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Court affidavit: Zimmerman "profiled" Trayvon Martin
(CBS NEWS) -- For weeks, the dialogue has gone back and forth about what really happened on Feb. 26, 2012 - the night Trayvon Martin died from a single gunshot to the chest.
On Thursday, the investigative team headed by special prosecutor Angela Corey released an affidavit of probable cause that lays out the prosecution's version of events that night.
Affidavit of probable cause -- second degree murder (PDF)
Most tellingly, the affidavit describes how Martin was returning from a 7-11 store, where he had bought a can of iced tea and a bag of skittles, "when he was profiled by George Zimmerman."
George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin
"Zimmerman who also lived in the gated community, and was driving his vehicle observed Martin and assumed Martin was a criminal. Zimmerman felt Martin did not belong in the gated community and called the police," states the affidavit, prepared by investigators T.C. O'Steen and Dale Gilbreath with the state attorney's office of the Fourth Judicial Circuit of Florida.
"During the recorded call Zimmerman made reference to people he felt had committed and gotten away with break-ins in his neighborhood. Later while talking about Martin, Zimmerman stated "these ***holes, they always get away" and also said "these f****ing punks."
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The investigators go on to describe how the police dispatcher told Zimmerman not to follow Trayvon. They also describe the testimony of the young girl who was talking on the phone with Trayvon as Zimmerman allegedly followed him.
"Martin attempted to run home but was followed by Zimmerman who didn't want the person he falsely assumed was going to commit a crime to get away before the police arrived."
The affidavit, which is the prosecution's point of view in filing a second-degree murder charge against Zimmerman, presents the prosecution's answers to two questions that have been debated in the weeks since the shooting:
- Whose voice is heard screaming during the scuffle leading up to the single gunshot?
- And what was the slur that Zimmerman muttered under his breath while on the phone with the dispatcher?
To the first, the affidavit says Trayvon Martin's mother Sybrina Fulton reviewed the 911 calls to police and identified the voice crying for help as Trayvon Martin.
For the second, the word muttered by Zimmerman appears to be "punks." It had been suggested that the barely-heard word might be a racial slur.
Arrest records shine a little light on Zimmerman
Other documents released Thursday shed a little light on George Zimmerman, who was booked at the John E. Polk Correctional Facility Thursday. The documents describe tattoos - theater masks, a cross with the name Christina - that Zimmerman has, and list the $79 worth of underwear, personal hygiene products and snacks he bought at the jail commissary.
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The conservative 'Daily Caller' did learn that georgie zimmerman had a MySpace account whose username was "datniggytb."
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/11/zimmermans-myspace-nickname-included-datniggy-family-insists-on-innocent-explanation/#ixzz1rwyBcV2n
So do fox/rush parrots like you also condone profiling in Iran, North Korea, Syria and China, and have the same actions here in the U.S.?
I had no idea sean hannity and YOU wanted us to follow Israeli laws, so maybe you two belong to AIPAC, as well.
Please educate yourself before posting B.S.
I live in a predominently Arab neighborhood, and if I see some redneck "good old boy" in a pickup truck with a gun rack and confederate flag decal driving slowly down my street, I can "profile" him all I want to. I can write down his tag number, I can sit on the front porch and pay careful attention to what he's doing and where he's going. I can call the police and tell them that he looks like he's "up to something". But I can't act on any "profiling" in any official capacity. If I'm a police officer, I can't stop him just for being a certain race, gender, ethnicity...if I'm a bank officer, I can't turn down a loan (that he's otherwise qualified for) just because of race, etc.
I know there are lots of other issues in the Trayvon case that sure do seem to be crimes (to me, at least). I guess that's what the upcoming trial will decide.
But just "profiling" someone in your own mind...when you're not in a position to do anything official about it...is not a crime.
NO, zimmerman said: "he looks black."
Most times when Mr. Zimmerman initiated his calls to Police (46 in just the past year), he would provide the vague description of a "Black male", or "multiple Black Males" in his neighborhood, following supposed burglaries within his Gated Community.
However, not one single 911 call has surfaced of any actual residences having been terrorized by any home invasion, or burglary within the community.
Hence, the validity that the community was under some kind of threat from a roving band of "armed Black men" committing home invasions or burglaries, I believe was nothing more than a than a smoke screen. According to news reports, zimmerman was about a month away from completing a Criminal Justice course. Persons close to zimmerman that were interviewed, expressed that he did have a fixation with "Black males" and their role in committing crimes.
Zimmerman had already been rejected from becoming a police officer. It had become obvious to those who knew him that he was a "wannabe cop", and wanted to make a name for himself in order to be accepted into becoming a part of Law Enforcement somehow.
Let's look at the evidence:
Zimmerman "appeared to be fixated on young black males."
He warned residents to watch-out for "young black males."
He saw Trayvon as "real suspicious looking."
He "looks like he was up to no good."
"He looked like" he was on drugs or something."
That "these a**holes always get away."
The dispatcher told zimmerman "we don't need you to do that," when zimmerman said he was pursuing the teen, but zimmerman ignored that and continued to pursue the teen anyway.
Apparently zimmerman decided that this "young black a**hole" wasn't going to get away.
Trayvon was guilty just because was a "young black male."
He didn't have to do anything wrong. He was guilty by association for any wrongs committed by any young black males, real or imagined by zimmerman.
Sorry, but condoning the discