Mr Tucker--You are so far off base that I think you have landed on Pluto and here is why. First off, we and you have not been enpaneled to make judgement that is for the legal system to arrange and and to carry out. Thus when a group of race baiters takes this particular incident and uses it for political purposes it becomes even more of a
injustice. Whatever actually happened it is up to a Grand Jury and a trial jury plus the lawyers,the judge and witnesses and experts to deter mine the facts and innocence and guilt. It is a question of polls it is not a question of pre -judicial"facts" which have not been legally vetted and are of course spewed thru the MSM. In the end this Zimmerman person may be declared guilty or not but yoou in vioew are taking a vigilante approach no better that the race baiters of the LEFT. Good BY

Charles R. Williams| 3.29.12 @ 9:08AM

Tucker is right about Santorum and Gingrich. The case against Zimmerman is not quite as strong as Tucker makes out. First, the 911 people cannot order someone to do anything. Zimmerman had a right to ignore the suggestion. Second, we don't know and maybe nobody knows what exactly happened. Did Zimmerman attack? confront? pursue? follow? watch? interrogate? question? harrass? threaten? It seems like Zimmerman ended up on the ground having got the worst of it up until the point when the gun was discharged.

Zimmerman may be guilty of manslaughter and it is entirely possible this can't be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

The sign does say that there is a Neighborhood Watch Program. It says that suspicious people will be reported to the police. Martin not should have been surprised that Zimmerman was looking into his presence.

The great Satan| 3.29.12 @ 12:13PM

Why should martin know that Zimmerman would be looking into his presence? if I were Trayvon I would have paid no attention to the sign since it did not apply to me, only lawbreakers. Innocent people pay no attention to signs meant to deter criminals. Got it now?

JP| 3.29.12 @ 12:42PM

The question is" does a 17 year old black man have the right to walk down the street without being questioned or harrassed by the neighborhood watch group."

Not that that is what happened. We don't know what happened. And I will never again believe anything the MSM reports -especially if it involves race.

martin j smith| 3.29.12 @ 9:12AM

Oh Hello again Mr Tucker-Mr wrong. and to you too
Charles R Williams ( or whatever ). You too are wrong. Read Jeffrey Lord regard the Communists and lynch Mobs. Sorry buddies --you have lost me and I question your sanity. Good By Again.

martin j smith| 3.29.12 @ 9:14AM

Oh my goodnes there I go again but I must add that Mr Tucker and Mr Williams both of you accept the lynch mob mentality and that means In addition to whatever else I said let me add --I trust neither one of you at all on this matter.

Rurik| 3.29.12 @ 9:16AM

So Mr Zimmerman should have allowed Traybanger to beat him to death, ond then steal his pistol in order to spare Tucker's sensitivities. Remember that statement that "Good men sleep peacefully at night because rough men stand ready ..."
Virtually everything this leaky colostomy bag writes is a disgrace. You publish this crap and then have the nerve to ask for donations?!

hardcard| 3.29.12 @ 9:22AM

hey tucker I think that scarf around your neck is too tight, it's cutting off the blood flow to your tiny brain.

PattyMor| 3.29.12 @ 9:37AM

Its obvious that the race hustlers, communists, and agitators are using the incident to rile up the black community. This was an "old" story by the time the Marxist Media ran with it. Then the President jumps into the fray "defending his people", the black kid, again without having all the facts. But we already know that facts do not matter to these people.

They purposely ran an old photo of Trayvon, instead of the current one. Why is that? Because the old photo shows him to a doey eyed kid and the recent one is thuggish. So they plant a purposefully misleading image in your mind.
Then we find that Trayvon had been in some trouble and not all the sweet innocence as portrayed.

Yes, Zimmerman should not have pursued the kid. He should have backed off and went back home. But apparently he didn't. And the Marxist Media got a little duped by his name "Zimmerman", which sounds real "white". Then they find out that he is half white and half hispanic. Oh, what to do, as their little scenario isn't quite so perfect? They begin to call him a "white" hispanic. So you see the whole point of the media campaign was to show whites bad and beating on the poor little 'ole black community, including its kids.

SUBVET| 3.29.12 @ 11:24AM

Patty....."Zimmerman", which sounds real "white" I think your off track the name sounds jewish to me, but he doen't look jewish.

JimP| 3.29.12 @ 11:39AM

Jews aren't traditionally Caucasions? Is that what you are saying? Zimmerman sounds like a Germanic surname. If anything, Zimmerman sounds like Geraldo, but in reverse. ;)

Stammon| 3.29.12 @ 12:02PM

Yesterday I read that he was adopted from Peru. If that's true, he's 100% Latino, whatever that means.

SUBVET| 3.29.12 @ 3:57PM

Soooooo does that mean if barry was adopted what would HE be.......

The great Satan| 3.29.12 @ 12:17PM

D0 you think it is at all possible that the "black community" is able to get riled up about another of the thousands of cases of a black person being treated different from every one else, without any help?

gearjammer| 3.29.12 @ 9:38AM

That was Zimmerman screaming for help on the tape-I believe after he broke off contact with the young man and was back at his car. Somebody springs out of the dark and attacks you ? Should you submit ?

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:31PM

I'll say this s l o w l y. Some people claim it was Zimmerman on the tape, others believe it was Trayvon. Get your facts straight and step away from townhall or whatever rightwing loony bin you read for "news."

idalily| 3.30.12 @ 12:05AM

Maybe that's why the LSM should have waited for some facts and evidence before they tried and convicted Zimmerman in the court of public opinion. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

Intelligent Design| 3.29.12 @ 9:39AM

Witness says Martin was attacking Zimmerman:
http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/d.....n-03232012

Big Tony| 3.29.12 @ 9:43AM

Mr. Tucker
Zimmerman was told "we don't need you to do that" by the 911 operator. So your assertion that Zimmerman was told NOT to follow the young man is misleading at best. Once you did that, in my opinion you lost readers to the larger point you were trying to make. If the comments to this article and my personal take are any indication. Your next assertion was almost as bad, stating what the Cops want you to do. Who cares? They are never around when you need them. Or how about this, have you ever heard of a thing call a citizens arrest? If you see a rape or a mugging you can call the police and go hide under your bed if you want. Thank goodness everyone is not so fearful and timid. Have you ever been mugged yourself? My guess is no! I think you are right about Newt and Santorum. You may be right about Zimmerman too. Let me ask you one more thing do you remember Richard Jewel a hero in the Atlanta Olympic bombing but then he was demonized in the press by know it alls and the bunglers at the FBI. Just like you are now doing to Zimmerman.

jay hoenemeyer| 3.29.12 @ 9:51AM

Just another reminder that " An armed society is a polite society "

repsac3 | 3.29.12 @ 2:10PM

Yep... If Trayvon had been armed as well, perhaps he would've shot that creepy older guy who kept following him, and put him in fear of his being kidnapped, raped, or murdered. (Because for all Trayvon knew, that's exactly what Zimmerman was intending to do.)

The more I read about this thing, the more I believe that there were no actual villains; just two more or less average guys who each misread the other's intentions, and via a few bad choices--primarily on the part of Zimmerman (sure, it's legal to ignore the advice of a police dispatcher and move in on an unknown, possibly armed person you already believe is "up to no good," when you have a pretty good idea that the responding officers are just minutes away, but it's profoundly stupid to do so)--each found himself in a fight with the other to save his own life.

I have no idea if anything either of them did that night is criminal, but the whole thing is a tragedy, both for the Martin and Zimmerman families.

The Bruce| 3.29.12 @ 6:36PM

I can certainly agree with that. The whole thing seems to be -- sorry use this phrase but -- a tragic comedy of errors (not that I'm suggesting there's anything funny about this).

Frank Drackman| 3.29.12 @ 9:54AM

OK I think we've all agreed Mr. Tucker is a Putz.
Sorry, that's not really fair.
Not fair to Putzes, he's more like what happens when Toe Jam turns bad.
Anyway, a more relevant question.
"What are you packin?"
I prefer the old school .357, preferably in an N-Frame Smith & Wesson Revolver.
No jams, and if whatever your shootin at can take 6 .357 rounds you can use it as a club.
Of course the one time I actually had to draw down on a group of (REDACTED) I was carrying my Raven 25 auto.
YOU try carrying a large framed revolver in the pocket of your White Doctors Coat(Ironic White Coat worn by Doctors, not a Coat worn by White Doctors)
Did the job, I'm still here.

Frank

All American American| 3.29.12 @ 11:09AM

Depends---day to day its a Springfield XD45 loaded with 14 Hydra-Shoks. In the woods its a Ruger Super Alaskan in 44Mag.

Frank Drackman| 3.29.12 @ 11:34AM

Not bad,
try a CZ-97, smooth as a Prom Queen's thighs, but not as risky.

Frank

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 6:46PM

Personally I'd favor the SA XDm .45.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 12:48PM

I bought a Sig P229 .40 cal & have it loaded with Plus-P hollow points. That's for the car. At home, its a Benelli Supernove 12 gague, loaded with flechettes. I'm always ready to "repel boarders."

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 12:49PM

"SUPERNOVA" in "Engrish."

All American American| 3.29.12 @ 2:47PM

We undermeant what you stood. :)

Occam's Tool| 3.29.12 @ 2:46PM

You know, all the gun owners I know also seem to be the best behaved and most honest. Why is that?

All American American| 3.29.12 @ 2:50PM

I do everything in my power to avoid conflict when carrying, especially in the car---no road rage here. The reason is it wouldn't matter if some dude was bashing your head on the sidewalk, if you have a gun and/or shoot him, you're wrong in the eyes of the hoplophobic public.

I've only had to draw my pistol twice in 17 years, and both times the mere sight of it was enough to make the bad guys flee.

albert constantine jr.| 3.29.12 @ 3:41PM

OT;

Someone much wiser than I once said an armed society is a polite society.

SUBVET| 3.29.12 @ 4:00PM

Ask TPL and you have your answer.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 6:42PM

A P226 Sig in .40 cal.? Kinda snappy recoil and that short barrel is an impediment to accuracy.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 6:47PM

P229, my mistake. I was just looking at P226s.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 6:48PM

I'd reconsider those +Ps. They don't have that much more power, and they put a strain on the firearm.

Stammon| 3.29.12 @ 12:11PM

My Dad's Smith & Wesson 38 Special Agent. 2" barrel and an empty chamber under the hammer. At 30' I can put all 5 in the chest. I had a Baretta 92S but couldn't hit the side of a barn if I was inside with the doors closed. 30 years ago I carried a Dan Wesson 44 mag when hiking in the west. For bears.

The great Satan| 3.29.12 @ 12:26PM

I have a water pistol manufactured in china, BUT I have an enormous penis.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 12:46PM

Wow. With such witty ripostes like this one, I'll bet you're the star pupil of your 6th grade class. However, I'm sure your boyfriend appreciates your member. None of the rest of us care.

SUBVET| 3.29.12 @ 4:01PM

The Great S...... is the reason we all are not in the Garden.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 6:16PM

A .44 mag. round in a bear would just piss him off.

John| 3.29.12 @ 9:59AM

Tucker makes a point of relying on the "facts." Then he claims "Zimmerman was obviously intending to use the gun on him (Martin)." How does he know this? Is this one of the facts?

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 10:14AM

From the Article:

"Moreover, like 30 other states, Florida has a "Stand Your Ground" law, written mainly to protect homeowners but containing a clause saying a person can use deadly force if he fears for his life or from suffering "great bodily harm." It's an ambiguous situation where it would be nice to have a judge and jury decide."

I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6. I'll take my chances with the jury. And if someone's playing basketball with my head, you can bet your sweet ass I'm gonna shoot him to stop him.

Anthony| 3.29.12 @ 10:16AM

Mr. Tucker, Zimmerman may have used poor judgment in approaching Martin in the first place, but you and many others have made the specious argument that Zimmerman was ordered not to pusue, by a 9-11 operator.
Since when is an "order" by a 9-11 operator controlling? It may very well have been good advice, but the operator is not there at the scene to evaluate, nor is the advice controlling.
As to the Rs getting involved in this situation, you are dead wrong!! The left have once again jumped the shark and have tried to turn this into another Duke Lacrosse case, sans any facts.
The New Black Panthers are operating with total impunity because our back president, black Attorney General have told the Panthers we will take no actions against your lawlessness. The NBP are roaming America making threats, saying we don't follow "White Man's Law", and no law enforcement agency, including Florida, has done a DAMN THING!!
Sharpton, Jackson, and Congressman Rush have made a dispicable race baiting situation out of this, all for their desire for agitation and confrontation.
No, Mr. Tucker, standing silent and acting in the usual timid R way is not the answer here. We are on the verge of total lawlessness here.
Do you remember the famous cant, "All evil needs to succeed is for good men to do nothing"?
That's you Mr. Tucker!!!

Slacker| 3.29.12 @ 1:18PM

No kidding.

How sad that Mr. Tucker thinks citizens should go no further than to observe and report crimes to the police. Just allow the government officials handle everything, eh Mr. Tucker? Submit while you’re at it. How dare Zimmerman not follow the 911 operator’s instructions?

Once upon a time we were actually self-reliant individuals who took care of ourselves.

Zimmerman made some serious mistakes. Endeavoring to stop crime in his neighborhood was not one of them.

repsac3 | 3.29.12 @ 2:29PM

Arer you seriously suggesting that we have no need of trained first-responders, and should all be saving ourselves from lawbreakers, fires and medical emergencies, in the name of self-reliance.

I'm all for defending life, limb, and castle when necessary, but that doesn't mean I'm intentionally going out in search of folks breaking the law. (Among other things, I have no place to store 'em once I capture them, having not been self-reliant enough to've constructed my own jail cells in my basement.) In this society, we've chosen to pay trained, experienced people to do that on our behalf (while we do their taxes, butcher their meat, teach their children, and sell them useless crap from China on their behalf). It's a good system, and I'm not in favor of going back to the days when everyone fended for themselves, thanks. There's nothing wrong with an integrated society where my particular expertise benefits you, and that thing you specialize in does for me.

Slacker| 3.29.12 @ 8:52PM

Of course we need first responders but, having first responders doesn’t negate our right to investigate suspicious behavior or defend our property.

Most of us are not comfortable in the vigilante role. I’m not. I think our naturally inclination is to reject others who are willing to go beyond what we are willing to do ourselves. Sort of a self justification mechanism.

This is like the wealthy liberals who put the “armed response” security signs in their yards. These people hate gun owners, yet somehow if a professional acts as their proxy, then home defense is good.

WRTolkas| 3.29.12 @ 10:16AM

Dear Mr. Tucker,

I have read the twenty or so previous comments. The commentators are passionate, but passion does not give license to insult or belittle. One of the reasons that I have read The American Spectator over the last three or more years is to read the civil and intelligent comments. There are many writers to this site that make me jealous of their reasoning and writing ability. However a young man is dead because of a series of events - stupid events. Neither participant has clean hands and we will need a person with the Wisdom of Solomon to sort this mess out. This mess needs to be settled in a court of law and not the court of public opinion. For the sake of Mr. Martin, Mr. Zimmerman, and our country we need our day in court.

Everyone have a safe weekend.

Indy| 3.29.12 @ 10:38AM

Excellent post, I agree, the rule of law matters, we have our Founders to thank for the framework they gave us, let the process work.

Think before you type| 3.29.12 @ 10:59AM

WRTolkas, while I agree with what you state about how TAS commenters should keep their comments decently worded so we have intelligent thread discourse, I cannot agree at all with your statement "Neither participant (meaning Zimmerman and Martin) has clean hands...."

Neither?

How do you know this?

WRTolkas| 3.29.12 @ 11:43AM

Dear Think before you type,

There is too much information and disinformation released. Too much bravado. I say neither side has clean hands because something happened to escalate a situation into a death. And people think they know what happened, but in reality don't know what. If one side had "clean hands" then there would be no need for judicial intervention. Discussing the facts is the place of a court and hopefully a wise judicial system.

I can't remember where I first heard this quote; but whenever provoked I always think of this quote: "The first person that resorts to violence is the first person that stops thinking."

Two people who never before met rendezvoused with violence. There was definitely violence, and so someone or someones stopped thinking. Who stopped thinking first? Too many question. Someone will be exonerated and someone condemned but only in court.

Have a safe weekend.

TBYT| 3.29.12 @ 12:23PM

WRTolkas, you just wrote, "I say neither side has clean hands because something happened to escalate a situation into a death."

Really?

I guess you never had relatives that grew up in the West. See, out West, there was a time when if you saw a man stealing your horse or cattle, you could shoot him on the spot. Nobody doubted you.

Read the article reference below (was an American Thinker article earlier this week). Berkeley man dead outside his home. Maybe this Berkeley senior had "unclean hands" in his own death? (Because he went outside his house? Or he "stopped thinking?")

Just because a bullet is launched, strikes, and one person dies does not mean someone has unclean hands.

A situation can escalate within seconds. Particularly if you are having your head pounded into concrete.

If someone is pounding you against a car mercilessly tonight, don't be surprised if I pick up your assailant and throw him against a nearby brick wall or glass storefront window. Am I intending your assailant's death? No, probably not. I am reacting to a brutal mugging, and I know that the only wait to stop it is force.

And...so, my hands are unclean? I "stopped thinking?"

So if you see your daughter being forcefully pushed into a car (and you barely have time to think "kidnapping/rape") and you "resort to violence" you've "stopped thinking?"

"Stopped thinking?"

No, I say that someone who quickly reacts to stop the evil is quick thinking. And I like those kinds of people around.

Er, maybe you have stopped thinking? (using good reason)

So let me help you. There are times when bad guys will pay a price for being bad. Is T. Martin a bad guy? Don't know, but despite the positive bias he'll have because of his skin color and age, we will eventually find out. My strong hunch says he did Zimmerman grave bodily harm that allows Zimmerman to defend himself. That's just a hunch. But a really strong one, knowing what we now already know.

IF that is so, then Zimmerman did no wrong.

Maybe Martin was about to grab Zimmerman's gun and ....do...do what? What might Zimmerman think (if he knows that the pistol is loaded)?

You are also assuming that Martin was thinking.

My strong hunch is that Martin is a horrid street thug with a record of very poor (even criminal) behavior that far exceeds his years of life.

I world with teens that could snuff out my life in seconds with my back turned to them. They do indeed have the capacity to do this if so inclined. I am not sure you are acquainted with the world that young people like Martin know. It is a very ugly world and they become part of that.

See his Twitter photo and Martin's final 12 - 16 Twitter posts. That white t-shirt that Martin is wearing for that Twitter/Facebook photo is not just happenstance. That is the wife beater t-shirt (that's their ling0) of choice for south Florida males who want to show themselves as street toughs and gang members.

One can be thinking and defend oneself. If one thinks that his pistol is about to be wrestled away and already has violent injuries, one is perfectly lucently thinking when one puts a bullet in one's attacker.

Do you even know where the bullet struck Martin? Do you? And if you do, do you know where Zimmerman might have been aiming? Or if he even had the capacity to aim at that point?

WRTolkas| 3.29.12 @ 3:09PM

Dear TBYT,

Many "what ifs." Many times I have been in such situations - Military past - many I want to forget. And I grew-up in Washington D.C.

Again, there are assumption being made. I'm asking for a day in court. I hope that we have evolved from "frontier justice."

A little dialog from A Man for All Seasons:

William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!

Be safe.

TBYT| 3.30.12 @ 12:21PM

Ah, WRTolkas, but you don't live in Washington, D.C. anymore, now do you? Why?

Nobody is denying anyone the law.

In fact, the law seems to be doing just fine right now, so far.

You don't track with your arguments. (by design, eh?)

Address the issue of using force to stop a kidnapping -- at the moment that the child or teen is being ripped or pushed, shoved, grabbed away.

It could be in a WalMart parking lot, on the edge of a sports field, at a gas station near a highway, on the periphery of a school ground.

This should be simplistic enough for you.

A parent, relative, guardian, or coach steps in to physically (in the space of seconds) protect the child or teen from the assailant, using some force or a lot of force, injury occurs. Perhaps grave injury to the assailant or assailants.

So injury always means that there is likely "no clean hands?"

And the protecting adult thereby "stopped thinking."

Focus on those phrases -- phrases you chose. Argue to defend this, if you can. You cannot.

And cut with the little "be safe this weekend" silliness. A little condescending or faux caring, eh?

gearjammer| 3.29.12 @ 10:21AM

In Rhode Island a white cop administered a brutal kick with his booted foot to a handcuffed drunk woman on the floor. He got a wrist slap. The woman was white. If, she were black he'd be in jail now. Blacks get superior justice, maybe ?

We need to face facts & truth| 3.29.12 @ 11:04AM

Just like that high school boy (white boy) in Kansas City doused by two black boys in gasoline and lit on fire -- while other blacks watched. And all of this openly stoked by black teachers in that high school who openly encourage trouble and bias toward the white few remaining white students.

ZERO national press coverage of this horrid attempt at murder in KC.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 1:33PM

Not to mention the ZERO national coverage of the Knoxville torture, rape & murder case a few years ago. A white couple was carjacked & brutalized by 3 black men & one black woman. No wall-to-wall, 24/7 coverage of THAT, now was there?

D Klein| 3.29.12 @ 4:29PM

Perhaps the reason that there's been no national coverage of the Knoxville murders is that it was investigated by the police and the perps caught, tried, and sentenced to long stretches in the pen or on death row. Just a thought.

The KC incident, which appears to have resulted in relatively minor injuries (as compared to Martin's death), appears to be under active investigation as the police try to identify the perps. Neither of these cases is equivalent to the current affair.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 5:24PM

No, they're FAR worse. And there WAS no wall-to-wall coverage of it. There were no "black leaders" condemning these incidents. No manufactured outrage. No members of Congress dressing like the victims of this case on the House Floor & none saying that these incidents are indicative of a "war on white people."

Your selective outrage & hypocrisy is quite amusing.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:38PM

Oh my God, let me say this S L O W L Y, so that hopefully you can understand. The reason that most of the country (except for the 25% that are teabaggers, racists, etc.) are up in arms about this is because there has been NO ARREST and because it appears that the initial investigation WAS SHODDY. This is not only about the horrific tragedy that led to the loss of a young life; it's about a lack of standard procedure in policing and the fact that a killer is walking free a month after murdering a young man. You can't really be that dense that you don't understand this.

D Klein| 3.29.12 @ 6:14PM

Con Chef, what exactly would be accomplished by wall-to-wall media coverage of the cases mentioned above? One case is concluded (or would be, if the presiding judge wasn't a drug abuser), the other is under active investigation.

The reason Martin's killing gained national attention (thanks to social media at first, not MSM) was the bungling actions of the local police and the failure to properly investigate the situation. That is the real issue in the Martin shooting, and it's why the media continues to report on it.

That's why the above cited cases aren't relevant. They're either concluded with successful prosecution of the perps or the suspects are still being sought by police. Unfortunately, heinous crime, whether interracial or not, is not by itself enough to warrant national attention.

The Bruce| 3.29.12 @ 6:47PM

Punj,

Zimmerman WAS arrested. He was later released.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayv.....3S6ai8a5v8

idalily| 3.30.12 @ 12:10AM

You keep saying things S L O W L Y, yet they still justify ignoring the most basic tenet of American jurisprudence: innocent until proven guilty. The investigation wasn't "shoddy" if Zimmerman was injured by Martin and shot him in self defense. In that case, why would he be arrested? Your logic is flawed.

The great Satan| 3.29.12 @ 12:22PM

A metric ton of factual evidence makes your assertion absurd.

Harry Nhadzack| 3.29.12 @ 1:18PM

The higher the committed crime rate, the more protected by the govt they are

Rad Manley| 3.29.12 @ 10:24AM

Donning that dainty little scarf that was given to him by Jackass in Communist Wisconsin sums up the inane and silly crux of Tucker's posit.

Norman Conquest| 3.29.12 @ 10:26AM

Hey William Tucker, tell it to Sharpton, Jackson, the black panthers and various deranged black members of Congress. Whites are getting tired of the double standard. Very tired.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:40PM

"Whites" are not getting tired of the injustice on display here. Only rednecks and racists like yourself are. Decent people across the country and the world understand that this is a tragedy and would like to see some kind of resolution.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 10:33AM

Two instances where private citizens IGNORED 911 operators & came out none the worse for ware:

Joe Horn of Texas, who shot & killed 2 men who were robbing his next door neighbor's house. He was acquitted by a grand jury:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhtRr4vwo6Q

And then there's Marcus Luttrell, a Navy Cross recipient, former SEAL & author of the book "Lone Survivor." He chased the 3 kids who shot his service dog, a yellow lab puppy who's name was an acronym for his 3 fallen team mates. He chased them through a couple of counties, if I'm not mistaken. And he was armed with TWO handguns. Here's HIS 911 call:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3UFIkqx3Jg

I can think of another case, this past Christmas, in North Carolina, where a kid was at home with his sister. Two men broke into the house, & the kid hid his sister in the closet & called 911. He told the operator he had a 12 gague with him & the operator advised him to put the gun down & wait for the cops. Then the suspects came into the room. Shortly after that, one suspect was a buckshot filled corpse & the other one was later captured.

There is no law saying that you MUST listen to the 911 operator's advice.

Stammon| 3.29.12 @ 12:17PM

I would no more pay attention to the 911 operator than I would Martin's mother. How many times do we have to hear the mother of a punk tell us how good and nice a boy he was. All of us love our children, but sometimes they get real stupid.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 12:32PM

Yeah, that always kills me. We always have to interview the mother of the hoodlum who got shot. And its not just in this case. It happens ALL the time.

Just like all other type of organized crime, those involved know the risks. You plays the game, you takes your chances, as the saying goes. You know who they NEVER interview? The poor black kids who buy it from a stray while walking home from school. Those kids with 3. something GPAs, are good athletes & who've stayed out of trouble are NEVER the one's you hear about. You never hear the mothers of babies who caught a stray in the head while Mom was walking a sibling to school. THOSE are the people I genuinely feel sorry for. NOT the gangbangers who's mothers wail & beat their chests about what a "good boy" their little hoodlum is.

This whole incident sounds like an episode of "The Wire."

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:41PM

Exactly right. I agree about Zimmerman's dad and his laughable account of what happened re: his loser son before/during/after the murder.

Indy| 3.29.12 @ 10:34AM

This is the worst piece I have read at TAS, I am happy to read other points of view but this is garbage.

“So now we're back to the situation where the federal government has to intervene against Southern racists” - excuse me, back this ridiculous statement with facts, this is 2012 not the 1960’s

“Seventy-five percent of the public thinks Zimmerman should be charged with something”
Did you not learn anything from the Duke Lacrosse case, the media and public “convicted” the players before the case was brought to trial? Recall the outcome, the players were found innocent and District Attorney Mike Nifong was disbarred.

What about due process and the presumption of innocence have the facts been presented to the public? Please sir, state all of the facts in your piece so we can be informed. Mr. Zimmerman has been advised by his attorneys not to speak about the case so there is much we don’t know. Zimmerman may or may not be guilty, let the judicial process work, Governor Scott and the State AG have taken action and the case is under review, we don’t need Eric Holder stepping in.

I’ve been following this story and have found two bloggers who are trying to find facts. Readers can check them out if interested. It appears to me they have done far more work on this that Mr. Tucker

Excerpt from Tom Maguire’s latest post
“Example “Mr. Zimmerman made those 46 phone calls between Jan 2004 and the present, not Jan 2011. That misinformation has been widely broadcast but also somewhat widely debunked (by NPR!); the Sanford website has them all, with dates.”
http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/

Professor Jacobson, an attorney has a great blog –
“Perhaps readers can help me with this. There are two points which have been universally accepted as true in the media, but I have not been able to find evidence in the police and other records released by the City of Sanford.
1. Skittles and Ice Tea… What is the source of this fact that Skittles and a bottle of ice tea were found with Martin?
2. Hoody. …What is the source of this fact that Zimmerman found the wearing of a hoody suspicious?
I would appreciate reader input on this, and if readers identify the sources of these facts, I’ll update this post." http://legalinsurrection.com/2.....rtin-case/

ncatty| 3.29.12 @ 10:34AM

The thrust of the article is that the Republicans running for office should not jump into this controversy. I agree. Zimmerman is a Democrat.

johnd2| 3.29.12 @ 11:25AM

I sure HOPE that Zimmerman is a Democrat

Vic| 3.29.12 @ 12:54PM

Democrats are weasels and scared of using firearms. I think Zimmerman is a Republican or at the least a Republican leaning independent. He was policing a decent neighborhood which troublesome elements were fond of frequenting, with the implicit knowledge of law enforcers in Sanford. I am not sure when we as a country will be able to rid ourselves of forced political correctness. To keep ourselves safe we have to profile muslims for terror and Blacks for crime. Welcome to reality!

ncatty| 3.29.12 @ 1:39PM

Zimmerman IS a registered Democrat. I don't know if he voted for Obama.

H Abdullah Shabazz| 3.29.12 @ 10:37AM

What a howl.
I thought journalists were dumb, but this guy takes the cake

"Let's go over the facts"...........
Mr Zimmerman "is specifically told by the operator not to pursue the kid any further....."

Not quite.
He was told by the 911 operator: "We dont need you to do that" From the written transcripts of the 911 call.

Look, I'm not saying this reporter was twisting the facts. I'm just saying he cant read.

Slim| 3.29.12 @ 11:12AM

I think that Zimmerman stays on the phone (same phone conversation) with that 911 operator and they talk more for another few minutes, right?

I think they do. And at no point does the operator again say anything to disuade what Zimmerman is doing. In fact, just the opposite. The 911 operator's voice indicates a real appreciation for what Zimmerman is doing as it is obvioius that, one one point, Zimmerman is trying to keep track of the unknown person (T. Martin) because previous trespassers and troublemakers in this housing area had fled and not been apprehended for questioning -- as the police never were getting there swiftly enough.

But my point: Zimmerman's phone conversation with this 911 operator continues for awhile after she says, "We don't need you to do that." She hears him get out of his car. She hears him walking along, and they are talking. She, in fact, asks him for more information of what he is observing and where he is going on foot.

Someone post a link for this. Obviously not just Mr. Tucker, but a whole host of people need to see/hear this. Everyone seems to have a very incomplete grasp of what has been publicly released on this in the last 48 hours. I'd take the time to find that audio/transcript link and post it, but I gotta get to work.

albert constantine jr.| 3.29.12 @ 10:41AM

When I started this post, there were 12 comments. Its up to 44 and climbing now.

I don’t think that I can pass by this article today without commenting extensively. Once again, Mr. Tucker has mounted his elite horse, and purports to tell the common folk how they should think or feel about something. Please allow me to offer my observations.

Not having been present on the scene in Sanford last month, it is difficult to determine if the local PD were correct not to arrest George Zimmerman on the spot. In the video from the sally port, he appears to be in cuffs, which is certainly reasonable under the circumstances. Had they also charged him at the time, and the facts supported the self-defense claim as strongly as some are reporting now, they would be subject to the valid criticism of their rush to judge this civic minded Hispanic man who was only trying to protect his community; in the process got his nose broken and head smashed repeatedly on the ground and then was further subjected to the deprivation of his liberty and the indignities of arrest and incarceration along with the legal expenses of his defense.

Certainly, I have not heard anything that suggests that communication by the police and District Attorney’s Office with the Trayvon Martin’s family as well as the public could not have been better. If a proper investigation revealed that there was no probable cause to charge George Zimmerman under the circumstances, it should have been revealed. It is in this regard, I believe, that Mr. Tucker’s thesis (that we should leave crime fighting to the police or the criminal justice system) breaks down.

As I’ve noted in some previous posts, I’ve been working in law enforcement for more than a quarter of a century. Though working primarily in the parole & probation field, I’ve worked with and been trained by the FBI, DEA, ATF, state police and many local agencies. I started working in the prisons, and was assigned for several years to committees making decisions on whether to prosecute cases at a state or federal level, as well as supervised programs dealing directly with Judges in their sentencing and oversight of offenders. I’ve also participated as a board member on groups where citizens gave input on how criminal justice dollars were spent and how attention was given to their community.

As a result of this range of experience, I think I have had the opportunity to view the criminal justice system from start to finish. I have concluded for the most part that we are not very good at providing customer service, with the customer being both the taxpaying public at large, or a specific victim. Left to our own devices, most of the separate components of our justice system, and many of the individuals working therein would make decisions and design programs that either eases their own burdens or otherwise benefit themselves, rather than improve public safety.

I recall attending a public meeting in a crime ridden neighborhood a decade ago, where area residents were asking for increased police attention to quality of life crimes. I recognized a number of the complaining members of the community as convicted criminals whom I had been involved in arresting or supervising in the past. The police representatives, rather than develop strategies to respond to those issues where it could have an impact in reducing disruptive activity, instead chose to argue that crime statistics showed that crime was down, so they had nothing to worry about.

When the agencies that are supposed to protect the public are not meeting that need, another market will develop. This takes many forms, such as neighborhood watches at a local level, or the Minutemen on the border. Other times, less legitimate responses will follow, such as New Black Panther Party bounties for the dead or alive capture of a person who has not been charged with any crime, or unbalanced moviemakers broadcasting the incorrect addresses of purported wrongdoers in order that followers can “reach out and touch” him..

Ultimately, communities get the kind of government (including a criminal justice system) that they deserve. As Americans, we elected Obama (though certainly not with my vote), and we got the race baiting Holder Department of Justice, who passed on even civil prosecution of the New Black Panther Party. It does not seem likely that the Civil Rights Division of the USDOJ possesses the talent or temperament to inject justice into this circumstance.

Hopefully, the Florida state investigation will not only get the conclusion correct, but will communicate it in a transparent fashion. A review of all of the relevant evidence should support whether Trayvon Martin was a wannabe thug who died a thug’s death, or if George Zimmerman was the wannabe racist vigilante that Mssrs. Tucker, Sharpton, Jackson, Lee and the New Black Panther Party as portray him, or at some point between those poles.

Meanwhile, Eric Holder, your nation of cowards is having its conversation on race. How do you like it, jackass?

WRTolkas| 3.29.12 @ 11:51AM

Dear Mr. Constantine,

Thank you for writing this most excellent commentary. With your background and talent you expressed what I fumble to try to write:

"A review of all of the relevant evidence should support whether Trayvon Martin was a wannabe thug who died a thug’s death, or if George Zimmerman was the wannabe racist vigilante that Mssrs. Tucker, Sharpton, Jackson, Lee and the New Black Panther Party as portray him, or at some point between those poles."

Bravo.

W| 3.29.12 @ 12:09PM

Albert
I agree with your comment.

My experience has been the if there is a shooting the police usually file criminal charges against the shooter, and then the shooter has to defend on self defense or other defenses.

In a fight without a gun the police usually file charges against both, and at the preliminary hearing the two combatants, now defendants, become the best of friends with neither testifying, hence no case, or both agree to drop charges or one agrees to pay for the "medical" expenses of the injured party.

However, I have also seen cases where the police, after review with the DA, do not file criminal charges after a killing because the facts clearly show self defense. In this case, I do not know if the police reviewed it with the DA to decide on not filing charges. They should have and the DA should have explained why no charges were filed instead of letting the police hang out to dry.

Now there is a special prosecutor. Special prosecutors usually file charges.

albert constantine jr.| 3.29.12 @ 1:43PM

Twenty years ago I was assigned a case of an offender convicted in another state of felonious assault. Before he ever reported, his wife (a local tattoo artist) shot him to death during a domestic dispute. No arrest or charges were ever filed, as apparently all evidence supported her self defense narrative.

In a related note, I have yet to hear reported if the break-ins in the gated community have continued or dropped off in the month since the shooting.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 10:46AM

Trayvon Martin was a tresspasser and got what he deserved. To all those Blacks, get the f***k out Florida. FL will defend the Second Amendment and the "Stand Your Ground" rule.

Todd S| 3.29.12 @ 11:00AM

Bill, you are clearly a racist and you are not welcome here. I disagree with Tucker's article because some of the assertions he makes are ridiculous and Obama knew exactly what he was doing with his comment about Trayton looking like his son (community organizing lingo to agitate) but you just hate black people in general.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 11:31AM

I'm the grand-grandson of a Confederate soldier, who was killed in the civil war defending our freedom and the constitution. All those Black bustards, get the f***k out of my homestate FL. I love America, and I ain't no racist!

Bob Grant| 3.29.12 @ 11:53AM

Bill,

Two questions:

How much do they pay you to seminar blog?

And is it more than what you would get occupying wall street, the Supreme Court steps, or voting illegally?

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 1:40PM

I'm a true patriot.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 2:04PM

You're a "true" bigot. Get lost, false flagger.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 2:41PM

You're on parole for child molestation and rape.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 3:17PM

You've said this so much, I'm beginning to think you're projecting.

Nick| 3.29.12 @ 8:53PM

"That nigger lover President Clinton had the pen and vetoed so many good bills passed by the Gingrich-led Congress."
- Written by Bill the Bigot, in the Time for Newt to Do the Honorable Thing thread:

http://spectator.org/archives/.....ent_749403

You're a moron and a racist, Bigot Bill.
GO AWAY!

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 5:57PM

Wow! Awesome! A real live Confederate! How exciting; can you please sing dixie for us or post a picture in your best pressed whites? Your kind of "South will rise again" style of racist is dying out; I'd love to have some kind of keepsake or story to show or tell my grandkids about.

Thanks,
the real America

albert constantine jr.| 3.29.12 @ 11:33AM

An alternative explanation might be that he posts provocative statements like that to find people who might agree, and then have others try to discredit the responders as racists. In either event, I think your instinct regarding welcome is well heeded.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 1:41PM

The First amendment.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 2:05PM

Which does not apply to private entities, such as this website.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 2:40PM

You're a sex addict.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 3:17PM

More projection.

2Anglico| 3.29.12 @ 11:34AM

Bill is an "agent provocateur".

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 11:58AM

BINGO! Bill is a false flag troll. He's written gems like THIS before as well:

"That ni**er lover President Clinton had the pen and vetoed so many good bills passed by the Gingrich-led Congress."

http://spectator.org/archives/.....ent_749403

Cue "Con Chef is a pedophile" nonsensical response. Hey Bill, do we Jews need to leave as well?

W| 3.29.12 @ 12:11PM

"Bill" is a seminar lefty blogger trying to pollute this site

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 12:35PM

Exactly, my friend. And he's been doing so for quite some time. And every time I see his racist bile, I will post his comment & the link to it, just as Brother Nick does.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 1:43PM

The First amendment.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 1:42PM

Con Chef is a sexual predator and is on parole. Who cares about a convicted child molester like Con Chef.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 2:06PM

So when are you going to post proof of your assertions or your real name so I can sue your ass for slander. I have YOUR words to back up my assertion of you as a bigot. You have NOTHING.

W| 3.29.12 @ 2:30PM

ConChef
Because you posted your name and email on this site, and Bill is a regular poster that knows it, his charges are defamatory per se because he is accusing you of a crime. You can obtain his email and ip adress of his computer from AmSpec, and you can sue his lefty ass here in Pa. And if he is being paid by some lefty outfit to pollute this site, then you can sue them also and collect from them.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 3:18PM

Sounds like a good idea. I'll shoot you an email about it.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 6:03PM

Just for the record, I'm not that Bill. I'm my own Bill. I post here pretty regularly too. I don't think I make racist remarks, although I do make remarks about racial issues. I'm the guy who has never had anything to do with elite military organizations or special operations. Although I am a "five-jump Johnny" and am therefore airborne-qualified.

MikeG| 3.29.12 @ 8:40PM

Change your handle.

Bill| 3.30.12 @ 10:18AM

No.

Bill| 3.30.12 @ 10:23AM

At least, I WAS airborne-qualified 45 years ago. Not anymore.

SUBVET| 3.29.12 @ 11:56AM

Todd you assume Bill is a racist by his comment may I add Bill might be tired of the current delema we as a nation are facing. Along with all of the problems we face now.....the race card is played by an administration that sees "they" are loosing the battle. You can tell "they" are worried they have pulled all the stops.

This is nothing wait untill this summer I hope everyone here is prepaired.....and Mr. Tucker don't try and jump into my foxhole especially if your wearing a hoodie.

Todd S| 3.29.12 @ 12:16PM

What he said was clearly racist, don't make excuses for racism.

The great Satan| 3.29.12 @ 12:36PM

I'm sorry, I don't seem to be able to perceive the nuance separating Bill's comment from everyone else's.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 6:18PM

There's a difference, not noticed enough, between remarks that are racialist and remarks that are racist.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 12:37PM

SUBVET:

I've always enjoyed reading your posts. However, Bill is nothing more than a false flagger who posts his fake conservative crap on this site, lacing it with racist tripe. See link above. This is par for the course for this guy.

albert constantine jr.| 3.29.12 @ 1:32PM

I concur regarding this Bill. Stand by to be called a child molester, now.

albert constantine jr.| 3.29.12 @ 1:45PM

It apparently only took 10 minutes.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 1:45PM

Con Chef is a serial rapist. Watch out! Women should be alerted of Con Chef's sexual fantasy.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 2:07PM

"That ni**er lover President Clinton had the pen and vetoed so many good bills passed by the Gingrich-led Congress."

http://spectator.org/archives/.....ent_749403

Here's MY proof. Where's your's? Oh, that's right. You don't have any. Get bent, false flagger.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 2:38PM

Check out with the DA, providing evidence that Con Chef molested children and raped women.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 3:19PM

POST your proof. Or suffer the consequences.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 6:04PM

Just to repeat; I am not that Bill.

SUBVET| 3.29.12 @ 4:09PM

10-4 CHEF......

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 6:19PM

Just for the record, I am not that Bill. I don't think I've EVER accused anyone of being a child molester. I've sometimes accused people of being wrong or mistaken, that I admit.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 6:01PM

Judging from your difficulty with spelling, you're likely a junior high drop out, so I don't blame you for not understand the nuance of Tucker's article, the complexity of racial issues in this country, or even the conversations going on here among your intellectual betters who clearly see that what Bill has said is racist. I encourage you to try to get your GED and perhaps do some traveling; the world is much bigger and more textured than what you've been led to believe by those who've hoodwinked you. Good luck!

C. S. P. Schofield| 3.29.12 @ 10:50AM

While I agree that Zimmerman seems to have been looking for trouble, and to have found it, I would point out that the "Call the police and let them handle it" mantra presumes that the Police are dependable, quick to act, etc.. It echos the "you don't need a gun for home defense, you have the police" argument that even minor investigation proves to be so much eyewash. It weakens your argument.

Unreliable police| 3.29.12 @ 11:30AM

I'm not so certain -- as you are --- that Mr. Zimmerman was "looking for trouble."

As to police dependability, the American Thinker had a really good article about a 67 year old Berkeley, California man now dead quite possibly because the Berkeley police took their sweet time to arrive at this man's nice neighborhood home to respond to two 911 phone calls.

Neighbors are so upset they are trying to get a police inquiry going. The response time was something like 45 - 55 minutes when the police could have been to this man's home in less than 12-14 minutes.

The man was bludgeoned to death.

The article: http://www.americanthinker.com.....hills.html

(Note: I now read the American Thinker pages more because their articles are better. This Tucker article today is abysmal.)

Todd S| 3.29.12 @ 11:59AM

Tucker should stick to what he knows which is energy, he is clearly out of his depth on this issue and wants to take the imaginary middle ground instead of taking the facts as they come. To say because he was carrying a gun he clearly intended to use it is outrageous really, does he not believe in the 2nd amendment? It makes sense that if you are watching a neighborhood against crime against criminals who may be armed themselves, you should have protection. Now there is a report that Trayton said he was going to kill him and was slamming his head on the pavement. If that account is true, then deadly self defense is clearly justified.

WG| 3.29.12 @ 10:55AM

Mr. Tucker,
Your commentary lacks many of the details that others have reported. These details matter a great deal as a matter of law and thus make your commentary more a statement about you and your virtuous opinion rather than any attempt at legal analysis. From this commentary it appears that you know little of the actual case facts, nothing of the Florida law of self-defense, and a rather repellent view that polls substitute for a court in determining who was right.

From the piece meal facts that keep dribbling out, no one knows right now what happened that night except perhaps Mr. Zimmerman and whatever eyewitnesses exist. The accused may be guilty of something or he may not be. Unfortunately, many writers, including Mr. Tucker, about this tragedy are working from a few facts that confirm their personal opinions and ignoring contrary evidence. Thus, Mr. Tucker, you shouldn't be commenting on this matter any more than Mr. Gingrich or Mr. Obama according to your standard. It seems that you are assuming that Zimmerman is a Vigilante in accordance with your prior book and that Treyvon is the victim.

Some sort of hearing will probably occur, if only because Florida law demands a hearing before a judge to establish probable cause for an arrest in self defense cases. Then, witnesses will be under oath, evidence will be introduced, and we will know something more about that night. That is what matters.

Craig| 3.29.12 @ 2:00PM

Yep. What I don't understand is why Mr. Tucker entitled the piece "Count Me Out on Trayvon Martin", then proceeded to write two pages counting himself in. Pieces like this have little to do with the matter at hand and everything to do with the arrogance of the writer to put themselves in the spotlight. Unfortunately Mr. Tucker embarrasses himself by chastising others for speaking up or not knowing the facts while he thrusts himself into the argument and proceeds to make up his own facts. The only "lesson driven home" here is that even a great site (on most days) like the A.S. is willing to give ill informed, arrogant writers undue attention.

Bob Grant| 3.29.12 @ 10:56AM

Mr. Tucker,

What you fail to understand is this is more of a criticism on media than a story about race.

The tone of the coverage and obvious bias is what people on the right are discussing, not necessarily the racial aspects.

The mainsstream media will make this a national debate on race and gun laws whether you like it or not.

The republicans will have no choice to respond. The questi0n is not whether republicans should spent time addressing the issue but in what context.

P.S. I find it ironic that you criticize republicans getting involved but most of your article is about opinion based on unsubstantiated facts.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 6:03PM

Umm, I beg to differ. Take a look at the comments section of any story on this tragedy posted on a right wing site and then come back and assert that this is not about race.

idalily| 3.30.12 @ 12:16AM

It is about race. For liberals. As usual.

The rest of us don't give a rip what color anyone is.

MikeN| 3.29.12 @ 10:59AM

Perhaps Mr Tucker should read more of the Spectator site. The article on Media Matters is instructive. Barack Obama's comments were not a a throwaway line. They were planned ahead of time by Mr Teleprompter., and perhaps even the question was planted. This story was being pushed by liberals, and it fits the White House plan to rile up the base, and have independents vote for Obama to show how they are different from the Florida racists.

Caped Crusader| 3.29.12 @ 11:00AM

You can definitely depend on 911 operators to always give the correct advice, as on 9/11/2001 when they advised everyone in the Twin Towers to "stay where you are, help from the government is on the way". If this bozo had been there and obeyed we would not be hearing this drivel!

Purple-Lipped Mongrel| 3.29.12 @ 11:18AM

Ok Mr. Tucker, you've flaunted your liberal bonafides and proud we all are of you. Now, a few questions:

If blacks are NOT selling their votes for welfare checks and food stamps, WHY do they stay in substandard urban housing, send their children to substandard urban schools and live in urban neighborhoods rife with murder, drugs, rape and prostitution?

WHY do 50% of Blacks read at or below the 5th grade reading level?

WHY are blacks only 12% of the population but nearly 50% of the prison population?

WHY are blacks only 12% of the population but commit nearly 40% of the murders?

WHY are blacks only 12% of the population but 40% of Welfare Cases?

SUBVET| 3.29.12 @ 12:02PM

PLM.......the answer is simple this is what the liberals want they use it both ways to advance their agenda.

Nick| 3.29.12 @ 8:58PM

http://spectator.org/archives/.....ent_749403

You're a moron and a racist, Bigot Bill.
GO AWAY!

somnolence| 3.29.12 @ 11:18AM

I agree with Mr. Pennell. Zimmerman may have been wrong to not pay any attention to the police when he continued to trail Martin, but the assault upon his person wasn't the way for Martin to respond either. A broken nose is nothing to sneeze at.

somnolence| 3.29.12 @ 11:21AM

My father told me from an early age if I ever felt I was going to be severely injured in a fight to pick up the nearest weapon available, i.e. a brick bat for instance, and use it effectively. Just so happened a gun took the place of a brick bat for Zimmerman(who certainly was overzealous, but that isn't the point).

Hard to fake that squeal| 3.29.12 @ 11:40AM

Whomever is squealing like a half butchered pig on that audio tape is not squealing for an audition in some dusty, cheap theater production.

If that is Zimmerman's voice we hear on that audio recording, he is squealing for his life.

This is beyond just a broken nose. Way beyond that.

Are you really so sure about that "overzealous?" Sure, we'd love for the shooter Zimmerman to be so calm and cool that he only shoots Martin in the thigh of his left leg.

But, in Zimmerman's mind, it could we be that he thinks he has about another 10 - 20 seconds before he is pounded to death.

Might Martin's fingerprints be on that gun? If so, what might that tell us?

2Anglico| 3.29.12 @ 11:26AM

Tucker, I'm sure the cops in your neighborhood say NEVER confront a criminal and NEVER intervene BECAUSE NOBODY IN NEW YORK CAN LEGALLY CARRY A FIREARM!!!!!!!!!!
So, ONLY THE CRIMINALS CARRY FIREARMS. The more I read your article the more obvious it becomes that you are a typical gun-hating liberal. Did you even read your own article?
Here is a suggestion: Read the book "More Guns Less Crime" by John Lott, then get back to us.
BTW, Zimmerman's father, a retired Judge, fills in a lot of gaps in his interview if you want to inform yourself, which I doubt.

Tags| 3.29.12 @ 11:35AM

It's easy to agree with your frustration at Republicans' jumping into a can't-win battle. But how can you defend Obama's naked race-rabble-rousing remark? He was clearly trying to identify himself with the victim and create a racist-America narrative that will serve his re-election. Indefensible.

SUBVET| 3.29.12 @ 12:07PM

Tags.......BINGO the muslim is going down and he knows it so "they" are all in we know his cards and he can't win the hand.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 6:10PM

You people are just abysmally stupid and/or paranoid. Obama wasn't "trying to identify himself with the victim and create a racist America narrative." He was expressing empathy to the parents. If you don't understand that, you're basically a hopeless human being.

Beyond that, it's just sheer stupidity to suggest that this will somehow "serve his re-election". How so? I bet in rightwingistan, the idea is that this is about appealing to Afr-Am voters. NEWSFLASH: Afr-Ams overwhelmingly vote democratic in presidential elections and will be doing so until the right purges all the crypto and neo racists from its ranks. Unfortunately for you, Latinos are increasingly in this category as well (i.e. won't vote for anti-Hispanic bigots).

idalily| 3.30.12 @ 12:20AM

What Obama said was inappropriate. Period. The facts were not yet known (and still aren't). He DELIBERATELY involved himself to shore up his base for re-election. It's called race warfare and he's a master at it. He is a divider, not a leader. He needs to go.

Conrad| 3.29.12 @ 11:41AM

From the article: "Not the kind of situation the shooter is likely to walk away from without some kind of investigation, right? But no, the Sanford police choose to take Zimmerman's story at face value. . . . It's an ambiguous situation where it would be nice to have a judge and jury decide. But the police decide to accept Zimmerman's story and he walks. It doesn't seem very logical."

Perhaps because it's not very true? The police DID take Zimm into custody and DID investigate the shooting. They just decided, along with prosecutors, that they didn't have enough at that time to charge him with a crime. So he may have "walked" THAT NIGHT but there's no assurance whatsoever that he won't still be indicted or charged with a crime.

Unless Zimmerman flees the jurisdiction (which he obviously hasn't), what is the point of blaming the police for not IMMEDIATELY charging him and throwing him in jail?

It sounds like Tucker is making knee-jerk assumptions about the appropriate outcome of this case out of a craven desire to appear in step with the sentiments of a lynch-mob.

martin j smith| 3.29.12 @ 11:43AM

My Conclusion is Mr Tucker is from way beyond my solar system and if I see another article like this from or anyone else I will vomit metaphorically speaking. And Mr Tucker is not some one who is a Conservative he is a Socialist supporting the Race Baiting System.

Charity| 3.29.12 @ 11:44AM

BRAVO ! Ready to move on and let those who were not chosen "come to the aid of their party".

mzk1| 3.29.12 @ 11:46AM

Not all neighborhood watches are like this. The Orthodox community in Baltimore has one of the best in the country, because one of the main rules is "stay in the car". One of the cars has a police officer in it. No wannabe cops, just a bunch of family people (including some local rabbis) putting in their once-every-seven-weeks.

Joey| 3.29.12 @ 11:48AM

Has Tucker been sleeping for 4 straight days?I heard yesterday that there were 6 witnesses on the police report, released a couple of days ago, and all state Martin was the aggressor.

gs425| 3.29.12 @ 11:48AM

"....and is specifically told by the operator not to pursue the kid any further. "

NO HE IS NOT "TOLD". Stop parroting that lie. "we do not need you to do that" is neither an instruction to stop nor is it a lawful order.

Sean Smith | 3.29.12 @ 11:51AM

Agree completely. There are only a few relevant facts here, and none of them have anything to do with "stand your ground." Stand your ground means there's no legal duty to first attempt to flee before using deadly force when you've been assaulted in a place you have a legal right to be. It has nothing to do with the use of deadly force when you yourself have created the situation that leads to the confrontation. You're not, in other words, allowed to use deadly force once you find you're losing a fight that you started. That's true in all states, whether they're so-called "duty to flee" states or "stand your ground" states. Of course, with the Revs. Al and Jesse on the case, the chance of any real facts coming out at this point are virtually nil.

idalily| 3.30.12 @ 12:24AM

So, I don't have the right to follow someone? I take it that in your world view it's perfectly ok to beat up private investigators, smash their heads into the pavement and break their noses?

Frank Natoli| 3.29.12 @ 11:53AM

There seem to be two large groups of people who have decided to fry Zimmerman. One group needs only know that the dead guy is black and the live guy is not. The other group needs only know that the live guy is a "cop wannabe". Think of all the time and money that could be saved if only the laws were written with these simple criteria!

JohnS| 3.29.12 @ 11:53AM

You said "count me out..." I have. You are as opinionated as the race baiters and as willing to jump in as those that you criticize for doing the same.

Bill X| 3.29.12 @ 11:54AM

This story was inaccurate enough to be a liberal news media story. Martin attacked Zimmerman. Broke his nose. Slammed his head into the pavement. Zimmerman shot him in self-defense.

Nixonfan| 3.29.12 @ 11:55AM

The Democrats are playing the race card. They seek to racialize the 2012 elections. That would work in South Africa or Zimbabwe, but not in a country that is 75% white.

dede| 3.29.12 @ 1:00PM

Regrettable, playing the race card works really well in America. White liberal guilt and a social need to demonstrate tolerance by voting for the black candidate is a phenomenon tapped perfectly by the Obama campaign

The great Satan| 3.29.12 @ 11:56AM

Well, imagine that. A Spectator author I can agree with.

SUBVET| 3.29.12 @ 12:09PM

Your the reson we don't live in paradise......slither back under your rock.

George F.| 3.29.12 @ 11:58AM

Why are so many people already making judgements when the facts aren't all in? Yesterday the Trayvon investigation leaked that there are witnesses to the incident who say the teenager attacked the neighborhood watch guy, knocked him down, broke his nose and banged his head on the ground before he was shot. That changes your view doesn't it? Let's wait until ALL the facts are in before we judge.

1ConservativeUSA| 3.29.12 @ 12:00PM

Now that more facts have come out, only 48% of the people believe Zimmerman should be arrested.

Obviously, this is a large percentage drop from the original 73%. It is obviously, now, a non-majority. This will be ignored by the irresponsible, dangerous, race baiting left wing media.

None of us were there, which means none of us know the truth. Still, it sure seems there are many experts in this case.

Still a 17 year old kid is dead, a tragedy for sure. And, a man must now live his life knowing his shot killed another human.

Adding to the sadness is the speed and zeal of the exploitation by our president, where he politicized and racialized this event for his own purposes.

Obama and his ideology profits from tragic events like these. He prays for them, waits for them, then pounces on them.

Obama's success depends upon bringing out the worst in us.

Regardless of color, sex, religion, etc., Americans are unsafe under president Obama.

Powell| 3.29.12 @ 12:46PM

1Conservative wrote, "Still a 17 year old kid is dead, a tragedy for sure."

Sorry, I am going to say it again. Just because a 17 year old is dead does not make it a tragedy.

If everyone would stop and think and examine crimes in places like Miami, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Baltimore, New Orleans, you'd see plenty of "teens" committing atrocities that are beyond belief. How about our border towns with Mexico. Have you noted what 15, 16, and 17 year old "boys" are doing there?

Somebody above refers to the two high school teens (a junior and senior, I believe) who doused a freshman boy with gasoline and lit him on fire on the grounds of a Kansas City High School.

Sorry -- in my book, it is no tragedy when the two perpetrators are killed (death penalty) and removed from our society.

By the day I am convinced that what we are going to learn is that T. Martin of south Florida behaved in such a way that no one should be mourning his death.

Now is it a tragedy in America that we have these kinds of teens? YES IT IS!

But even, young as they are as they are not yet 20 years old, they make choices. Choices with consequences. If they choose evil, well, evil has consequences.

And that is not a tragedy. It is life as we have known it since Adam and Eve.

We need to stop fondling those who perpetrate evil in our midst.

Other than that one short sentence, I agree with the rest of your post in full.

Truth and Freedom| 3.29.12 @ 12:03PM

The facts in this case seem to be different reported by the local media as compared to the national media.

Police: Zimmerman says Trayvon decked him with one blow then began hammering his head

http://articles.orlandosentine.....k-teenager

Seth Berkowitz| 3.29.12 @ 12:05PM

I don't know how I ended up getting emails from American Spectator. I'm a liberal Democrat and a fervent supporter of President Obama for re-election. I guess I read something on this site one day and somehow ended up on your email list and now I get links every day. I enjoy reading some of the stuff. Nice to see what the other side thinks. Reading this article, I can't help thinking that if some of your leaders had the common sense the author does, I might actually be worried about our chances in November. Then I read some of the moronic comments and I stop worrying.

Paul| 3.29.12 @ 12:08PM

Exactly.

While I'm not a fervent Obama supporter because he's been such a disappointment to me, I do worry that he could be replaced by a truly crazy republican. But when I read American Spectator and see the intellectual level of your standard republican, it does make me rest easy.

In this case, the article made a sensible point, and the republican base here are reflexively howling their disagreement with all manner of sense.

Julian| 3.29.12 @ 1:01PM

I agree. The Tucker article is at least cogently argued and betrays no evidence that its author foams at the mouth, which is more than I can say for most of the commentators.

Tarr| 3.29.12 @ 1:24PM

Au. Contraire. The "fervent Obama supporters" are squealing for the suspension of the rule of law and the imposition of a race based outcome.

The conservative base is waiting for the competent legal mechanisms to review the facts dispassionately .

Seth Berkowitz| 3.29.12 @ 2:37PM

Not really Tarr. I count myself among the fervent Obama supporters and I would just like to see a full investigation, if that's still possible in accordance with the law. I think that's what most of us (and many reasonable conservatives) want. I acknowledge that there are reasonable conservatives, but I'm not sure they are the base. I think the fanatics have become the base. Have you read some of these comments here?

Tarr| 3.29.12 @ 3:40PM

Yes, I see a similar ratio of reasonable to crackpot comments that I have seen on Left blogs. Visit the Boston Globe. Comment board when the question is homosexual marriage or a Roman Catholic church controversy. Unfettered rage and hate..

Julian| 3.30.12 @ 10:56AM

So, there is too much "unfettered rage and hate" being spewed out by bloggers from both extremes. I agree. A return to civil discussion and respectful disagreement is in order. Let's stat now.

mike siroky| 3.29.12 @ 5:03PM

Seth, I think it would be wise for you to keep worrying. I'm sure you were confident that Al Gore was going to win, then I'm sure you were confident that John Kerry was going to win, then I'm sure you were confident that Nancy Pelosi would be Speaker for a good long time, then I'm sure you are confident the Supreme Court will find that Obamacare is well within the enumerated powers of the federal government, because everyone you know and talk to thinks that it is so it must be so.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 12:05PM

When Joe Horn of Texas called 911 when he saw 2 men breaking into his next door neighbor's house, the 911 operator told him to put the shotgun down & wait for the cops. He decided he wasn't going to wait. He went into his from yard as the suspects were coming out & told them, "stop or you're dead." Then one of them came into Mr. Horn's yard, coming at him with a crowbar. Mr. Horn blasted the guy with his 12 gague. And he was acquitted by a grand jury in his case. I suspect that this case may very well have the same outcome.

""The supposed quietude of a good man allures the ruffian; while on the other hand, arms like laws, discourage and keep the invader and the plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property. The same balance would be preserved were all the world destitute of arms, for all would be alike; but since some will not, others dare not lay them aside... Horrid mischief would ensue were one half the world deprived of the use of them..."...Thomas Paine

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 6:07PM

Obviously, Mr. Horn is familiar with a couple of truths, namely (1) a handgun is what you use until you can get your hands on a long gun, and (2) the shotgun is the most devastating firearm for personal defense that we have developed so far.

fsilber| 3.29.12 @ 12:08PM

I agree with just about everything the author says. However, from reading the comments section on various web pages I _don't_ see conservatives "arguing against charging Zimmerman with anything."

What I do see from conservatives are arguments that Zimmerman _might_ not be a cold-blooded racist murderer and that his claim of self-defense _may_ be valid -- this in response to those who are calling for _his_ lynching. (Personally, I suspect that he is guilty of attempted false-arrest, at the very least.)

I agree that this is a matter for police investigation and perhaps prosecution, and am shocked with the prosecutors' suggestion to take Zimmerman's claims at face value because he's "not sure he could get a conviction."

However, facts about Traymon Martin which suggest the plausibility of Zimmerman's claims must be made public, and not just at trial. Otherwise, if the jury decides that it cannot convict Zimmerman we might see Rodney King-style rioting.

bill mcdonald| 3.29.12 @ 12:08PM

You make a few assumptions that give away your bias. At what point in time did the dispatcher suggest that Zimmerman not follow Ty.. and when did Zimmerman respond to that suggestion. Your assuming that he ignored the advice.. The facts aren't in on that issue!

MATT LITVAK| 3.29.12 @ 12:10PM

75% of the public thinks that Zimmerman should be charged?? 75% of the American public does not even deserve to vote since they uniformly fail to inform themselves of anything save for Kim Cardashian's crotch activities.

Your analysis of the facts is as bad as that of ABC.

Rita Dumais| 3.29.12 @ 12:12PM

Hmm? Islamists make women cover their heads, and even faces, and now we have “hoodies”? How appropriate that what we used to call “hoods” back in the day are now actually using cloth to cover their own heads.

For a different take on this stupidity between Zimmerman and Martin, read what Ann Coulter writes today.

People DO make choices, and that’s the essential truth. Despite all the analyses about humans in America with enough African DNA to result in their having a dark pallor, and thereby choosing to consider themselves “black”, the true shame is the seemingly intransigent liberal plantation—to wit, the black American culture.

Trayvon Martin is ONE person. Kobe Bryant is ONE person. The real people among us, captured in all the statistics concerning black American high school dropout rates, numbering in the tens of millions OR MORE, should be the real story.

Those who choose to be born black in America in 2012, with no influence or DNA from whites, live their impressionable youth in a culture that is perfect as a way to produce thugs.

Just ask yourself--- what if Obama’s father had NOT married a WHITE woman, and instead the typical black American woman living in the ghetto. Oh, yeah. That’s just about the typical way most American blacks ARE created, except instead of a Nigerian black for a father, they “get to” have an American version.

Rotten choices logically result in lousy outcomes.

Bill in Indy| 3.29.12 @ 12:13PM

So you are making a judgement by saying he should be charged with something, being at least some sort of manslaughter, when he may be telling the truth. What if YOU were on neighborhood watch, you follow someone, you see that it is just what you perceive as a harmless kid, but when you walk away, you are blindsidedly attacked. You have a gun and you use it to defend yourself. You should be charged with something?

My secretary's husband was attacked here in Indy when he moved a teenager's bike out of the street and said "your bike could get runover". He is one of the nicest people I have ever met and is not capable of hurting anyone. He had to have several surgeries on his face as he was beaten nearly to death. Even if he had a gun, he probably would not have used it, but it would have been within his right.

All I am saying is that these things DO happen, people are attacked and have a right to defend themselves, and that MAY be what this guy did. If we learn otherwise, then he should be dealt with appropriately, but not convicted by you or anyone based upon perceptions.

idalily| 3.30.12 @ 12:27AM

THIS. Thank you for some sanity and common sense.

Tim Williams| 3.29.12 @ 12:13PM

I agree with your point that people without the facts shouldn't be commenting, and that emphatically includes you.

"Let's go over the facts. A 17-year-old black kid who's visiting in an Orlando suburb goes to the corner for a snack at halftime of an NBA All-Star Game."

Nope. He didn't watch one minute of that game. I don't know where this "fact" came from, but it is easily verified to be untrue. Is it relevant? I don't know - but it should be included in a summary of the "facts."

"On his way back he is spotted by one George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old self-appointed neighborhood crime watcher who decides Martin looks suspicious, apparently because he's never seen the kid before."

We don't know where Martin was coming from or what he was doing. Zimmerman was not "self-appointed" but was chosen by neighbors.

"Zimmerman calls 911, says he's following someone he thinks may be a burglar, and is specifically told by the operator not to pursue the kid any further."

He did not call 911. He called the non-emergency number.

"He ignores this instruction, gets out of his truck and starts following Martin on foot. Zimmerman is inept enough so that the kid soon realizes he is being pursued."

He said "okay" to the suggestion, and remained on the line almost two more minutes during which he made clear he could no longer see "this kid."

"He calls his father's home and tells them some strange guy is shadowing him."

He called his girlfriend, not his father or his father's house.

"What happened next is under dispute."

True. But what is not under dispute is your list of facts - all of which are factually false.

Phil Byler| 3.29.12 @ 12:14PM

The author Mr. Tucker is way off base here. What Newt said about the Trayvon Martin case was quite worthwhile. Newt criticized Obama for making the case about race and stirring up racial anomosities, that it was just as much a tragedy if the victim had been white or Asian or Hispanic. The emphasis on race has been a problem with the Obama Administration, as seen for one example in the voter intimidation case of the Black Panthers.

The notion that if Newt and Santorum got out of the GOP Presidential race that the Presidential race of Romney against Obama could then focus on important issues is misconceived. It has been Newt who has pressed Obama on energy policy and specifically the price of gas, and Obama has been forced to respond. Energy policy is an important issue, isn't it? Also, right now the focus is on health care, indisputably another important issue. If Romney is left in the GOP race, what is the campaign discussion? It is Obama saying that RomneyCare provided the blueprint for ObamaCare (which it did) and Romney saying that RomneyCare was all right at the state level but not the national level. So socialized medicine at the state level is OK for the Republican candidate (Romney), while the Democrat candidate (Obama) calls for continuation of socialized medicine at the national level. Does anyone think that is a winning situation for the Republicans?

Chris| 3.29.12 @ 12:16PM

The Statute[s] speak for themselves! He [Zimmerman] didn't have to retreat.

He did so by attempting to return to his truck when HE WAS ATTACKED, and forced to defend himself.

In fear of HIS LIFE/LIMB HE SHOT his ATTACKER DEAD. SURE LOOKS LIKE A "JUSTIFIABLE " SHOOTING TO ME.

NO ONE IN THE WORLD, OR IN ANY COURT OF LAW WILL BE ABLE TO TESTIFY AS TO WHAT WAS IN Zimmerman's mind at the time he pulled the trigger, no more than I or anyone else can read this Author's mind at this precise momment!

Therefore, HE WILL NOT BE CHARGED, let alone convicted of any crime.

A prosecuting attorney must evaluate his ability to "convict" any lawbreaker. In this case the "Scales Of Justice" are empty on the prosector's side.

The evidence of the many "Witnesses" statements [ including the Police at trial] in support of Zimmerman are far greater for putting 12 "In Te Box" any time, any where, and the Prosecutor knows, Zimmerman WILL WALK! End Of Story!

Rich Fisher| 3.29.12 @ 12:19PM

Bill, I don't disagree with much of what you said but I do wonder why you forgot to mention that the New Black Panthers have offered a "bounty" for Zimmerman. First off, the police know where he is so he is not a fugitive from the law. Second, he has not been charged as yet so has no reason to be available to anyone. Third, since when is it okay for a private group to offer a "bounty" in this case code for "body" on a person who has not been charged with anything. As usual the only legitimate outcome here, according to the blacks who will riot in the streets, is if Zimmerman is arrested, convicted and executed. Anything less just couldn't be justice. You are rather one sided in your umbrage. How about an article on the New Black Panthers to balance your rant on the Right.

tom| 3.29.12 @ 12:22PM

Sounds like you have already tried this case on the internet Billy

Gary B| 3.29.12 @ 12:26PM

Mr. Tucker said, "Seventy-five percent of the public thinks Zimmerman should be charged with something."

Well, hell... Let's string him up.

As for Gingrich calling out The Muslim for his race-hustling remarks, why the hell not? The Marxist liar started it with his inappropriate remarks.

Here's an idea: How 'bout we let the cops and prosecutor finish their investigation?

Zak Klemmer | 3.29.12 @ 12:26PM

Why the rush to judgement? Wait for a complete investigation; hopefully there will be a "complete unbiased investigation." Obama has the most to loose by becoming a loose cannon on this issue.

Gary B| 3.29.12 @ 5:13PM

Zak,

You're technically correct. Obama has the most to lose, but having every one of your losses either ignored or explained away by the enemedia is not the same as a conservative losing. A conservative loss is embellished and broadcast all over hell... for days.

Zak Klemmer | 3.29.12 @ 6:09PM

Conservatives always lose in the leftist "media" but that doesn't mean that when the election comes that the vast majority casting ballots won't punish Obama.

AVCurmudgeon| 3.29.12 @ 12:30PM

Mr Tucker, you manage to miss every salient point imaginable.

First, Obama had no business speaking up with that "my son would look like Trayvon" nonsense. All that statement did was reaffirm what we already know: for Obama everything comes down to race. He should have said nothing at all; if he had to say something (Obama being Obama) then all he should have said is "let the system work". Instead, he implicitly endorses the upheaval.

Second, and yes, the conservative spokespeople should be saying that same thing, and no more. And that goes for you too, Mr Tucker.

Ken| 3.29.12 @ 12:33PM

The author of this article misses the point entirely. The piont is that there is no evidence that Zimmerman's action was racially motivated. Zimmerman, being a wannabe cop, would have followed a suspicious white kid and would have shot that white kid if the kid had started pummelling him.

Paul| 3.29.12 @ 12:47PM

Two things:

1) In this country, we have these things to determine points of fact and law. They're called courts. Zimmerman belongs in one where we can hear his story.

2) In your comment about a "suspicious white kid," the point is that a white kid wouldn't likely have been considered suspicious.

Doug| 3.29.12 @ 12:34PM

Sanford, FL is a high crime area with a significantly higher violent crime rate than the US average. See for yourself at city-data.com. So, it's not unreasonable for someone to take precautionary measures. Secondly, branding Zimmerman as a "vigilante" is probably inaccurate...he called the authorities, what, 49 times, rather than taking action himself. There's an obvious societal problem in Sanford, FL and, I imagine, most people there want something done about it.

Paul from SA| 3.29.12 @ 12:34PM

Quoting a poll taken days before information from the police report came out is an attempt to deceive.

Paul from SA| 3.29.12 @ 12:36PM

When the media says a white, male Republican racist murdered a young black boy, all Republicans need to speak out.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 12:42PM

Don't you just LOVE that the Obama campaign is saying that REPUBLICANS are trying to politicize this incident? I must have missed all the Republicans who donned hoodies with "former" Black Panther (I call them the Black Klan) & Congressman Bobby Rush yesterday. I must've missed all the Republicans joining Hank "Guam Might Capsize" Johnson in saying that Martin was shot for being black.

Un-Freaking-Real!

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 6:18PM

Umm, this was a nonpartisan issue until the rightwing started bringing Republicans up. The fact that republicans weren't interested in the standing up for Trayvon isn't the democrats' fault. The fact that the right felt under threat by this suggests some very deep psychological issues re: race--ie that they identify with a murderer who was initially labeled white (first in the police report, by the way) by the media. I think the whole party needs psychoanalysis--they've clearly already had a lobotomy, so that unfortunately won't help.

The Bruce| 3.29.12 @ 7:34PM

Punj wrote:
"The fact that republicans weren't interested in the standing up for Trayvon isn't the democrats' fault."

Why should they stand up for him when they don't have all of the facts? Why should they stand up for Zimmerman when they don't have all of the facts?

Are people supposed to formulate a preconceived narrative, based on race, and just run with it (facts be damned)?

LADY WITH A GUN| 3.29.12 @ 12:36PM

I have read every article by every news organization and every blogger about the Trayvon accident. I want to point out TWO things.
1. until investigated further, it was an ACCIDENT
2. how come only YOUR blog says the teenager called home to say someone was following him?
Where did you get that info? You might want to share it with the police and the MSM, since they don't seem to know anything about it.

And just for all you black haters. When I was 15, I was assaulted by a 16 year old black boy. I am a white woman, who now carries a gun with me every where, and if any black or white person attempts anything to me, I'll shoot.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 12:39PM

Well put. I don't care if the person assaulting me is black, brown, white or polka dotted. I will shoot first & ask questions later. As I said in a previous post, its better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 6:11PM

What kinda gun you got? In handguns, I favor the .45, although I kind of like the 10 mm. too (but ammo's expensive). In rifles, it's .30/06 or .308. In shotguns, which I know little about, the 12 gauge loaded with 00 buck.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 6:22PM

By the way, it's probably not a good idea to spread it around that you carry a gun; you could become a target for a gun robbery. Then some thug would be using your gun to commit crimes. Bummer.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 6:23PM

For all you white haters: I was assaulted by a white teenage boy when I was 6; so white teenagers tend to seem like child molesters to me. I won't have one babysit my kids and if anyone touched either of them, there would be HELL to pay.

Also, the teenager was in the phone with his girlfriend minutes before the murder and told her that someone was following him. Clearly Tucker made a mistake--which anyone following the story from reputable news sources would have known.

The Bruce| 3.29.12 @ 7:39PM

First, sorry to hear what happened when you were six. It's a horrible thing to have happen to a child.

Second, throwing out the term white "haters" while simultaneously implying that all white teenagers are potential sexual predators sounds like the word of a hater, no?

Paul from SA| 3.29.12 @ 12:38PM

In the end, Zimmerman should receive a medal. We need more neighborhood watchers, as the police don't do their jobs very well anymore.

JP| 3.29.12 @ 12:39PM

Mr Tucker,
While I agree with your premise, I must warn you that all of the events that surround this case are heresay. It seems with every passing day, the narrative of what went down changes. Until the police or the DOJ publish an official document of the events I think it is best to hold off on any commentary.

But, I do agree with you concerning Newt and Rick. They are toally offbase concerning the tragic Martin killing. I cannot wait until they go away.

Oldscool| 3.29.12 @ 12:40PM

When did President Obama visit Israel? Never.

Paul| 3.29.12 @ 12:44PM

This whole issue portrays the republican base in a terrible light. Yes, 75% of the American public rightly understands that Zimmerman should have been prosecuted and his case heard in court. That shouldn't even be controversial. So, who are these remaining 25%? Why, the republican base, who heard that Obama said something and so they had to immediately believe the opposite of that (because that's what you do when your emotional maturity is at a 3rd grade level).

Once again, republican partisan politics has robbed republicans of their ability to tell right from wrong. It happened earlier with the torture program, where we were treated to the utterly bizarre spectacle of Christians championing torture. (WWJD!!)

Folks, I know you hate Obama, and that's perfectly acceptable. But while opposing him and what he stands for, try not to believe outright falsehoods or champion very deplorable behavior. It only undermines your worldview.

cicero| 3.29.12 @ 12:46PM

I would like to congratulate Mr. Zimmerman's attorney who has chosen merely to recommend that everyone wait until all of the facts are in. No bluster; no posturing. Very professional.
As for the article, the point seemed to be that the Republican candidates should have stayed out of it. Tucker is right. However, the two who jumped in are in a position where they need exposure, and need a cause to attract votes with.

dede| 3.29.12 @ 12:49PM

Obama was always going to run on racial guilt. A vote for Obama is proof of racial tolerance, a badge of honor that you are taking the high road..this case is perfect to exploit those feelings. The Obama campaign rushed a hoodie, with "Obama 2012" on it, into sales a few days ago. Wm. Tucker is right that the Repubs. were unwise to take the bait on this case, they will just end up branded as racists. When the going gets rough, as in the 2008 primaries, the Obama camp screams racism- as they did with the Clintons in S. Carolina.

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 6:30PM

Umm, NO. The hoodies have been on sale for a while now. How stupid of you to read this in th way that you did (or to believe whatever bloviator found you gullible enough to believe that) You teabag types are so predictable--Any black person doing anything = something about race (unless its one of your handpicked black friends, and even then if they step out of line you pounce--see Cain, Herman N-head ranch). You people are just so unsophisticated about the world and so culturally ignorant; it's embarrassing and tragic that your schools, churches and families have failed you so much. It's just tragic that you are part of the American electorate. We need a smarter citizenry if we are going to stay on top of the world. And we need great minds like Obama's and even Romney's to get there. Just look what destruction the hair-brained wrought (GW Bush) on our great nation.

Marc Jeric| 3.29.12 @ 12:55PM

All nonsense. "The kid" ia a 17-year old hooded gangsta, 6 feet 3 inches tall, casing that gated neighborhood for some easy picking. He attacked the guard and sent him to the emergency hospital room for treatment. "The kid" has a history of multiple school suspensions for vandalism, theft of women's jewels, and drug dealing.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 1:03PM

(GASP) What a HORRIBLE thing to say! Why, you must be a "racist" for pointing out these inconvenient facts.

Snark, snark!

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 6:37PM

Umm, I don't think "facts" means what you think it means. I suggest you look it up. If you don't understand what that means, I'll spell it out--go to a "dictionary" (that's a book or website that tells you what words mean) and look it up (look for "F" and then search for the word "fact" if you're using a book; just type in "fact" if you go to a website). If you need help, please don't hesitate to reply to me. I know your kind aren't the sharpest tools in the shed.

As for Marc's post:
No proof yet the killer went to the ER or that Trayvon attacked him. No proof that he was drug dealing or that he stole anything. And no proof that he was "casing" anything besides his skittles packet.

To reach the conclusions Marc Jerk does can only mean one of two things: he not bright enough to discern "evidence" from "unfounded conjecture" or yes, he's a racist. I'd bet it's both--idiocy and bigotry tend to go hand in hand.

idalily| 3.30.12 @ 2:35AM

You keep repeating the same thing without understanding its significance. NO PROOF. There it is, yet you keep blaming Zimmermann. Perhaps you should wait for the FACTS before condemning Zimmermann? Just a thought. You know, the premise of innocence until proven guilty and all that.

Paul| 3.30.12 @ 2:13PM

There are some facts in this case. The facts are that Martin was unarmed, Zimmerman was armed, and now Martin is dead. Given that, plus the fact that Zimmerman hasn't been prosecuted, there is a fair bit of blaming required just to ensure that our justice department does what it's meant to do (prosecute Zimmerman and give him a trial where the rest of the facts can be determined).

In your comment about waiting for the facts, I notice you had no criticism for your fellow dipshit Marc Jeric, whose fact-free set of assertions sought to place 100% of the blame on the dead, unarmed kid.

In short: don't try and pretend you have integrity. You're a republican, remember. Wear that badge proudly and remember, you create your own reality.

idalily| 3.31.12 @ 12:39AM

I'm creating my own reality? Uh, no. I'm following the tenants of American jurisprudence. Or are you saying that in REALITY, we don't have that in the USA and I just imagined it?

The police and DA at this point have not charged him because they lack EVIDENCE to prosecute. In this country, that means Zimmermann is still innocent. We can have opinions as to his culpability, but you keep talking about facts, and the only FACT that matters here is that Zimmermann has not yet been charged with any crime, yet you and people like you rush to embrace your racist ideology and convict him with no facts to back up guilt. If Zimmermann is murdered by some gang banger who wants $10k, it's people like YOU who have the blood on your hands. For myself, I'm content to wait for the EVIDENCE before I convict the man. And you can take your progressive bigotry and shove it.

Greg| 3.29.12 @ 1:32PM

He never went to the ER. I wonder what other facts you got wrong. Why do you think he was casing the neighborhood?
Why do you focus on Trayvon's history (and exaggerate it) but ignore Zimmerman's history of violence?
Can you tell me which of these two was arrested twice for violent incidents?

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 2:09PM

Can you tell me which one was playing basketball with the other one's head in this case? Oh, it seems to be "innocent little" Trayvon. OOPS!

JD Nappers| 3.29.12 @ 12:57PM

A couple of issues with your 'facts'.... 1st As far as I've heard Zimmerman was already out of his vehicle when the 911 operator said, "we don't need you to do that" in regards to Z's following of Martin. 2nd The police wanted to arrest him and it was the DA, after reviewing the case and evidence, that told them they didn't have enough to prosecute.

"One thing I can tell you is that every one of these patrols has at least one wannabe cop." You can tell us shyte. unless you've been on every patrol in every neighborhood you dolt. Your article is just as emotionally reactionary and logically bankrupt as the Rev's Al and Jesse. Spectator should be ashamed that they allowed you to post untruths and massive unfounded conjecture. What you should have written was, "We, as Republicans, should wait till the investigation is complete and refrain from injecting ourselves into a volatile and emotional situation that we know next to nothing about." That would have saved some shred of your credibility. Instead you open your ignorant piehole and make yourself look like the uninformed idiot that you are apparently.... and that makes you no better than the Black Panther Party in my opinion.

Enigmaticaluna| 3.29.12 @ 12:59PM

This is bias, but what to expect, racist exist all the time, and seems that this time around, it's few that has benefit from the dead of this young man, the news media by selling lies, and already racial issue, the mother by trademark everything on her son, shameless, the good ole rev.'s Al Sharpton to inflame his own ego, and bring more down down black into the low of community, because for people like him, as long that black's are in the bottom, he will keep making profits, Obama campaign making hoods for $40.00 and you said what about Republicans? you should be in shame to such, at your age, I believe you provably was one of those punks of the 60's screaming your lungs for peace and sex, no wonder why this Nation is how it's, it's full of lunatic, racist that call other racist, hateful liberals and progressives.
This is why I said all of this. Trevor Martin issue happen in Feb, on March 17-18, 10 people got kill in Chicago, the smaller person was a CHILD of 6, a little girl, on the same events 40 were injured, the younger a 1 year old. where is the media, the bloggers over this? oh, sorry I forgot, this was a black crime against everyone else, black crimes can't be discuss... it's sad also that in March 20th, the UK news media, report a crime commit against in old couple in Oklahoma, witch the wife of 65 years of marriage was sexually assaulted and kill and the husband is in serious condition in the hospital... because the criminal is black.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....-date.html
Crime should be report with out count on the race, whites, Chinese, muslims, hispanics, blacks, all people of backgrounds and colors do commit crime, it's sad that a young person has to died, but the media has make another guilty with out hesitation because first he was "white" them they discover that he was Hispanic, so now he's just "white-hispanic" well them, I said Obama is "white-black or white African" and since he's mix ( something the bias try to erase from his heritage, as the fact that it's more arab than black or white in him) Martin Trevor, can never look like his son, if he has one, and why he don't said the same thing about the kid kill by blacks because he was white, by burning him in the end? where is the integrity of the media, the integrity of people? it's a shame. This is NOT about republican or democrats, this is about US, people, the fact that today is someone else, but tomorrow can be you or me, you are white...stop the political correctness crap, we're loosing this Nation because we have in administration way to ego to divide the people, and the morons and traitors of the media willing to do the vetting for them... how stupid is stupid? do you think that when take this Nation by dictatorship or even islam you going to be remember for stuck with them? how about your children and grand children, when they found out your bias and the lack of action to protect their future with integrity and principle? shame of everyone who use the dead of an American person to suit their agenda. Shame.!!!
Site Note... just in case my family looks just like Obama, in his white and black part.
God bless.

Robert| 3.29.12 @ 1:00PM

You make some good points and I agree with most of what you write. The repubicans should stay out of this. They should let President Obama stick his nose where it might not belong without inserting their opinioins.

However, on your point about suited white preppies, you don't typically see strangers of any race wearing a suit and tie breaking into houses or robbing a store. (I'm not saying Trayvon Martin was doing that) What you do see these days are those types of crimes committed very often by people white, black, or hispanic wearing 'hoodies'.

At the very least the 'hoodie has become a symbol of rap music or youthful rebellion and at the most a symbol of gangs, crime, and thuggery.

Zimmermen may be guilty, but we can't say for sure since the facts have not all come out. Right now if Zimmerman is guilty of anything it may be prejudice for possibly prejudging the Martin young man. Prejudice is not illegal and we all do it on a daily basis. We prejudge many things based on our past experiences and what we have seen either through the media or in person. All people paying attention to this should back off and not convict anyone until everything is out in the open. At that point justice will be served and no one will look foolish.

Buckethead Baptist| 3.29.12 @ 1:02PM

While I agree that the GOP should steer clear of this story and let surrogates take it on...

Several points of this article are STILL WRONG.

The 911 Operator DID NOT tell Zimmerman to NOT follow Mr. Martin... all he said was "we don't need you to do that".

That is NOT the same thing as saying he was Ordered not to follow him.

MarioG| 3.29.12 @ 2:47PM

When told by the dispatcher to knock it off Zimmerman answered "Okay". This has been edited out by the mainstream media.

Owen K| 3.29.12 @ 1:06PM

Absolutely correct. A great article. Santorum and Gingrich need to get out of the race right now. Lets get on with some good ol' Obama bashing. Plenty of ammo there. Lets get on with the campaign and forget about Gingrich and Santorum.

MarioG| 3.29.12 @ 2:46PM

Obama and Tucker would have far more credibility if they took the same attitude when young black men are killed by other black men. In 2009 93% of murdered blacks were killed by other blacks without a peep out of either Obama or Tucker. A black activist explained to me that this was because their civil rights had not been violated - which can apparently only be done by a non-black, in this case a "white Hispanic", which would make Obama a "white-African-American".

David| 3.29.12 @ 1:10PM

Mr. Tucker, as usual, you are off your rocker. You are the one writer on this site with whom I consistently disagree.

The police did not tell Zimmerman NOT TO PURSUE HIM - THEY DID NOT TELL HIM TO STOP.

They told him either "it is not necessary to do that" or "you don't have to do that". That indicates to me the dispatcher was concerned about Zimmerman's well-being. How right she was - huh?

David| 3.29.12 @ 1:12PM

Another thing, wasn't it Jesse Jackson who said that when he is walking down the street at night and hears footsteps behind him, "when I turn around a see a white person, I am relieved".

"Dub" Holston| 3.29.12 @ 1:13PM

An excellent, dispassionate, clear-headed review of this tragic, grossly mishandled case by the columnist. But way too many of the comments are the hysterical, angry screeds that make a sane person wonder about the fate of our country.

Con Chef (NB) | 3.29.12 @ 1:29PM

Yeah. The bounty offered by the Black Klan, the appearance of the 3 race-baiters, & the Tweeting of Zimmerman's address by Spike Lee are NO CAUSE to worry about this country. You'd rather wail & gnash your teeth about what commentors on a conservative web site have to say.

Buck O'Fama| 3.29.12 @ 1:14PM

This writer is, at the very least, extremely uninformed:

"But the police decide to accept Zimmerman's story and he walks."

No, that's not what happened. It was the DA who refused to charge, at least for now:

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/.....rtin-case/

Apparently the DA prefers to have a Grand Jury review the available evidence which, in a case like this, might be the best way to handle it. If the GJ decides charges are warranted, prosecution will proceed. Whether the public or this writer thinks Zimmerman should be charged is irrelevant, because that's how our system works. I agree Republican candidates should steer clear of this issue, but at least get the facts straight.

David| 3.29.12 @ 1:17PM

And another thing: where did you get that 75% of people believe Zimmerman should be charged with something?

Was that poll taken before or after we saw Martin's picture as a 17 year-old and not a 12 year old?

Was that poll taken before or after we learned that it was actually George who was screaming for help?

Was that poll taken before or after we learned that George has a broken nose, a gash on the back of his head, and grass stains on the back of his shirt?

Was that poll taken before or after we learned that there is at least one eyewitness who saw George returning to his truck and was blindsided by Martin?

Was that poll taken before or after Sharpton, Jackson, New Black Panthers, Bam Bam and all of the other race-baiters jumped on this as just one more opportunity to divide this country?

repsac3 | 3.29.12 @ 3:04PM

"Was that poll taken before or after we saw Martin's picture as a 17 year-old and not a 12 year old?"
At exactly what age do young men become lawful targets?

"Was that poll taken before or after we learned that there is at least one eyewitness who saw George returning to his truck and was blindsided by Martin?"

There is no witness that saw Zimmerman returning to his truck, or how the physical altercation started, sand did not (and cannot) testify that either man was blindsided by the other. What we do have is a guy who saw a snapshot during a fight, at a time when the guy in the dark hoodie had the upper hand over the guy in the red sweater.

The only person to testify that George Zimmerman was returning to his truck and was blindsided was George Zimmerman. And seeing as how he probably knew from the time he pulled the trigger that his future freedom rested on what folks believed happened to make him pull that trigger, it's not as though he had no motivation to lie. (Which is not to say he DID lie, but that given the circumstances, a healthy dose of skepticism as regards his statement is warranted.)

Stroker97| 3.29.12 @ 1:19PM

I think most of the comments on this article miss Mr. Tucker’s main objective, which is to continue their unrelenting attack on Newt until he withdraws from the race. This has been Tyrrell’s army’s marching orders since Newt declared his candidacy. It is obvious that Tucker is using this incident for political expediency just like Obummer did. Once again Mr. Tucker totally dismisses the reasoning behind why Gingrich and Santorum called Obummer out on this. Mr. Tucker, they called him out because he is using this incident to create discord and divide the American people further. He (Obummer) continues to use the old bait-and-switch tactic to distract us from his rotten record, just like he did with the contraception issue.
Tucker and the TAS Romney cronies could care less about the incident in question. All they care about is getting their boy elected, regardless of what the people have to say. After all, we are the uneducated masses and we don’t know what’s good for us. We are not part of the elite establishment; therefore, our opinions mean nothing. Sadly, their agenda has prevailed and the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obummer will win the nomination, but will lose in the general. So I hope the treasonous commentators at TAS, American Thinker, The Beck and his Blaze, The Drudge, The Freedom Works, and all the other CINO pukes will be happy with four more years of socialism.

Tired Taxpayer PRM| 3.29.12 @ 1:28PM

“Not the kind of situation the shooter is likely to walk away from without some kind of investigation, right? But no, the Sanford police choose to take Zimmerman's story at face value.”
“But the police decide to accept Zimmerman's story and he walks.”

Untrue! The Sanford police investigated (including taking the statements of two or more witnesses) and presented the report to the prosecutor‘s office. The prosecutor decided not to charge or prosecute. The police did not hold Zimmerman because they did not deem him a flight risk. Turns out they were right about the flight risk.

I stopped reading at this point. How can any of his conclusions be correct if his starting facts are wrong?

nutz2u2| 3.29.12 @ 1:28PM

Is this guy's middle name "butthead" by any chance?

Stephen Boone | 3.29.12 @ 1:30PM

I taught in a black neighborhood. Fair Park, South Dallas. Every time we had a function that had teachers leaving after 7 PM at least two of us would be pulled over BY THE POLICE and asked what the hell were we doing in the area. Once a teacher decided to not tell them that he taught at Lincoln and was blah blah blah ... He was handcuffed before he realized that he BETTER tell them or he was going down. That's America.

ideal art| 3.29.12 @ 1:31PM

The author is still living in the 60s. He's ignoring 45 years of affirmative action, quotas and endless propaganda. He's attempting to prove his urbane superiority to the "wrong kind" of white, the hick and hillbilly, you see, who is "raciss". He patronizes blacks and the reality that they created a thug and shakedown culture all on their own. He gives himself away by slandering his fellow neigborhood protectors. He evidently thinks some are bloodthirsty racists looking for a reason to kill rather than people pushed beyond their limits who shouldn't have to do this in the first place. Maybe they just want to protect their property and are willing to fight for themselves, however ineptly, because our government won't, being preocuppied with scapegoating in trade for votes from a slew of well-organized, anti-white racial identity groups.

Abu Nudnik| 3.29.12 @ 1:31PM

Bang on!

Obama's wrong on so many things but these clucks have to go after him on one of the things he's mostly right about!

What about imitating the successful rope-a-dope strategy Obama used against McCain? His "John's right, and..." was a killer punch. It took all the air out of McCain and made him look like a bag of skin.

Slacker| 3.29.12 @ 1:38PM

What difference does it make? 95% of black will vote for Obama anyway. Ironically the republican nominee could scream nigger any it wouldn’t cost him votes this cycle.

Paul| 3.29.12 @ 3:23PM

That's nearly true. However, there are some republicans (admittedly a small minority) who resist identifying themselves as racists or supporters of racists. Those people would be put off to hear a republican scream "nigger."

The vast majority of the republican base, however, would love it. So, the energy lost by the exodus of non-racists might be made up by the enthusiasm of those who remain.

Indy| 3.29.12 @ 3:42PM

You are wrong and discredit yourself when you say most republicans are racist.

I'm an unaffiliated voter, I will be voting against Obama because of his policies period.

Paul| 3.30.12 @ 2:36PM

Read through this comment thread, and then come back and tell me most republicans aren't racist. Good luck with that.

Nick| 4.1.12 @ 2:03AM

Hey, Paul the Pinhead: Most Republicans AREN'T racists.

Greg| 3.29.12 @ 1:35PM

Y'all are a bunch of nutjobs.

BillboTex | 3.29.12 @ 2:25PM

More typical LIBERAL name calling!

Sharon| 3.29.12 @ 1:36PM

And another pundit has just weighed in on a case that only the people who were directly involved have accurate information about. Mr. Tucker, do you realize you just did what you criticized others of doing? Only the people directly involved with this case at the time it occurred have accurate information. Time for everyone else, including you Mr. Tucker, to shut up until all the proven facts and evidence are known and reviewed by the professionals.

Scorpio51| 3.29.12 @ 1:37PM

What a horrible piece of journalism!

Perhaps you should work your way over to MSNBC where you will fit in perfectly with their narrative. Blaming Gingrich and Santorum for their comments has no place in this discussion. It's just YOUR hate for them that drove you to work them into YOUR narrative.

I believe Zimmerman will be charged with manslaughter. But with all due respect, this story should NOT be discussed until such time that a Grand Jury has been convened and heard the evidence.

A real rush to judgement has been committted here and I would think that a journalist worth his salt wouldn't write such a horrible piece of bias such as this until he at least had some facts.

Indy| 3.29.12 @ 1:39PM

An excellent piece by Victor D. Hanson

"10 Things That We’ve Learned from the Trayvon Martin Tragedy"

http://www.nationalreview.com/.....vis-hanson

Glenn Koons| 3.29.12 @ 1:43PM

The facts are not in yet. But...Obama and the Left and the MSM have already convicted George the 'white' Hispanic. Newt simply called them out. This is enough to know about libs. They want division to win power. There are people killed every day by blacks, mostly blacks but the media and WH hasn't spoken out on them. Hypocrites.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 1:47PM

That Trayvon Martin was a criminal and got whacked. Zimmerman acted on self defense, and he should get immunity. There is NO crime!

Nick| 3.29.12 @ 9:02PM

http://spectator.org/archives/.....ent_749403

You're a moron and a racist, Bigot Bill.
GO AWAY!

H. Gromp| 3.29.12 @ 2:02PM

Some points and corrections to the article:

1. It was not a 911 operator who told Zimmerman not to follow Martin. Zimmerman had called the police non-emergency line. Either way, he was not legally or morally obligated to obey the instructions of the person on the phone.

2. The point of the "Stand your ground" law is to put the burden of proof on the police and prosecutors, rather than automatically assuming that someone who uses deadly force in an act of self defense is probably guilty.

3. "Seventy-five percent of the public thinks Zimmerman should be charged with something." Probably very few of those people have read past the headlines.

4. "the idea you can gun somebody down in the middle of the street and just walk away doesn't appeal to me" If the person doing the shooting did so in self defense, that idea appeals to me tremendously. Someone who has just had to fight for their life doesn't deserve legal problems lumped on top of that.

5. "Zimmerman had pestered the station for months with reports of "suspicious 12-year-olds" walking through the neighborhood." Zimmerman made 46 calls to 911 and the police non-emergency number over the course of 8 years. Not once did he report a 12 year old. The details of these calls have been made public. You can check it out for yourself.

6. "That he was doing this while carrying a gun in his pocket says to me he was definitely courting trouble." Baloney. Like most other people with a concealed carry permit, he probably carries it just about everywhere. That's not "courting trouble." That's taking a precaution in case trouble finds you.

7. "And "Stand Your Ground" -- what the hell is that supposed to mean?" It means one does not have the legal obligation to attempt to flee before fighting back in self defense, and that the onus for proving it was not an act of self-defense falls on the police and prosecutor's office, not the defender in question.

8. "In any case, why do Republicans have to get involved in this mess?" Probably because their Democratic counterparts got involved in the issue.

9. "George Zimmerman introduced race into the incident at the beginning when he decided to follow Martin because of the way he looked. " While I don't think Zimmerman had valid reason to be suspicious of Martin, Zimmerman did articulate in his call to the police reasons for his suspicion that had nothing to do with race.

10. "If Martin had been a white preppie in a suit and tie, he never would have given him a second glance. " One of Zimmerman's 16 calls to the police to report suspicious included a report of 2 hispanics and 1 white. No details on what they were wearing, but it's evidence that Zimmerman was capable of being suspicious of non-blacks as well.

BillboTex | 3.29.12 @ 2:23PM

GREAT comment H. Gromp, thank you!

Paul| 3.29.12 @ 3:27PM

This comment explains your others:

===========================
"In any case, why do Republicans have to get involved in this mess?" Probably because their Democratic counterparts got involved in the issue.
===========================

Yes, basically once democrats got involved (and really, everyone expected the president to say something), it was your job to disagree. It doesn't matter who said what. A democrat says something, and the republican base will say the opposite. "Up is down." Whatever. The important thing is to disagree.

That explains your other 9 points, which you would have never made had it not been for the one I quoted.

Paul from SA| 3.29.12 @ 5:47PM

Excellent post sir!

BillboTex | 3.29.12 @ 2:19PM

The first paragraph is GREAT! But the rest is simply a liberal opinion based on an incomplete investigation from an anti-gun author. VIDEO: Trayvon Martin case takes INTENSE turn . http://goo.gl/jQiAC -- Here is the TRUE face of Obama's son . http://t.co/1xLWCdIu
without the typical LIBERAL deception of the picture of of the 13 year old Trayvon.

biomedlives| 3.29.12 @ 2:20PM

This lifelong Republican agrees with Obama and Tucker on this one.

MarioG| 3.29.12 @ 2:42PM

To biomedlives - Obama and Tucker would have far more credibility if they took the same attitude when young black men are killed by other black men. In 2009 93% of murdered blacks were killed by other blacks without a peep out of either Obama or Tucker. A black activist explained to me that this was because their civil rights had not been violated - which can apparently only be done by a non-black, in this case a "white Hispanic", which would make Obama a "white-African-American".

Paul| 3.29.12 @ 3:51PM

Mario, in the examples you cite, how many of the perps were allowed to walk away without prosecution or trial? Sorry, what's that? Pretty much none of them?

OK, let me know if you've started to figure out why Obama and Tucker have a different approach to the Zimmerman/Miller case. I'm hoping after that leg up I gave you that you can figure this out for yourself. You know, "teach a man to fish..."

MarioG| 3.29.12 @ 2:37PM

The author says to count him out but counts himself in. LOL! Instead of waiting for the investigation to be completed he repeats every left wing talking point on this unfortunate incident, including the one about Zimmerman continuing to pursue Trayvon after being told by the dispatcher to knock it off. The media has edited the 911 tape to cut out Zimmerman saying "Okay" to the dispatcher.

anonymous| 3.29.12 @ 2:39PM

You are either misinformed, or are purposefully lying. The 911 operator told Zimmerman that they "did not need" him to follow Trayvon. That is a far cry from giving explicit instructions not to. This is of course irrelevant as a 911 operator has exactly zero authority to tell someone that they are forbidden from walking through their own neighborhood.

You miss the main point of this case, as do most "liberals". The primary point is and always has been who initiated the violence. If Trayvon decided he was going to be a tough guy and throw a punch first, then he received his justice at the end of a barrel. If Zimmerman got in Trayvon's face and started hitting him first, then he needs to be charged and go to prison.

So far Zimmerman has been reported to have injuries to his face and head, Trayvon is dead, and I have yet to see any report of injuries to Trayvon. Circumstantially that would indicate Trayvon was the aggressor in this case.

sirbourbon| 3.29.12 @ 2:40PM

How many of you have run across signs that state, demand, blare out: "No for thru traffic"? The implication is that unless you live on that street keep the hell out!

What if, or let's say, you are out looking to check out homes for sale in the neighborhood and you are driving your beatup Ford instead of your new Lexus that is having work done on the power windows; you just finished mowing your lawn and are wearing torn up shorts and a dingy tee shirt. You drive past the warning sign and drive slowly looking at the condition of homes and the kind of people that live in the neighborhood. You are "checking them out," and they are suspiciously "checking you out" and memorizing your car tag! You look threatening and it is logical that a beat up car and a dirty clothes wearing man doesn't exactly shout: "TRUST ME. I HAVE A JOB THAT PAYS 100K per year!"

What if you are trying to be cool like your kid whom you've brought along. You and your kid are wearing your baseball caps with the bill turned backwards. Yea, that will elevate that 'first impression!" You both want to be even more cool and you've worn your hoodies. Geraldo is right, hoodies don't exactly communicate "boy scout out ot do a good deed of the day."

Kids seem to be natually prone to do stupid things and jump walls and take shortcuts thru areas that are posted "no tresspassing." But with the public education system conspiring to keep them from reading the english language and teaching them to be rebellious against "the man," kids have been misled by the creeps that run our government owned schools. The goonies that run our "public schools" are to blame for not teaching their subjects about respecting private property at least for setting kids up are they not? Ok, we can agree that schools don't teach the philosophy of Adam Smith and the Author of the Bible?

Oh, you don't think kids are taught to hate? The left wing controlled educationists play it something like this: "The wig-wearing, rich white plantation slave masters, hypocritically wrote that 'all men are created equal' ....except." Then the race card is pulled out to show students (we'll call them subjects) how unjust the founders were and that they considered black slaves as just 2/3 of a man and etc..

Gated community up ahead. Sure why not? I like to jump over walls wearing my hoodie. The hoodie protects me from harm. It's magical and tells the noncool people to keep away from me.

The Neighborhood Watch patrol dude has perhaps tuned his radio too many times to the wrong stations and gotten some pretty serious shots of propaganda psy-ops directed at his addled brain from Randy Rhodes and Tom Harmon, and, boy howdy, he's ready to defend his territory from suspicious-looking interlopers wearing preppy blazers with fraternity monograms stitched on the breast pocket. The shoes are a dead give-away. That is one dangerous dude. Stop!

Jack London| 3.29.12 @ 2:47PM

One thing I find amusing is that, on the one hand, you cons constantly emphasize the high crime rate among blacks and the stereotypical thug in a hoodie, and on the other, when we have a 'stereotypical thug in a hoodie' in this neighborhood, his appearance had no bearing on Zimmerman's thought processes and he might just as well have looked like a frat boy.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 6:13PM

That rather lengthy sentence has me, for one, a bit twisted up trying to make meaning out of it. Could you break it up a bit?

Paul| 3.30.12 @ 2:40PM

Here, let me dumb it down for you.

Many comments here focus on the fact that Martin was black, that blacks have a high crime rate among them, and that Martin was dressed in a hoodie as a stereotypical thug. With me so far?

Also in comments it's been asserted that Martin's appearance and the stereotyping described above could never have affected Zimmerman's thought process as he killed him. While the stereotypes are asserted again and again by you republicans, you're also telling us that Zimmerman killed Martin purely out of self-defense, and that no such stereotyping could have been a factor.

It's just another incoherent set of viewpoints that republicans can magically accommodate. Nothing new.

James | 3.29.12 @ 2:49PM

"Zimmerman calls 911, says he's following someone he thinks may be a burglar, and is specifically told by the operator not to pursue the kid any further. "

Lies.

When told that GZ was following TM, the 911 Operator's response was, "We don't need you to do that."

That is neither a command nor is it a lawful order. It is advice, pure and simple.

When you have to spout lies less than two hundred words into a three or four page article (triple the ad delivery, FTW!!), you lose all credibility before you get a chance to say whatever it is you're trying to say.

jc| 3.29.12 @ 2:58PM

People like you are truly scary. What a spinmeister? We don't need you to do that was explicit. Where did you learn reasoning skills.

John| 3.29.12 @ 3:38PM

Have you listened to the unedited audio? I have. It is clear it wasn't an order. Also, not that the media has reported it, Zimmerman complied and said he would return to his vehicle. He was returning to his vehicle when Martin confronted and attacked him. He was not in pursuit as reported by the media.

MarkR| 3.29.12 @ 3:06PM

Very true- this author commits the same faux pau he accuses others of. He takes unknows based upon rumor and runs with it. Part of the liberal conservative divide is that liberals make snap judgments whereas conservatives tend (absolutes not the issue) to wait for facts to materialize. For interest Pelosi's statement about "Pass the bill before we can see whats in the bill" is a classic example as is this case. Sharpton and Jackson and the usual suspects run out and make grand pronouncements based upon rumor and the conservatives say wait for the facts- now which is reasonable? Mr Tucker seems spooked by pol numbers which really reflect a point in time judgment based upon limited-extremely limited information. Logic seems lacking in Mr. Tucker as well.

John II| 3.29.12 @ 3:43PM

That's true. And the quote lifted by James is only among the more egregious howlers in Tucker's disquisition. I stopped counting when I reached ten.

But I wouldn't go so far as to accuse Tucker of lying. I don't think lefties, including ex-lefties like Tucker (and like myself), can ever be completely cured of moral smugness. The condition is analogous to what some theologians call the residual effects of sin, and the consequence is a kind of gaseous recidivism as evident in Tucker's intermittent lefty hiccoughs.

Besides, it looks as if he has a book to sell, and we all need to make a living.

Professor Obama should indeed have been taken to task by the Republicans for his self-indulgent and politically inspired public rush to judgment, but no more.

And now back to "Twelve Angry Men," the superior 1957 version in which Henry Fonda sets aside his liberalism to pursue simple justice. The much weaker 1997 version, which displays a more consuming interest in lefty self-righteousness than in justice, is probably the one Professor Obama saw.

Ed| 3.29.12 @ 2:50PM

So, some old swashbuckler with the most wonderful scarf regurgitates every unproven and disproven Sharpton talking point and expects, what, exactly? Should no one point out the many ways the swashbuckler is wrong.

Stan REdmond| 3.29.12 @ 2:55PM

I agree on the political side of your argument.

I don't agree with your analysis. You have shown much prejudging Zimmerman as guilty.

jc| 3.29.12 @ 2:55PM

I'm hardly a conservative, but what you say is so true.

Kingofthenet| 3.29.12 @ 2:56PM

'Stand your Ground' is an escalation law, it INCENTIVES the killing of people, you ALWAYS have the right to use deadly force to protect yourself from serious bodily harm, but you can't shoot someone in the back for stealing your lawn mower.'Duty to Retreat' prevents that, you can still kill if you have to, but you don't 'Hunt them down' don't shoot fleeing thieves in the back...

Nick| 3.29.12 @ 9:04PM

I suggest that you test your theory out somewhere in Florida, KooK!

MarkR| 3.29.12 @ 2:58PM

This is ridiculous on one level and true on another. Its true that investing much energy in this is politically foolish. Its ridiculous in the sense that the facts are in dispute and the left looks ridiculous far more than the right. Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch person and their is dipute as to whether the facts he was told to go back and he did or didnt is still unknown. A lot of the FACTS this author speaks of are media facts not investigative facts. Another thing is that the far left has jumped the gun as usual and Obama is as usual injecting himself in matters in a racial way same way as he did with the Gates affair. Now his campaign is making hoodies with Obama 2012 on them. Mr. Tucker needs to hold on as much as anyone. Sure Newt and Rick should refrain but come on NO ONE IN THIS MATTER is above the fray. And as far as polls give me a break: right after an incident like this when rumors swirl %'s are gonna be ridiculously out of whack until investigative true information is in the hands of people in the know.

Bill| 3.29.12 @ 6:28PM

The problem with laws requiring retreat before employing deadly force is deciding when one has retreated enough for the justification to arise.

Florida prosecutors have been accentuating the concept of having to retreat until one has reached the final extreme. Juries have gone along with that in many cases. Some folks find the "last extreme" demand too stringent a standard and have successfully lobbied for the "stand your ground" standard to eliminate the obligation to retreat in the face of a deadly threat; there has to be a deadly threat, though; that's still required.

Truth and Freedom| 3.29.12 @ 2:58PM

Ten Things That We’ve Learned from the Trayvon Martin Tragedy

www.nationalreview.com/corner/.....vis-hanson

PaulC| 3.29.12 @ 3:00PM

It's pretty clear at this point that Zimmerman didn't exercise very good judgment. However, it's not clear that Trayvon did nothing to prompt Zummerman to pull the trigger. It seems that nobody these days can wait more than five minutes before jumping to a conclusion. Was this incident the only shooting in the United States that day? I don't think so. So why does this particular shooting merit so much attention?

Truth and Freedom| 3.29.12 @ 3:01PM

Embarrassment Surrounding the Trayvon Martin Case

http://townhall.com/columnists.....page/full/

Wanda| 3.29.12 @ 3:03PM

I think this author is a liberal progressive fool. Disregard or twist the facts - standard procedure. Meh.

Truth and Freedom| 3.29.12 @ 3:03PM

It’s Not About Stand Your Ground
We should reserve judgment, but it seems that Zimmerman acted lawfully

www.nationalreview.com/article.....-r-lott-jr

Truth and Freedom| 3.29.12 @ 3:07PM

Gutsy Reminder from Democrat Rod Smith: 'Stand Your Ground' Was Bipartisan (in Florida)

www.sunshinestatenews.com/stor.....bipartisan

Bruce Majors | 3.29.12 @ 3:29PM

Very close to my own view. Not really a primary political issue and it is hard to see how Zimmerman was not at least held for questioning. Perhaps he was not charged because they didn't think they could make a case.

That said, it is worth noting that the leftovers want to use this case to prove that America is evil and should be punished with more statism. And that they are willing to dispense with innocent until proven guilty. They know Zimmerman shot Trayvon, not that the gun went off in a struggle, etc.

The Bruce| 3.30.12 @ 12:58AM

/facepalm

He was detained and held for questioning.

Here's the police station surveillance video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?f.....WWDNbQUgm4

David Gans | 3.29.12 @ 3:31PM

Wow, a reasonable and rational conservative. Thank you for this perspective. I wish there were more like you.

John| 3.29.12 @ 3:32PM

"He ignores this instruction, gets out of his truck and starts following Martin on foot."

Wrong. Apparently Tucker hasn't listened to the unedited audio? Listening to it, Zimmerman was already on foot following Martin. Operator then says that Zimmerman shouldn't do that. It wasn't an instruction or order, but a recommendation. Zimmerman complies and says that he is returning to his vehicle and will wait for officer to arrive/call. It is upon returning to his vehicle that Martin attacks Zimmerman and everything heads south afterwards.

If the writer can't be bothered to get that piece of information correct, why should anything else he wrote in the article be given weight?

MarkR| 3.29.12 @ 3:43PM

The ones on here attacking everyone who asks these questions is not interested in any potential view which does not correspond to the template already in their minds. Thats the way liberals operate- template first and then facts to fit.

Mike W| 3.29.12 @ 4:09PM

Tucker is the person coming at this with a pre-conceived notion. He had no point in writing this article.

But , while we are there, Santorum spouted off the same type of nonsense over the weekend when he stated that Zimmerman is a sick person.

MarkR| 3.29.12 @ 4:35PM

Exactly. This is a disease which seems to spread easily to anybody in the 30 second sound bite biz. I still say liberals perpetuate this because they run with it and NEVER retract if newer contradictory information is made available.

gearjammer| 3.29.12 @ 3:35PM

We know about squat. Is not a gated community gated ? So how did young man get inside or was he inside ? Where was route back home for Williams-away from Zimmerman's vehicle ?? Did the fight happen inside or outside gares ? Gazillion dollar media and we got not even the basics. Kid was with father after suspension. His father was trying to pry the boy's head outa his rear end, you know get him back on the right path. What a horror show. But, Zimmerman wants to survive and he goes all in at some point believing the danger he is facing is no joke at all. Did you ever get into a situation where you had to restrain a young man ? I mean they get adrenalin surge and you see in the eyes-a look-a look. You been there ? I have.

John| 3.29.12 @ 3:57PM

Articles like this are why they say what they say about opinions. Nobody has all the facts on this so it is irresponsible at best for anyone, author included, to speculate on facts, state of mind, responsibility etc. The legal process is progressing, sit back, shut up and let it work.

Pat| 3.29.12 @ 4:21PM

If the issue is so completely irrelevant then why is this author writing about it? We’re being served up yet another article where the author sneers at a trivial issue but then rambles on and on about it. So, what are this author’s motives? It’s exciting controversy and much more fun to analyze than needed changes to our foreign trade treaties with Brazil. This author realizes that folks everywhere will quickly form sides and start taking verbal potshots at each other and he doesn’t want to be left out. And this author is probably thinking this commentator, namely me, doesn’t know squat about his motives. Right, but since Tucker admitted he didn’t know the actual facts related to the altercation and still went on for two pages anyway, I’m just doing pretty much the same.

Let’s lighten up here and take this analysis paralysis for what it’s worth. Folks enjoy playing juror number 13, the guy or gal who wasn’t impaneled but still has an opinion on the case. Our elected employee, B. Obama, also had an opinion and shot his mouth off. We don’t pay him to do “off the cuff” mouth-shooting to reporters but, what the heck, it might have temporarily distracted him from bailing out the Teachers’ Union with our money.

And deja-vu back to: “if the glove doesn’t fit you must acquit”, Mark Fyrmann, what time did the Limo arrive, what did Kato actually see and was Nicole secretly doing the pizza delivery boy. Sure it’s unimportant but our interminable and endlessly boring political campaigns require an occasional seventh inning stretch. I didn’t know Trayvon Martin, care less about him than the moles wrecking my lawn and fully expect to forget he ever existed in the very near future but nothing else is going on at the moment. So, chuck the guilt trips and join in on the speculation – you’ll feel better for having done so.

Oldefarte| 3.29.12 @ 4:31PM

Tucker's editorial is partially true, but failed to give both sides of the story. Gingrich etc commented rightfully only AFTER the typical insanity and radical commentary from the scumbag Democrats was so overwhelming that to not do so would have been cowardly. I mean, a POTUS commenting [after no doubt receiving a planted MSM question regarding same] on what is [or should be a local/state issue? GIVE ME A BREAK! Martin LOOKS JUST LIKE HIM OR HIS POSSIBLE SON? Shazam, if the victim looked like Pee Wee Herman etc, I guess that the personal resemblance fades into the obscurity of non-political response needed, huh? When is it that a POTUS has to respond as such regarding such non-national issues? Maybe when it's a Henry Louis Gates type event, requiring the futuristic need for a BEER SUMMIT AT THE WHITE HOUSE? How is it that a congressman feels the need to don a hoodie and give a speech on the floor of congress? How is is that political crisis filmmakers find the need to wrongly tweet an address of a seventy year old couple within the crime scene neighborhood to thousands, endangering their lives and forcing their evacuation for safety into a hotel? Is this perhaps C&P's Rules For Radicals at play here? Is the POTUS employing same to divert attention from his failed economic policies and to attempt to garner political support for November? Was Gingrich possible bent over backwards by same from the radical leftist domestic terrorists within this country and forced to respond from the reguritating bile rising up from his stomach over same perhaps? When is ENOUGH ENOUGH? When will Americans [ie taxpayers] say that they have finally had it from the Democrats' filty political maneuverings which happen 24-7; and begin to respond civilly within political elections by simply pulling down upon the STRAIGHT REPUBLICAN TICKET at the voting booth [and not by pulling weapons and pulling triggers ourt of frustration]? When [obviously not on 11/4/08 but hopefully on 11/4/12]????????????????????

MarkR| 3.29.12 @ 4:40PM

Couldnt have said it better. You are right. Gingrich responds about the president injecting himself AGAIN in a sordid uninvestigated tale and he (Gingrich) is labeled the creep. Its insanity to the nth degree. But hey its been heading this way for decades. Truth is up getting its trousers on while lies are half way round the world.

Kenneth McKenna| 3.29.12 @ 4:36PM

This article is oddly obtuse in ignoring the fact that this incident has drawn national attention only because the media and self-appointed "civil rights" activists have manipulated it to create lynch-mob sentiment hostile to Zimmerman's life and civil rights. Those activists include the president.

But the biggest conceptual problem with the author's argument may be that at bottom it is a call for an illegal, unconstitutional arrest not supported by probable cause and the bringing of unfounded criminal charges not supported by adequate evidence.

From what is public at the moment, there is no evidence that Zimmerman physically attacked Martin, but Zimmerman says Martin attacked him and that claim is completely consistent with all of the other evidence, including partial but extensive corroboration of an eye-witness account. The author here fails to grasp that in absence of evidence that Zimmerman physically attacked Martin, there was and is no "probable cause" justifying Zimmerman's arrest or any criminal charge against him.

If Martin attacked Zimmerman and was in the process of pummelling him and reaching for his gun (as Zimmerman claims, with partial corroboration and NO contrary evidence), Zimmerman was entitled to shoot him under the self-defense law of every state, not just under the Florida Stand Your Groud statute. The police and prosecutors can't just ASSUME Zimmerman was lying with no basis for the assumption.

But nobody has to assume or argue that Zimmerman is innocent to object to what Martin's self-appointed advocates have been up to. That Zimmerman irritates the author because Zimmerman didn't follow 911 operator suggestions and comport himself in the way the author thinks a neighborhood watch should operate is not material, although that is given great significance by the author. At most such concerns would be grounds for the author to exclude Zimmerman from a neighborhood watch over which the author presided, but such concerns are no basis for insisting political figures not criticise the scandalous manipulation that has been effected here by the president and his fellow travelers.

Dan| 3.29.12 @ 4:36PM

Why no mention of Zimmerman's injuries? You know, the ones he received when he was attacked after he had indeed obeyed the 911 dispatcher's advice to stop following and was returning to his car? Congratulations sir! You are a part of the race-baiting scumbag media!

eliot| 3.29.12 @ 4:39PM

"What they [meaning the police] don't want is eager-beaver vigilantes running around with guns trying to do their jobs for them." Er, I haven't noticed the police waiting around to help anyone in trouble. By the time the get there, in an hour or two, when they get around to it, the person in trouble is already raped/beaten/dead. If you don't help yourself, you're just another victim - a statistic. Count ME out on that one. I have a gun and I will use it if necessary.

mike siroky| 3.29.12 @ 4:43PM

Sorry, while it may or may not be smart politically for Republicans to voice their views on the Martin-Zimmerman issue, they have just as much right to do so as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. You ask: What's wrong with Obama showing "empathy"? Nothing, except he hasn't shown empathy. He has instead signaled group identity with black Americans but not with other Americans. He is not empathizing with a family that has lost a son to violence. He is instead empathizing with blacks as victims of whites. If he wanted to show empathy, he would speak of the two British men murdered by Shawn Tyson in Florida, the North Carolina man beaten by six blacks because he was white, the white elderly couple beaten by a black man invading their home. This is all today's news. Obama is silent. Should he make commnets on everyday crimes? Of course not - but he does only when blacks are arrested (Cambridge, MA) or killed in an altercation.

Jack London| 3.29.12 @ 4:59PM

You are missing the point. In the case say of the two Brits, the kid who shot them has been convicted and will serve life without parole. Justice has been done and been seen to be done. If Obama was to comment on every homicide he would get no work done. The Martin case is special because it is only through media exposure that the case is moving forward, although of course it is far from alone in being such a case, but it's so blatant that it would be a dereliction not to be concerned.

mike siroky| 3.29.12 @ 5:16PM

No, you are missing the point. It took prosecutors more than three months to build evidence against Shawn Tyson and arrest him. Meanwhile Obama was silent. If Obama wants justice done, he should allow local and state law enforcement to do their job. He isn't concerned about the slowness of the process - there are many slow investigations all over the country - only about signalling empathy with the supposed "victim" who is black.

Jack London| 3.29.12 @ 5:26PM

Two things.

First, what is the evidence that Sanford was proceeding with any investigation. They have a history here as well in cover ups.

Second, Obama commented on Martin because of questions from reporters at a World Bank statement. A case that makes such national headlines is a reasonable one for a president to comment on when asked to.

mike siroky| 3.30.12 @ 8:57AM

You clearly are not reading the news. Not only has the Sanford Police interviewed Zimmerman, at least two eyewitnesses and Martin's girlfriend but the DA and State of Florida are alos involved in the investigation.

Second, if asked a question, how about responding as a President should? " This is a tragedy for all concerned and I have faith that the local and state authorities will carry out their jobs as required by law." What he said about Martin looking like his "son" is a lie. Obama's son would be attending Sidwell Friends School, not Miami Dade schools. Obama's son would not be suspended multiple times from school. Obama's son would not be delinquent and failinjg in school. In fact, Obama's son would probably be in Acapulco with the rest of the family on another vacation, and not in Florida at all.

Larry| 3.29.12 @ 10:01PM

The Martin case is "special" because it gives the Usurper an opportunity to demagogue further on the subject of race and further solidify his base. That is the real problem.

Arron| 3.29.12 @ 4:43PM

I couldn't get past the first page of the article because the author got so many of the actual facts in the case wrong.

Moose| 3.29.12 @ 4:49PM

For those who do not know the author, he is a Professor of Psychology at Rutgers University. Prof. Tucker appears to be trying to say, let the evidence come out before anyone makes a decision then he turns around and tries to make a case against conservatives. Prof. Tucker, you can't have it both ways. You can't complain about Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Rush Limbaugh, the Sanford Police Department, etc. and say, "Republicans have no reason to intervene in this fight" unless you also say the same thing about Democrats Barack Obama, Al Sharpton, Jessie Jackson, Spike Lee, The New Black Panthers and other liberal interlopers. Is this the way you teach your students at Rutgers? If it is, I'm glad I got my degree 45 years ago when they taught instead of indoctrinated.

martin j smith| 3.29.12 @ 5:03PM

Mr Tucker-what is your political affiliation. ?
Which political party are registered as ?
Are you a David Brooks " Conservative" or are you a paid Obama supporter ? In any case if you are as they call it a RINO or a " Moderate" it shows and in my judgement it is extremely destructive because you support the divisive policies of Obama. So if I see any similar articles you write and the theme is similar I will ignore them.

Henry| 3.29.12 @ 5:12PM

Dear Mr. Tucker, perhaps you should read both sides of the story instead of just the pablum the mainstream media wants to feed us. Try going to the City of Sanford website and downloading the reports and 911 calls. Mr Zimmerman wasn't "Self-appointed" nor was he told to stop following Trayvon. He was told "We don't need you to do that" by a dispatcher, not a police officer. Mr. Zimmerman says that he was attacked by Trayvon and at least one witness corroborates his story. He was the one screaming for help, not Trayvon. Anyway, why don't we let all the agencies now involved sort it out and go back to watching Dancing with the Stars or whatever.

Sean| 3.29.12 @ 5:23PM

First anyone has the right to monitor their own homes and neighborhoods. Anyone that is not recognizable or acting strangely should be questioned. Regular citizens retain this right and it isn't reserved solely to the police. If I see a suspicious character in my neighborhood I always watch them and sometimes question them.
Second Martin is the one by all evidence came after Zimmerman.
Third Zimmerman was arrested and taken for questioning. He was then released because self defense was believable in this case.

Mr. Jonz| 3.29.12 @ 5:23PM

So many people seem to know exactly what happened that night. Must have been quite a mob.

Ken| 3.29.12 @ 5:29PM

Personally I can't wait for Romney to get offstage so we can pick a REAL Republican and get on with the campaign against Obama.
Meanwhile Mr. Tucker not only has jumped on the RINO Romney Express, he's now taking the liberal line on this Trayvon case. Mr. Tucker, wouldn't you be more comfortable writing for Nation than American Spectator?

bigfurhat | 3.29.12 @ 5:40PM

What a pantload from this pretentious prig of an author. Can you arrange your scarf any more fussily?
First of all, counting you out of the Martin case would means I shouldn't be reading an essay about how you're keeping out of this.
Second of all, who on the right is saying Zimmerman shouldn't be charged?
From the very beginning when I reported this story weeks ago I said Zimmerman should be charged. I also have jumped into the fray in RESPONSE to the left's high-tech lynching of Zimmerman, and the absolute revulsion to the media's attempt to sway the court of public opinion by running pictures of a 12 year-old, and providing the usual tidbits of how he was such a nice boy. He wasn't a nice boy and he didn't deserved to be killed and Zimmerman should be judged by a jury of his peers, which YOU SIR, are not. You've got Zimmerman pegged as an overzealous moron who is a pain in the a$$ to law enforcement, a cowboy, a punk... and Treyvon looks like Obama's kid and any attempts at reporting facts about him is smearing.
I'm glad you stayed out of this one, if you decided to weigh in your blowhardness just might create a climate crisis.

SgtP USMC| 3.29.12 @ 5:40PM

Now here is a textbook example of a strawman argument. NOBODY is defending Zimmerman. NOBODY is saying he shouldn't face charges.

What they are saying is that the Dems are in a headlong rush to judgment for crass political purposes. Zimmerman might be guilty, but that is up to the police and DA to figure out. That is all I've heard anyone on the right say.

Jack London| 3.29.12 @ 5:47PM

'Zimmerman might be guilty, but that is up to the police and DA to figure out.'

Are you confident that the police and DA were busy figuring it out?

Larry| 3.29.12 @ 10:05PM

Jack London, I am as confident that they will figure it out as you are unconfident that they won't. What I have a problem with is: where is the probable cause to arrest? There is none right now. None. So give it a rest and let the police and the DA do their job.

SgtP USMC| 3.30.12 @ 1:16AM

Do you have any evidence that they are not?

Raving Rabbi| 3.29.12 @ 5:45PM

I'm not sure if you're following the bouncing ball, Mr. Tucker. Point by point:
“…apparently because he's never seen the kid before”
No, because he looks like he’s on drugs, he seems to be acting erratically. Listen to 911 call by GMZ.
Please mention too that it’s a Gated Community, so someone who doesn’t live there needs to explain why he’s there (he was visiting a friend who did live there).
“is specifically told by the operator not to pursue the kid any further”
No, the operator says “we don’t need you to do that”, not “Don’t do that!”
“Zimmerman is inept enough so that the kid soon realizes he is being pursued.”
Probably more inept than that – he said on the 911 call that “he’s now looking right at me.”
Also, GMZ said, “[Not into receiver] F*** no (or “coons” or “punks”) – [back into phone receiver] he’s starting to run!” GMZ thought he “lost him”, but apparently TM circled back.
“But no, the Sanford police choose to take Zimmerman's story at face value.”
They didn’t – some in the PD recommended an arrest & trial, but the prosecutor said that there wasn’t enough to convict.
Also please realize that a week ago, the goal of the opposition to GMZ was to get his Concealed Carry Permit and gun away from him; in the past week, it morphed into a “Justice for Trayvon”, even a “Wanted Dead or Alive” by the Kook fringe.
“…containing a clause saying a person can use deadly force if he fears for his life…”
There’s also a requirement to do all you can reasonably to avoid a deadly confrontation. He satisfied that, in the eyes of the police, when he said, “I was yelling for help, but nobody would help me!”
P.S. Where are the voice prints from the 911 call, where the fellow calling even opens the window so you could clearly hear the frantic shouts of “Help me! Help me!” before the shot and silence. We need to know who was the yeller!
“…every one of these patrols has at least one wannabe cop… Reining these people in is a principal task…”
Actually, they added fuel to the fire in a Neighborhood Watch talk by a policeman who told them that since there was a rash of burglaries, they should call TOO OFTEN rather than not often enough. Signs say, we report all suspicious activity, which might have included Trayvon’s Cool Walk that looked too much like a drug addled walk.
“Once a fight begins, can't Martin stand his ground as well?”
Yes, he can even twist GMZ’s arm or pin him – but he can’t hit his head against the ground. And he has to be repeating, “I just need you to stop following me, okay?”, so GMZ knows that he doesn’t mean to inflict harm, he just means to protect his space.
“Obama's comment is ‘disgraceful’ and ‘appalling,’ ‘trying to turn this into a racial issue.’”
If he was empathizing, he would then follow it for a call that cooler heads prevail, that he would ask for the DOJ to investigate but that in the meantime, let’s all sit back and wait for the wheels of justice to turn.
“George Zimmerman introduced race into the incident at the beginning when he decided to follow Martin because of the way he looked.”
There had been multiple burglaries in this racially diverse gated community, and the 2 people caught (Emmanuel Burgess, Jabari Shelley) were young black males, the burglars seen by victims Andrea Velez & Olivia Bertalan were young black males, and the loiterers who jumped the outside wall when spotted were young black males. GMZ looking for an out-of-place young black male was not unreasonable.
“And all this is supposed to suggest he deserved to be shot?”
No, it’s supposed to suggest that there are two distinct possibilities about what happened, and that we shouldn’t presume guilt for GMZ and a botch for the Sanford police & mayor.
“Suppose black people decided to absorb the lesson and start patrolling their own neighborhoods with guns, challenging every "suspicious" white person who comes along and relying on "Stand Your Ground" in case anything goes wrong?”
Sounds good. I like the idea of blacks taking responsibility for crime in their neighborhoods, especially if they’re suspicious of police. I also think they should serve notice that they’ll be noticing anybody that looks out of place. Since the guns are Concealed Carry, it should not cause escalation of reasonable, professional questioning.
Suppose the opposite happens – neighborhood watch people become fearful that they will end up losing a couple years of their life, perhaps their freedom, if they try to be Good Citizens. Is THAT good for the Republic?
BOTTOM LINE: We need to tread here, tread lightly and carefully, ask for patience and a thorough investigation, and ask those that have the power – like Obama – to do the same.
I don’t think Obama meant to inflame with his “If I had a son…” remark, I think he just meant, “Please don’t look at him as a probable thug, look at him as a potential President of the US.” Still, a call for suspending judgment might have saved a Walgreen’s and a couple of streets, maybe even cooled the rhetoric a bit.

Ted Galey| 3.29.12 @ 5:46PM

I found this article as bad as the rest of the numerous non-informed and biased commentaries on the Trayvon Martin case and it’s wide ranging but associated commentaries like this one. The author states, "Wouldn't it be better to utter a few words of regret and move on to something more political?" Perhaps the author should heed the concept embedded in his own advice for Newt Gingrich and move on to something that he has a clue about.
BTW it is pretty clear that the Republican/Conservative elites and pundits made a decision about Newt early on and have carried on an annihilation effort on him from the outset. Dispassionate assessment of Newt's policy positions and ideas might better serve to educate the readers about his competencies and short comings than snide snipping. Conservative elitism and lecturing of us unwashed and uneducated, uninformed masses are really, really no better than having the liberals do it. Give us the information and some thoughtful less pejorative analysis and we can figure it out.

Larry| 3.29.12 @ 10:09PM

There has been NO dispassionate criticism of Newt or Newt's ideas. I suspect that he has p.o.ed some conservative media types in the past, and that this is payback for that. Most of the criticism has been heated, lacking in perspective, and focuses in more on his personal life than anything else. The man has flaws, but he also has principled vision, courage, and intelligence to lead this country out of the nightmare it is in right now.

Michele San Pietro| 3.29.12 @ 5:46PM

I think Zimmermann must definitely pay for what I did, and I agree that this sad event shouldn't be turned in a political issue anyway.

The Bruce| 3.30.12 @ 12:47AM

Do you think he should "pay" even if he's completely innocent?

Michele San Pietro| 4.1.12 @ 2:40PM

He's clearly guilty!

Nick| 4.1.12 @ 10:12PM

You're clearly an ignorant fool, San Pietro!

Thom| 3.29.12 @ 5:50PM

William,

Assuming this isn’t your attempt at parity, you've committed so many "sins" here with regard to your logic that I could write my own book on the grievous errors of your thinking process here but I'll stay on the most important parts of your "sins".

You don't know what the "facts" are in this case. All you know is what has been reported that you’ve selected grasped on to.

The source of most of that is questionable until said time an official ruling can be rendered. The Police there have said the evidence they have supports Zimmerman's statements. You've made several remarks in your essay here that pass judgment on Zimmerman's motives without a shred of evidence to support that while completely overlooking Zimmerman was beat up not Martin. The shooting occurred during the beating with Zimmerman on the bottom and is backed up by a witness or more. You conveniently omit that as one of your "facts". "Stand your ground" laws have nothing to do with this case. Since you hail from NYC I won't expect you to understand the finer points of "self defense" which outside of places like NYC and Chicago don't require you to let someone beat on you under any circumstances. I weighed 137 in my senior year and am 5'11". Martin is what?

I strongly suspect that if "Zimmerman" had been a 100 lb female and that same sort of outcome would have taken place we wouldn't be hearing from you on this matter. The hypocritical double standard us males find on this matter is wide spread and you are making that same hypocritical case here whether you realize that or not.

To demonstrate the faulty nature of some of your thinking and many of those others ruled by the emotion of the matter I've got some questions you need to answer from the "facts" you think you know about this case.

1) When did Zimmerman know Martin was "unarmed"? When did Zimmerman know Martin was "unarmed". Before or during the beating he took? In some states a certain degree level in Marital Arts makes one "armed" under their laws. We don't require Marital Arts people wear signs stating that fact do we? My Black Belt 10th degree instructor would have killed Martin in one move with his bare fist.

2) When did Zimmerman know the "race" of Martin? When did Martin know the "race" of Zimmerman? Before the beating or during? You can determine the "race" of someone with their head covered by a hood at night in the rain from what distance? I routinely wear a "hood" and gloves in the winter when I walk at night. I'm a "regular" in the neighborhoods I walk through at night. That does not included gated communities. What I “think” is not the same thing as a “fact”.

3) Law enforcement created "Community Watch" programs and to say Zimmerman is "self appointed" would suggest membership in such programs is subject to some higher authority that you approve of. Have you walked around at night wearing a "hoodie" in any Gated communities around NYC's famous 'hoods" lately? I don't recommend it. Your “white” face and hands might be what saves your life.

4) If Zimmerman hadn't been armed the way he was and shot Martin and Martin beat him senseless or worse please tell us the virtue of that outcome? I don't think you can answer that with a straight face. Please leave your NYC attitude in NYC where roving gangs of "teenagers" just beat up or gang rape anyone they wish because they know their chances of meeting some one that can defend themselves is virtually nill. They don't do this where I live because self-defense is not a privilege for high income well connected people like you find in NYC.

5) If Zimmerman had been an auxiliary out of uniform policeman or plain clothes security guard for the gated community and the outcome been the same would we be hearing from you on this matter? If the answer is no then you are a hypocrite. If yes then every person assigned to a security function in our society is subject to mandatory criminal prosecutions without regard to the "facts" in the matter and you make a mockery of our inalienable right of self-defense. Choose.

I don't pretend to be Judge, Jury and Executioner here given the lack of accurate reporting and agendas being pushed by the vast majority of those reporting on this but the evidence the Police have to work with supports Zimmerman's story else he would have been charged. Only Zimmerman and Martin know what started the "fight" and Marin isn't talking. We do know with virtual certainty that Zimmerman did not pull a gun and just shoot Martin down as some wish to believe. Your belief that he should still be charged with manslaughter undermines the whole point of self-defense. Under civilized laws the "aggressor" loses his immunity and presumption of innocence. Your view seems to be based on "let no good deed go unpunished". I think your world view would change if someone had you on the ground beating you senseless and you couldn't stop it without resorting to deadly force. Since it appears you apparently see no justification for the use of deadly force I hope someone wanting an easy "mark" doesn't run you down to make an "example" of you. You sound like the perfect patsy for a New Black Panthers training program. Try spraying someone on top of you with Pepper spray and see how well that works out for you….

Opinions, yours or mine have no merit in this matter unless you also think lynch MOBs are the order of the day. Your arguments support the wishes of the MOB, none of which know what the police know at this point. Unlike the 73% that get their "facts" from for profit seeking media outlets that are immune to slander laws and outright lying I don't get my "facts" from people with an agenda. If you do then you've committed a grievous "sin" here for someone wanting to be taken as a “journalist”. If this is a parity of sorts then well done but we really don't need more "grievance" horseh. t being paraded into the public arena. We get all of that we need from the "grievance and extortion" firm of Farrakhan, Jackson, Obama and Sharpton.

If you actually believe what you have written William, there is a very high paying job waiting for you at Farrakhan, Jackson, Obama and Sharpton. Trust me on this. If Zimmerman is charged, put on trial and is acquitted then I fully expect you to pay his full legal bill since you are part of the MOB screaming that justice won’t be done until he is personally and economically ruined. Using the legal system as a political tool is common in our society and just from my vantage point I think those that parrot this policy should be guilty of a crime and punished accordingly but “hey that’s just me”.

Steve1993| 3.29.12 @ 6:08PM

Sadly this article is factually incorrect. Just one key example; the 911 operator did not say that Mr. Zimmerman was not to follow Mr. Martin. Rather, the operator said he did not need to follow Mr. Martin. By factually misrepresenting the evidence this author is contributing to the problem in lieu of offer something of value to the situation at hand.

Steve1993| 3.29.12 @ 6:08PM

Shaboe Delucks| 3.29.12 @ 6:25PM

Please adjust your medication. It'll help to stop writing inane articles based on fairy tales told in the MSM. Not one thing in your "article" is a fact. Perhaps you set out to mock the MSM and we're missing it?

Eddie York| 3.29.12 @ 6:34PM

FUN FACTS about William Tuckers "Vigilante: The Backlash Against Crime in America"

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,698,910 in Books

William, settle down Son. In your rush to Justice you left out the interference caused by Obama, Sharpton, Jackson, Farahkahn, New Black Panthers and newbie rocket scientist Spike Lee.

Settle down, be an honorable & ethical amature writer and begin your next essay based entirely on facts.

Recall Obama's premature ejaculation 3 years ago over Cambridge Police arresting a Black Man who kicked in the front door of a home and he was not carrying any I.D. Well, Obama called that Cop "Stupid" publicly.

bigfurhat | 3.29.12 @ 6:37PM

"and is specifically told by the operator not to pursue the kid any further."

This author actually BOLDED this statement he completely fabricated.

They never told him NOT to pursue the kid.
They said, "we don't NEED you to do that."
Far different.

Words mean things.

Roy| 3.29.12 @ 7:02PM

It is, nonetheless, obvious in context that they meant he should cut it out. It's pretty common usage.

Kingofthenet| 3.29.12 @ 6:47PM

'Stand your Ground' and other 'Castle' Laws, allow a homeowner to 'Hunt Down' and kill ANYONE on their property without their permission. It ASSUMES any intruder is there to kill you.So as an example, I talked about a thief in the garage stealing a lawnmower. with Stand your ground, you hear someone in the garage, grab your gun, find them and kill them. You can even shoot them if they have NO weapon, and are running AWAY from you.

Nick| 3.29.12 @ 9:06PM

I suggest that you test your theory out somewhere in Florida, KooK!

Roy| 3.29.12 @ 7:00PM

I see Tucker has taken a break from promoting nuclear subsidies to give "fellow conservatives" advice.

I suppose all I would do about Obama's comment is wearily point out the same old double standard: Suppose a white kid named Joey gets shot by gangsters in a neighborhood from which the police have been driven by race-card demagogues. President Bush goes on TV and says "If I had a son, he'd look like Joey."

Media reaction?

As for the rest: maybe, maybe not. I'll leave it up to a jury.

Boar Hunter| 3.29.12 @ 7:08PM

Dear Mr. William Tucker

Lets go over the facts you say?

Your choice of words and your biased characterization of this event is simply stunning.

The animal you so euphemistically refer to as a "kid" is 6'2" tall, sports gold teeth and tattoo's and goes by the name "NO LIMIT NIGGA" on twitter. The most recent photo of Trayvon, flipping the camera his middle finger, was obtained by the British media, as ours apparently was content to use the four year old photo of Trayvon looking like he just one first prize at a spelling bee.

I would also like to note that your innocent little angle Trayvon has been suspended from school repeatedly, once for possession of a screwdriver and a bag of women's jewelry. He apparently sold and used drugs, previously bragged of assaulting a bus driver and instructed/encouraged one of his "homies" to shoot another person for lying. In essence, Trayvon was a criminal. He embraced the criminal life style and had no socially redeeming value.

It was so generous of you to use your editorial skills to inform everyone, as a factual account, how this innocent "kid" had simply walked to the corner for a snack at halftime of an NBA All-Star Game and nothing more. In response to your narrative that while Trayvon was "On his way back," I would like to know how it is that you know where Trayvon was going? I personally am uncertain how you were able to divine Trayvon's motives or actions in relation to a basketball game or if you even thought to learn whether or not halftime occurred during little Trayvon's walk to the store. It would be nice for example to learn if little Trayvon paid for his snacks at the store or if he stole them. If it were Zimmerman we would know everything.

However, never deigning to assign any but the most pure motives to Trayvon's presence in the neighborhood except for the "factual" one you assigned, you go on to depict Trayvon as an innocent little lamb who lost its way, rather than what Zimmerman or any of the other neighbors would have seen that night which was a 6'2" tall black man in a hooded sweat shirt skulking around between their homes in the rain.

In the most outrageous example of personal bias imaginable, you next begin to castigate and ridicule the behavior of Zimmerman. Amazingly you describe how Trayvon was "spotted by one George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old self-appointed neighborhood crime watcher who decides Martin looks suspicious, apparently because he's never seen the kid before."

First of all, this "self-appointed neighborhood crime watcher" did not manufacture and post the sign depicted in the photograph at the beginning of your detestable article. The "neighborhood watch" program is a legitimate national program designed by law enforcement to encourage members of the law abiding public to report crime and suspicious behavior to them, which some members of the public are still curiously not inclined to do. I wonder what effect your article will have in chilling future participation in this program.

Although you cannot imagine saying anything that would detract from the innocent motives of Trayvon, you cannot resist interjecting your opinion that Zimmerman felt Trayvon looked suspicious "apparently because he's never seen the kid before."

The flippant nature and transparent ignorance of your comments boggles the mind. According to your "facts," Zimmerman called the police simply because a kid he's never seen before was walking down the street or sidewalk in his neighborhood. Really? If your facts are accurate, then Zimmerman stalked an innocent kid on his way home, "obviously intending to use the gun on him" and his first act was to call the police? Sound like a good start to an insanity defense to me.

In the interest of brevity, contrary to your claim that "What happened next is under dispute" I call bullshit. "Maybe it happened, maybe it didn't" is a crock. The two did not end up fighting, Zimmerman was beaten up by Trayvon in the presence of three witnesses.

You continue to act "stupidly" by next disparaging the police in complete contradiction to the facts you claim to hold so dear, claiming the police simply deferred to Zimmerman's account and dismissed the matter in some lackadaisical manner. I would remind you that despite his injuries and the accounts of three witnesses the police still referred the matter for prosecution consideration.

Since you apparently view having your head repeatedly slammed into a side walk to be "an ambiguous situation" as it relates to Zimmerman having demonstrated any reasonable fear for his life or "great bodily harm" I guess it's no surprise that you side with the criminal.

I thank God there are still men in this country who are willing to stand up and take action when warranted. Men who are still willing to say "lets roll" even when others sit in their seats and wait for the plane to crash like you.

LOL, Poor racist white hispanic Zimmerman. I understand he continued to care for two black teenage girls out of his own pocket even after the government funding stopped. What a model of racism LOL. Just like you, no one cares about the facts beyond a "black kid" got shot. The facts are irrelevant. All violence in response is justified. Nothing matters to the real racists. They burn with blind hatred and their hypocrisy is lost on them.

Larry| 3.29.12 @ 10:16PM

This is part of the problem in America, particularly in many African-American communities. If you are right about the facts on Trayvon, Boar Hunter (I'm not doubting you; I just haven't read much about the kid and if you have sources, I'd really like to see them), Trayvon's mother is the typical enabler and some African-American communities have a lot of them.

Until the African-American communities stand up with one voice and say, we will NOT TOLERATE crime, bad behavior, lack of incentive; until African-American communities shed the culture of welfarism and the culture of the single mom and all of the damage that has been created by the absence of black male father figures in the family; until there is a culture of pride in achievement that does NOT include how many drugs I can sell, women I can whore, and homies I can shoot - there will continue to be chaos and race-baiting in America.

Bob| 3.29.12 @ 7:26PM

Wow, I didn't think we had one of you in the American Spectator. I'll be avoiding Mr. Tucker from now on. Clearly he uses emotions and not facts in constructing arguments, which is a liberal strategy.

Carey Rowland | 3.29.12 @ 7:54PM

Whatever happens, a jury should hear and decide, in a court of law, what the facts of the case are, and Mr. Zimmerman's culpability. That's what due process of law, prescribed in our Constitution, is for.

Larry| 3.29.12 @ 10:22PM

There is an important legal concept you have missed: probable cause. What probable cause, given the known facts, is there to even take this case to a grand jury, much less a criminal jury? I have seen none yet. Some probable cause may yet come along, but give this a thought: why would anyone even SAY that there should be a trial, given the known facts? As a lawyer myself, I would ask you to consider that and the following: if it were you, would you want to go through a trial simply because someone who didn't like you demanded it, if you knew you had done nothing wrong and there was no basis to even arrest you much less charge you?

Yes, if more facts come in that would show probable cause that a crime has been committed, then let's go to the grand jury, let's arrest Zimmerman and let him have bail, and let's have our trial. But not a moment sooner than that, please.

DeShantavious Simkins| 3.29.12 @ 7:57PM

This has got to be a parody. Sometimes it is hard to tell.
The scarf is one giveaway, but nobody out of academia is that silly as "William Tucker".

russ in nc| 3.29.12 @ 8:05PM

Y'all can stop beating up on Mr Tucker now. His point is indisputable. Newt and Santorum had no business commenting on the shooting. Romney is keeping his eye on the ball. He seems to be the only one.

Larry| 3.29.12 @ 10:26PM

No, russ, his point is NOT "indisputable." If the left is going to have their say, we, and Santorum and Gingrich, are going to have ours. They have as much right to comment as you and I do. And probably a bit more sense. That Romney has chosen not to comment is something I would hold against him.

Fredrick Ward| 3.29.12 @ 8:15PM

Tucker,
You sound like one of the many Liberals who have weighed in on this case. Secondly, the GOP did not politicize this; the Democrats did. Third, there was an eye witness to the altercation. The witness did not see the shot fired, but he did see Zimmerman being attacked by the boy. Therefore, your inference that the the police only have the word of Zimmerman is absolutely false. I recall another writer on this site who stated that France was preferential to the USA. I, and many others, told him that he needs to consider relocating. I recommend the same to you. Find another group to write for that suits the obvious Liberalism you are supporting.

MikeG| 3.29.12 @ 8:42PM

Why don't we wait till the facts are in before we convict Zimmerman.

Rich D| 3.29.12 @ 9:00PM

Punj| 3.29.12 @ 4:27PM
Let me guess; you prefer to get your "facts" from bigots (Breitbart), college dropouts (Limbaugh) and race baiters like Hannity.
------

???! Gates and Jobs were college dropouts. How many degrees do you have and how much money?

Nick| 3.29.12 @ 9:07PM

Excellent point, Rich D.

albert constantine jr.| 3.29.12 @ 11:58PM

It was kind of fun, though, when Florida "Bill" and Punj had troll on troll friendly fire going, though.

Bugs| 3.29.12 @ 9:05PM

I absolutely agree with the basics of your article. Zimmerman went looking for trouble - with a gun - and he found it. However, I think most of the "conservative" reaction to the case is not based on a desire to see Zimmerman get off scot-free. I don't think anyone has a problem with examining the incident more deeply, getting more details, and calling Zimmerman to account if necessary. What repels most of us is the appearance of an angry mob trying to intimidate the justice system. You know the formula: "Convict Zimmerman or we'll burn down the city!" This should not be allowed.

Larry| 3.29.12 @ 9:45PM

William Tucker, if you are "out" on this, why did you even write a column about it? Just to stir the pot some more and take shots at all of the non-Romney GOP candidates?

Get serious. If the Usurper is going to weigh in on this (and his remarks are still somewhat premature, even if his "Trayvon looks like the son I might have had), he is doing it for political purposes. The race-baiting had already begun before Gingrich got into this, so I say keep your mouth shut and pay attention to what is going on in this country.

That having been said, here is my own take on your piece and the Zimmerman affair (the first Zimmerman affair got us into war; I agree that the second one could easily land us there).

The cops took Zimmerman's story, which you described as I have understood it. The cops then interviewed a witness who corroborated Zimmerman's story. The injuries on Zimmerman were also consistent with both Zimmerman's account and with the witness story. These are facts you neglected to mention in your piece. And don't give me any excuses about "deadlines." If you weren't so eager and half-cocked to bash Gingrich, you would have waited before you opened your mouth and inserted foot in.

Now, given these facts and you are the cops, do you see any probable cause to arrest him at this point? If you do, you have no idea what probable cause is. I suggest that we all wait for more investigation before we sound off further on the case itself. The left is already playing politics with this. If there is a special prosecutor for this incident, let him do his job and proceed to a grand jury. The rest of us need to tell the left to go pound sand.

Does the fact that Gingrich said something mitigate the fact that the New Black Panther Party has a bounty on the head of Zimmerman? Does it change the fact that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton were already out there agitating before Gingrich supposedly spouted off?

Blind hate of Gingrich is the thing I am more worried about in this country than anything going on with Zimmerman Affair II. William Tucker, man, I admire your writings on a lot of previous stuff - but man, you are the one who needs to chill here.

Skeptic| 3.29.12 @ 9:49PM

"We don't need you to do that." is not the same as "and is specifically told by the operator not to pursue the kid any further. "

Don't you love it when people misquote authoritatively? You can tell a reporter is misleading you when the police report and 911 calls have been on the city web site for at least a week and their report shows evidence of not reading the report or listening to all the 911 recordings.

Larry| 3.29.12 @ 9:58PM

A follow up point on vigilantism: it appears that Zimmerman took the dispatcher's advice to let the cops follow up on this kid, and in general, I have no brook with the idea of "neighborhood watch" groups - IF (and this is a big IF) they do nothing to put either themselves or others in greater harm by their activities.

Most neighborhood watch groups (that includes my neighborhood) keep their eyes and ears open, and promptly report suspicious activity to the police. We have helped the cops catch several criminally-minded individuals and deterred others from trying to commit crime in our area just by reporting alone.

The reason that you, the average neighbor, has no business trying to intervene in a situation such as the one Zimmerman got himself into is because you have NO TRAINING in apprehension and investigation like normal police do. Unless someone sticks a gun into someone else's face and is in the process of robbing them, simply because someone who "looks suspicious" to you doesn't mean they are about to commit a crime. Looking suspicious can mean looking for "black." Which is part of the problem here with people who know less than the police do about law enforcement.

I don't always trust or approve of the things that the police do. But they still know more than most folks about who the bad guys really are. We should let them do their job, while being helpful to them if and when we can.

Pete | 3.29.12 @ 10:02PM

The fact that what the President said was factually correct does not mean that he did not take time from his busy schedule to make political hay from a terrible tragedy to deftly and subtlely deal the race card. And that is disgraceful. If the president cannot use these moments as teachable, perhaps he should just keep his mouth shut.

Lord Elrond| 3.29.12 @ 10:05PM

Your statement that Zimmerman 'ignored' the 911 operators advice to withdraw is a fairly bald conjecture in light of the fact that there is actually testimony that suggests he did not 'ignore' this advice. At worst we can say we don't KNOW what Zimmerman did after the 911 call. To declare that he ignored this advice and pursued Martin is unsupported by the facts as they are known.

Also, the last time I checked, someone following you wasn't a legitimate provocation to confront him and beat him viciously as IS proven by Zimmerman's injuries.

Your opinion simply sounds like cheerleading for Sharpton and his gang of race baiters.

I lived in NY when Sharpton propagated the Tawana Brawley hoax. There's a district attorney still waiting to collect monetary damages from Sharpton. I think that should also be considered into the legitimacy of any statements coming from the Trayvon Martin side of things.

Hal Chapman| 3.29.12 @ 10:15PM

Mr. Tucker, I would like to hear your comments about the two black students setting a white student on fire in Kansas City, or the three blacks that killed a Miss. State Student; or the blacks that ran through a Wal Greens looting and destroying the place protesting the Trayvon incident; Also would like your comment of the million dollar bounty that has been issued by the New Black Panthers; how about Spike Lee's "tweeting" the wrong address of Mr. Zimmermann, now an elderly couple are being threaten by the "posse". If you are going to condemn some people for what is going on, then let's be fair, condemn them all, not just one side.

TTJ| 3.30.12 @ 12:02AM

Mr. Tucker gives us a very sensible opinion. It's good to know there are still sensible, thinking people around and that not everyone has gone nuts.

The Bruce| 3.30.12 @ 12:23AM

I can certainly agree with this in a way, because the "facts" that the author asserts here are anything but -- they're his opinions, which is mistakenly reports as facts.

SetOurChildrenFree | 3.30.12 @ 12:03AM

You're wrong William, very wrong. I hardly know where to start, but let's start with the media and Obama. Both were wrong to jump to conclusions before all the facts were in, and a sitting president should have learned his lesson from the Gates incident where he said the cops acted stupidly. The media should also have learned their lesson from the Duke lacrosse fiasco.

Besides the media and the president, people like yourselves also have no business rushing to judgment without all the facts. Let's assume Zimmerman was lying and he purposely chased Travon and gunned him down like you seem to imply. In that case, he should be arrested and booked for murder/manslaughter. But what if he is telling the truth? He does have several witnesses to back his story that he was being beaten badly. The cops also have verified he had injuries and grass stains on his back. He and his wife have tutored black kids and one of his black friends is standing up for him. It was his voice screaming for help on the 911 call, and it is his duty as a neighborhood watch captain to check out suspicious activity, particularly if it fits the profile of burglaries that had been taking place. And if you've read Travon's tweets, as well as his school record, you get the picture that this isn't the choir boy the media paints him to be. All of these things are facts that we do know. It doesn't prove anything, but it certainly contradicts the portrait of Zimmerman that you seem to paint in your article.

We still don't know all of the facts concerning the attack itself, but why not wait until both parties get their day in court to draw conclusions? Writing an article like you did can only fan the flames of racial hatred, making you no better than the race hustlers like Jackson and Sharpton.

POST American| 3.30.12 @ 12:18AM

----Tavistock managed '90's Show' chain puller op-----

------------------------RED ALERT!-------------------------

Meanwhile, still awaiting that sustained
and unflinching coverage of the likely murder of
Andrew Breitrbart and the 'memory holing'
of the substance of his Obama college video(s).

Remember kiddies! in this, the 11th hour of the
CFR Globalist RED China handover, takedown
TREASON and EUGENICS op,
the 'wreck-dom' you worship
---could be your own.

TRULY

WL| 3.30.12 @ 1:11AM

I don't really recall anyone saying he should just be let go (Zimmerman)....I recall our side standing up for Zimmerman's right to due process.

However, this article and the comments are the perfect example of why we always lose and have to do our best to accomplish an orderly retreat.

The left fires all rhetorical guns at us.
Our side is full of people who fire 1/3 of their rhetorical guns at the Left, and 2/3 of their rhetorical guns at ourselves.
How do you win against that? The answer is, you don't.
Newt and Rick have done nothing wrong here...and NO Mr. "Green Revolution" Tucker...we don't have to accept their bullcrap because you are scared for the Republicans to take a stand...

Isn't it funny how we all know that our side loses because their aren't enough balls to go around...yet, when anyone on our side tries to possess some balls...their are always conservative sites publishing "conservative" authors...who are eager to turn around and kick US square in the BALLS.

I am getting sick of this garbage...and I am starting to think that the left is right about two things....the conservative movement is full of a bunch of reactionary cowards. To me, some of you are no better than the dead eyed zombie mobs of the left.

WL| 3.30.12 @ 1:16AM

I don't know about the rest of you...but I am sick of being on the side of a bunch of losers. Sorry folks...that's the way I see it. I don't think we should fashion what we do or say after these no good Liberals and lowlife mobs who hate us NO MATTER WHAT WE DO!!!! Can't you get that Tucker???? They hate us and make us out to be monsters NO MATTER WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FOOLS ...FOOOLS...FOOLS.

I am sick of being a loser, and I am getting more and MORE convinced that our side is just full of people who want to LOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WL| 3.30.12 @ 1:24AM

I mean CRAP!! We talk about the left's supporters being in love with the plantation that their masters put them on....but, it's about high time we start asking ourselves if we are really the ones with Stockholm syndrome inflicted on us by our Plantation Masters....

To hell with you Tucker...and any of you unwitting morons who can't see what this ilk does TIME AND TIME AGAIN...The get our side all worked up for a confrontation with the left and their ORK mobs....only to shoot anyone in the back who actually tries to do anything other than sit in the trenches and bellyache with them.

RB| 3.30.12 @ 1:50AM

Obviously Tucker does not live in Florida or knows nothing of the Laws down here. Anytime someone is killed their is an Investigation, if the person responsible is not arrested on the spot does not mean the Investigation is over.
Contrary to popular belief crime especialy violent crime is NOT going down. Property crime is also soaring especialy with all the vaccant homes down here.If Martin felt thretened by Zimmerman why didn't he call the Police. The Law here is not the problem. Since you mentioned New York how is it that the Crime there is much worse with the strictest gun laws in the Country.

Kingofthenet| 3.30.12 @ 1:51AM

The Police Forensics work that night certainly wasn't up to CSI:Miami level, they didn't photograph 'injuries' to Zimmerman, they didn't mark the location of the fight EXACTLY? A man died, you need to AT LEAST do the basics.

seanmom| 4.1.12 @ 4:17AM

TV is not reality. This is reality. The police responded to a report of a possible intruder in a gated community (btw, this is one of those places where you live in a gated community because you want to be safe, not because you have money). They show up to find Zimmerman beat up, and Trayvon dead. Zimmerment cooperates, goes with them, goes to the station, is interviewed, and the DA decides there is not enough evidence to charge him with anything.

Why? Because shooting someone who is beating you up is SELF-DEFENSE. Under Florida, you are justified in using deadly force if you believe your are in imminent danger of your life or of being severely harmed. Trayvon, according to witnesses, was beating Zimmerman's head against the ground. SO Zimmerman used his LEGAL firearm to defend himself. End of story.

Until a month later, when the Administration fed the story to Charles Blow, who wrote an op-ed in the New York Times, which he puffed by tweeting it out the night before.

The police did their jobs. You have them confused with scripted, fictional characters. Like the president, for example.

Brian| 3.30.12 @ 1:57AM

I know this is a bit off topic, but I'm having trouble understanding the convervative logic behind the need to "save America" from certain economic ruin that will be created by Obama...by installing the people that ruined the economy in the first place.

Help me out!

Boar Hunter| 3.30.12 @ 2:40AM

I cant help you out...no body can fix stupid.

Radioman777| 3.30.12 @ 3:17AM

Clearly one of the most idiotic articles I've read in the past month or so. The author knows just about nothing of which he writes and if he spent five years writing a book about crime, so what. Obviously, there's a big difference between writing a book about something and experiencing it firsthand. Zimmerman probably shouldn't have followed Martin, but if Martin then assaulted Zimmerman after Zimmerman turned back, then Martin is at fault and getting shot was the result. The police did investigate, and there's obviously a lot more to the story than they've released so far. Let's review, shall we: In 2009, in Greece, NY, a very similar incident involving a guy named Scott shooting a 17 year old named Cervini, off his property, and at a distance of either 25 or 80 feet, depending on whose testimony you believe. Scott was charged with manslaughter and ultimately acquitted. Yet, there were no demonstrations or calls for Scott's head on a stick. This case is different in two substantial ways. First, Martin was beating Zimmerman with the apparent intent of either severely injuring or killing him, a factor not present in the Scott case. Two, Zimmerman had supposedly broken off his pursuit, something Scott plainly didn't do.

The logical question that follows is, why did Martin feel it necessary to follow Zimmerman back to his vehicle and then attack him? If Zimmerman's intent were to shoot Martin all along, he would have been better off had he done it between the houses, rather than out near the street. Since he didn't shoot him straight away, it seems fairly obvious that killing Martin was never his intent.

Given the outcome of the Scott case in NY, where there is no "stand your ground" law, it seems that any trial of Zimmerman for manslaughter would have the same result. Moreover, if he was assaulted, which it seems he was, then any prosecutor would have a tough sell to a jury of any kind, unless the foreman was Al Sharpton and the remaining 11 were composed of Black Panthers, Spike Lee and members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Brian| 3.30.12 @ 3:32AM

The news media wants a trial cause there is lots of money in it for them and news papers to be sold.

Gary| 3.30.12 @ 3:47AM

Zimmerman should be charged or not charged based on the facts and not based on what you or Newt and Rick says. What I see in the press is a lynch mob sure that Zimmerman is a thug. Had he been black would a word have been said about this? No, it's an issue because the dead guy is black. Again were he white, like the two Brits brutally murdered on cold blood by a black with no remorse, no big deal. I am sick of it. Blacks butcher one another daily but no one, not the press, the hacks Jackson and Sharpton give a damn, only the families care. What a sick bunch. A black victim, killed by a "white Latino" fits into the agenda of the left, hence the fake outrage, and lack thereof when a white is the victim, or the killer is black.

lovinsetin| 3.30.12 @ 4:35AM

Are you serious Mr. Tucker? You called them Southern Racists? What on earth is the difference between a Southern Racist and a Northern Racist? I doubt you've ever spent time in the south because you would know better than that. I've lived in the south almost my entire life, spending a few of those years in PA, WI, and MN and have found that people from up north are MUCH more brutally racist than they are down south. Why do you think this is? It's because people from the North have no black friends. They are liberal yackmouths that feel they are better than everybody from the southern part of the US. Part of your uneducated thinking about the south is more than likely your inexperience with people who live in the south. I grew up in a small town in Sunflower County Mississippi, and the majority of my friends were black. You would not believe it unless you saw it. Black kids and White kids playing TOGETHER!! IN THE SOUTH!! Your a dumbass Mr. Tucker. If you want to be credible you need to leave your bias at home.

martin j smith| 3.30.12 @ 6:17AM

Now that I think about Mr Tucker you are a coward and I think those have posted their disgust with this writer need consider avoiding the aggravation of him and his junk mail in the future. We need writers who are willing to face the truth about the LEFT. Mr Tucker--you are not that man. You are a jerk.--at best.

Marc Jeric| 3.30.12 @ 11:54AM

There is the case these days of a young black male killed by a neighborhood watch guard in a gated community in Florida. The TV and newspapers show the black fellow by a photograph when the victim was a 12-year old youngster; the watchman is a half-Hispanic whom the papers call a white man. The victim in reality was a 17-year old hooded “gangsta” casing the joint for any empty houses; he is 6’-3” tall fellow walking at night in a strange gated neighborhood, where he gained access by jumping the fence. When challenged by the guard he attacked him and beat him to the ground, and then proceeded to break his nose and left him there all bloodied, according to a witness. The watchman called 911 to ask for police help, and then got his gun and killed “the young man” who was trying to walk away while the police was taking their time in arriving there. All TV’s and newspapers are in racial panic, accusing the police there of racial bigotry; all the usual racebaiters are there to organize protests – Sharpton, Jackson, Farakhan; the Black Panthers issued a reward of $10,000 to whomever would kill the guard. Black churches are in mourning with vigils for the “young victim” of racism. The Attorney General Holder promises a federal hate crime prosecution unless the local authorities act expeditiously. President Obama expressed his condolences to the family of “the young boy who could have well been his own son” if he had one. Well – “the young boy” shown in that old photograph by all TV’s and newspapers is in reality is a huge hooded gangster with a history of school suspensions for vandalism, jewelry theft, and drug dealing. The young criminal left him there on the ground and tried to walk away, but the guard got his gun and shot him dead. A grand jury will take up the case in a couple of weeks. The local police chief, a white man, left his place in favor of a black officer while the case is going through the legal paces. Demonstrations in many cities are continuing, clamoring for immediate action and justice.

Wrightclick| 4.1.12 @ 4:37AM

Twice you said that Martin was 'walking away' when Zimmerman shot him. Are you saying he was shot in the back? Or that Martin walked away BACKWARDS? Or that maybe you don't have any facts at all and you're just making stuff up.

I love all you armchair sleuths that have it all figured out. We can all read the same online articles you can. I've read a dozen of them, most conflict in one way or another. Unless you have some direct inside connection to the Sanford Police Dept. or state investigators, why don't you keep your 'facts' to yourself. You're not helping.

Ed| 3.30.12 @ 12:27PM

No question the black kid profiled the Mexican Night watchman as an Authority figure, and blacks hate authority..Trayvor attempted to break Zimmermans head on the sidewalk

Dave| 3.30.12 @ 4:26PM

He's Mexican, now?

Wow.

seanmom| 4.1.12 @ 4:10AM

Actually, he's "White Hispanic," because his father is white and his mother is from Peru.

Of course, by that reckoning, President Obama is a "White African-American."

Dave| 3.30.12 @ 4:25PM

Your synopsis seems reasonable enough. I don't fully know what happened, but please understand that the national outrage may be connected to the suspect police response, something blacks claim they have to deal with all the time. THAT is the on aspect of all of this that I think is less disputable than any other.

Pete| 3.31.12 @ 1:59PM

It is disputable if they think this is an example of it. They need to come up with real instances of police discrimination, not one that is obviously ginned up.

Joe D.| 3.30.12 @ 5:36PM

Oh cares what you think, the president, blacks and the sopposed 75%. Wrong is still wrong. Don't judge before the facts are in. Don't race bait and a number of blacks and liberals are doing. So shut up and wait.

bigbiz2| 3.31.12 @ 12:57AM

What a lying anti whyte p o s this Tuker is... My gawd Zimmermann was with neighborhood watch..a volunteer.The sign at the front gate tells people entering what to expect.Suspicious activity would be reported>Martin was tresspassing..he took a long way from his fathers fiancee who DID NOT live in that gated community home to get Skittles

Conniption Fitz| 3.31.12 @ 1:07PM

Ha, Tucker - you didn't count yourself out at all.
Managed to interject your opinion and politicize the Martin/Zimmerman tragedy while getting in a sideways nasty adjective hit on the one decent conservative GOP candidate, Newt Gingrich.
Newt is the only one who can be trusted to diagnose and prescribe remedies for the mess the RNC pseudo-conservatives, entitlement and crony spending Democrats and Islamo-fascists have created.

Pete| 3.31.12 @ 1:56PM

Obviously the left have turned into a lynch mob, and Tucker is the cheer leader.

mike byrd| 3.31.12 @ 2:49PM

it's a cover up by the police for someone inrluential in zimmerman's family. they kept the kid's body 3 days before notifying the family. z. had nomarks or blood or even dirt on his body. his shirttail was still in his pants. looked clean for someone fighting for his life. i still want Santorum not ectch a skeetch

WM| 4.1.12 @ 12:01AM

William Tucker is liberal. Why is he writing for TAS? Your first clue was that he wrote a book about "The Green Revolution," an invalid and immoral concept. He is not going to write things that are in the best interest of the conservative movement.

POST American| 4.1.12 @ 12:40AM

---AGAIN

more 'Ordo ob K--OZ' bling at the service
of 'the agenda'.

Notice, all these private, TAX FREE
masonic councils and NGOs --the term is
always 'conflict management' ----NOT
solution.

Conflict creation surely is the
REAL term for what 33rd degree 'MAY--SINS'
Jesse Jackson and, no doubt, Sharpton,
are up to.

And all this while being NO SHOWS on the
horrific EUGENICS agendas -----long underway
in the black communities ---and the UN 'massaged'
and quickend EUGENICS op halocaust that is ever Africa.

Further --not a word, peep or mention made
of that statue of Masonry's grand pope, Albert
Pike which sits before our DC justice dept.

------'Benny violence' and the most unspeakable
reaches of social programming for degradation and
social darwinist (ie capstone USURY) management
stand enshrined in bronze. Check it out!

Remember, Pike is the man who, in the 1800's
was calling for three world wars to destroy
'all that was ' ---including, or rather, esp.
religion ---and most esp. christianity.

Oh --and there's that other matter of Pike being
directly involved with the founding of the
KKK.

Get beyond the box! ---CHECK IT OUT ----NOW!

strumndrang| 4.1.12 @ 2:46AM

Mr. Tucker made a few dubious comments here, all the more so considering he is writing for TAS. His comment Southern Racist is inexcusable. If he assumes bad police decisions, why does he ergo assume then racism? He is as obnoxious and derisive as Jackson Sharpton in that regard. Obama's comments weren't so benign as he says, they seem to imply wrongful death, and half white POTUS McDoofus would never say some goofy floppy eared white gangster wannabe "could be his son". We should be cautious in this case because the actual known eyewitness accounts are possibly exculpatory to Zimmermann. Cautious and temperate the left is not. The hyperbolic outrage and overreach is another sign of the retrograde character of the left, and why this nation may badly devolve. Look, the New Bullshit Panthers putting a bounty on Zimmermann is a much greater outrage than police misfeasance. And the underclass and dunderclass thinking this is worse than the daily hurricane of black crime and degradation is just depressing.

Wrightclick| 4.1.12 @ 4:15AM

What a collection of unsubstantiated crap posited as 'facts'. You don't know the facts any more than anyone else yet. You're offering up hearsay, rumor and talking points from lefty sites.

I don't think any Republican is defending Zimmerman so much as they are calling for common sense restraint while officials investigate the matter. And maybe show a little patience. By the way, Zimmerman is reportedly one of your own, a registered Democrat, so I don't see how you can say Republicans are defending him. Republicans do seem to be more level-headed and less emotional however. They want justice as much as Trayvon's parents do. Actual justice, not revenge.

You've apparently already tried and convicted him and just to save us time have offered up what YOU think would be a 'fair' punishment. How nice for you.

Ha! Blacks worried about whites in their neighborhoods? I think if black people started patrolling their own neighborhoods there might be a lot fewer criminal black-on-black shootings, after a flurry of justified shootings of course.

Cops don't prevent crime. They show up after the fact to fill out the reports.

Talk about acting stupidly, Obama's campaign store is selling their HOODIE 'Obama 2012' sweatshirts for 20% off.

shipley130| 4.1.12 @ 10:09PM

Why would someone who was intending on hunting a person down to kill them call 911 first? Treyvon responded to a simple question by beating someone up. On top of that, Treyvon was a thief. It's not a big stretch to think that Treyvon was casing the neighborhood.

Ronald Ackenberry| 4.1.12 @ 10:14PM

Call -11?

To create an alibi as part of his street vigilante persona.

Wm Tipton| 4.2.12 @ 7:35PM

Sorry but that is highly unlikely given the number of times Zimmerman called 911.
He was too quick on the draw as far as his OCD and compulsing about criminals...but then, there were supposedly a number of break ins, so it was somewhat justified.

I personally think that he should have stayed in his vehicle and left it to the police.

Ronald Ackenberry| 4.1.12 @ 10:11PM

It seems to me Zimmerman was looking for an opportunity to shoot and kill someone. And did.

Or, another way, it seems to me he would have never spent major portions of his free time playing policeman UNLESS he was armed and given the opportunity to kill.

Maybe Republicans should not take this cause on as Mr. Tucker so eloquently suggests. But, the Zimmerman affair is a fine vehicle for drumming up the white racist vote.

No?

strumndrang| 4.6.12 @ 3:04AM

Ron A. - It "seems to me" you're not a very deep, circumspect, curious, or vigorously intellectual thinker. But, you're OK just the way you are, just like your third grade teacher said.

TheDevilzAdvocate| 4.1.12 @ 10:14PM

Thank you for writing a common sense article.

davod| 4.2.12 @ 2:41AM

The following was posted at JOM:

"I posted this in the other thread and repeating it here because of the remarks about Zimmerman being injury free.

The neighbor is talking for the first time about what he saw on George Zimmerman's face less than 24-hours after Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin.
"I saw George. He was banged up. His head had two big bandages, that weren't flat, had a bump on them," the neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said.

He described where the injuries were.

"I seen him have a big bandage on his nose and his nose swollen. On the side, where his eyes were at, it was swollen," he said.

He points out exactly where on a picture.

"I seen the bandage right here, and this side of his nose and this side of his nose was swollen.

The surveillance video was released by Sanford police of Zimmerman when he was brought in for questioning after the shooting. Bruises and bandages aren't visible, but you can see an officer looking at the back of his head.

"Once you get into a fight you don't show bruises that day, it shows the next day," he said.

The neighbor says Zimmerman had to have acted in self-defense.

"I think something happened that night where he had to defend himself," the neighbor said.

He says that the voice heard screaming on the 911 call is that of George Zimmerman.

"I hear his voice every single day, I talk to him every single day," he said.

He says the case has haunted him.

"I've been thinking about it morning noon and night ever since I seen the bandages on him," he said.

He believes Zimmerman was defending his life, and that's why he's defending Zimmerman now. He says he doesn't believe race played a role in what happened.

"I don't think race is involved at all, because I've seen black, African-American folks come to George's house," he said.

The neighbor says he's tired of Zimmerman being portrayed as the bad guy.

"Everyone needs to let the justice system take its course before rushing to judgment," he said.

Posted by: Sara (Pal2Pal) | April 02, 2012 at 01:04 AM"

http://justoneminute.typepad.c.....l#comments

Cracker killer| 4.2.12 @ 4:12PM

I would have shot Zimmerman first. Whoever shots first is innocent like the black guy who shot the vet in front of his daughter. The black guy was arrested. You bastards are just some blood hungry racist pigs like your low life mothers.

strumndrang| 4.6.12 @ 3:07AM

"Cracker Killer" You're quite a package - racist, incoherent, dipshit, unintelligible and unintelligent. Yeah, it shows. I am concerned, have you procreated?

Wm Tipton| 4.2.12 @ 7:33PM

As with most liberal you have SORELY misrepresented the FACTS of this case...many of which we do not yet know.

Until the FACTS are all in I'd say its about damned time you liberals STOP PLAYING Judge, Jury and Executioner...know what I mean?

*IF* it turns out that Zimmerman was in the wrong the man will roast.
But YOU and the PUBLIC are NOT the people to be making this determination.

We WONT allow Zimmerman, if he ISNT guilty, to hang just because a bunch of RACISTS (who cry when a black boy is killed by a non black...but then dont even pay attention when BLACK boys are gunning down other BLACK boys EVERY DAMNED DAY in this country) cant act like adults and face the fact that it may well turn out the Zimmerman, while NOT following protocol, was actually attacked by Trayvon like he said.

Sure, Zimmerman SHOULD have stayed in his vehicle...but he didnt.
But unless he assaulted Trayvon, the teen had NO business attacking Zimmerman either....IF that is how it happened as at least one witness seems to agree with.

YOU, the author here, and others such as that dope we have in the White House, have PREMATURELY jumped on this story just to get your ratings up.

You ALL make me sick playing on the families emotional distress in all of this.
Obama so he can get a few votes...and YOU, the author here, so you can get a few clicks.

Its digusting.

And if you think Zimmerman will hang IF it turns out that hes NOT guilty, you can think again.
The protesting you see now is NOTHING compared to what will come if an innocent man is imprisoned over this.

However, if Zimmerman does actually end up being found guilty AFTER the FACTS are actually all in, then he should burn...

loupgarous| 4.2.12 @ 9:44PM

What a load of crap. Let's reduce this situation to its elements - Zimmerman walks behind someone on a street he's patrolling for his neighborhood. Said person turns on him, knocks him down, and starts whaling on him. Said person chose to do this in a jurisdiction where he can legally be sent on to glory by his chosen victim. End of story.

Or it WOULD be the end of the story if we, as a nation, were not accustomed to conceding the demands of people who are very comfortable with violence until they lose a fight. THAT is what happened. Travon Martin thought he could beat up on a "white punk," got his licks in - started the fight in all likelihood - and was shot dead as canasta for his trouble.

We wouldn't have known what happened if we'd settled for the major news media's reporting on the issue. Said news media completely concealed the fact that Martin threw the first punch and the next few after that one, bloodied and beat Zimmerman, who managed to produce a pistol and blow his worthless butt away. Said news media cooperated with the Martin family in their very highly deceptive claim that Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin in cold blood by publishing pictures of Trayvon Martin as an eight-year old, when he was a varsity high school football player.

So before I spare any additional scorn for Santorum or Gingrich, let's see some for a global display of spinelessness on the part of the press, the presidential candidates and everyone else who has failed to comment on the obvious - that the racism in this case was almost all on the part of the Martin family, their "spokesmen" Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, and our President Barack Obama - who astounded me by publicly agonizing over the fate of a young man who beat someone up and was shot for his trouble - because "if I had a son, he would look like Trayvon Martin" - perhaps the most toweringly racist pronouncement from a sitting President since Abraham Lincoln called Harriet Tubman "Auntie."

That's right. In a civilized era, populated by owners of intact backbones, Barack Obama would have given the GOP everything they could have wished for but a concession speech, because he would have to explain his naked racism on the subject of Trayv9n Martin from now until the first week in November.

JCB| 4.2.12 @ 9:53PM

Spike Lee set out to incite a lynch mob. The fact that he got the address wrong is a distraction. He should not be able to buy his way out of hard time in prison.

loupgarous| 4.2.12 @ 10:20PM

Let's pretend the facts are reversed. Trayvon Martin follows Zimmerman on a public street. Zimmerman is alarmed, so much so that he calls a relative to say so. Zimmerman initiates violence, throws the first punch and a number of others, does not stop after he has Trayvon Martin on the ground. Trayvon Martin uses a gun to protect himself, and on the facts of the case is released because he appears to have used countervailing force to defend himself - according to state law.

Can anyone HONESTLY say that this Administration would have immediately sent Federal investigators and attorneys to challenge the decision of local law enforcement? When the very same US Attorney General declined to prosecute two New Black Panther Party activists who took up positions in front of a polling place during the 2008 Presidential elections while armed? Would Barack Obama have gone on the air to sympathize with the dead George Zimmerman, any more than he did with three other white Americans who died at the hands of African Americans within that week?

It's pathetic that the media, so vigilant for and willing to assume racial bias on the part of every Republican administration since Eisenhower's, has uniformly ignored Mr. Obama's open and public confession of racism. We deserve a more thoughtful man in that office, who is more awake to the implications of what he is saying, or at the very least more considerate to those of us who are members of the race with which he has chosen to identify.

John Vogt| 4.2.12 @ 10:31PM

This would be more persuasive if the facts stated lined up with facts in evidence. It seems clear that Zimmerman was out of his truck and following Martin when he called the police. When told that he did not need to follow Martin anymore he said okay. There is no evidence he continued to follow Martin, in fact Zimmerman says that Martin ran off, which I assume means he couldn't be followed. The police arrived on the scene roughly a minute later and Martin was dead. He told his account, which the police report said was consistent with both the physical evidence and witness testimony. He was handcuffed, treated for his wounds, and taken to the police station for interrogation. He was released later that evening after the police found there was no probable cause that any crime had been committed. The author should read the police reports, listen to the recording, and read the letter issued by the Sanford City Manager before offering a rendition of the facts at odds with existing evidence. That is a requirement of both intellectual honesty and journalistic honesty. To charge someone who has not committed a crime with murder is not a step the police or prosecutors should take with the cavalier attitude expressed by the author.

strumndrang| 4.6.12 @ 3:10AM

Tucker looks so precious in his mufflers of many colors. A fop and a fool

SamIAm| 4.7.12 @ 9:43PM

I don't know where you get the idea that Zimmerman got out of his vehicle and pursued Martin after being told not to. When I listened to the 911 call I heard Zimmerman get out of the vehicle first and then when told not to follow Martin he responded "okay" and a few second later the running sounds stop and he starts discussing details about the property to meet with the police. And the police didn't just take Zimmerman's word for it. They corroborated his story with witness accounts and the officers' observations. One thing a lot of people overlook is that Zimmerman called 911 nearly 50 times and never pulled his gun once or did anything else to be labeled a vigilante.

Captain Steve| 4.21.12 @ 3:51PM

You're correct. Plus, Mr. Tuckers says, Zimmerman got out of his truck AFTER "being told not to follow." It can be heard on the tape very clearly that Zimmerman is moving quickly at the point that the dispatcher asks if he is following him. That's why the dispatcher asks in the first place, and then says, "you don't need to do that."

Clearly, Mr. Tucker doesn't have reliable critical thinking skills. He should write fiction, or nothing.

Amir dread | 4.10.12 @ 7:51PM

Even as a liberal extremist, I totally appreciate this article. Very well-written, without undue passion, making use of the evidence available, and not timidly worded.

Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Now, go out and support Ron Paul, so that Mitt Romney and the Republicans don't get run over by Obama's machine, which is aiming to ruin this country and this world to benefit Zionist murderers and thieves on Wall Street.

Amir dread | 4.10.12 @ 7:52PM

SamIAm, why is it so difficult for you to accept the simplest truth? EVERYONE knows he left his car and pursued the child. Why do you bury your head in the manure and keep uttering nonsense?

Captain Steve| 4.21.12 @ 3:41PM

Mr. Tucker.

Because your facts are both wrong and misleading, I don't respect you or your opinion on what happened. Big FAIL on your part. You an expert? Hardly. You should update your post and correct your errors.

Here's one example. You wrote, "[Zimmerman] is specifically told by the operator not to pursue the kid any further. He ignores this instruction, gets out of his truck and starts following Martin on foot. Zimmerman is inept enough so that the kid soon realizes he is being pursued."

That's really pathetic.

John Foddrill| 5.19.12 @ 12:02PM

Now that we know more about the facts of the occurrence, don't you think it would be a pretty good idea to take this article down?

Latest Headlines

Laying Down My Pen

Quin Hillyer|4 comments

The Inoperative Jay Carney

Jeffrey Lord|132 comments

Lerner’s Plea

Ray V. Hartwell, III|143 comments

Eugenic Abortion 2.0

Daniel Allott|60 comments

Holding AWOL Obama Accountable

Betsy McCaughey|18 comments

What Are the Risks of Syria Involvement?

Christopher Orlet|25 comments

Obama’s Imbroglios

R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.|41 comments

Obama’s Drone War

Jed Babbin|16 comments

The Spectacle Blog

Good Luck Quin

Aaron Goldstein | 12:13AM

One of The London Soldier Beheading Suspects British Born

Aaron Goldstein | 5.23.13

Lois Lerner Now on Administrative Leave

Kaylin Bugos | 5.23.13

Crisis Looms, and Kevin Williamson Can Hardly Wait

Luca Gattoni-Celli | 5.23.13

Dismantling Networks, Preventing Footholds

Ross Kaminsky | 5.23.13

Bill Would Ban All Abortions After 20 Weeks

Jordan Gonzalez | 5.23.13

Harry Reid Pushes for the Nuclear Option

Claire Healey | 5.23.13

Weiner: More Photos of My Junk Might Surface

Kyle Peterson | 5.23.13

FLASHBACK TO: 1995

Pope Culture

By George Sim Johnston

A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck

By P.J. O'Rourke

Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
Dames at Sea

By John Corry
In the Absence of Guns

By Mark Steyn

In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
The Metaphysical Martini

By Werner J. Dannhauser
Counting the Costs of Clintonism

By Robert H. Bork

The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
Chuck McHagel

By George Neumayr

It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted

By Douglas Bartholomew
It’s the Best Time of the Year

By Mark Steyn

The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
The Bush Crack-Up

By Brit Hume

Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?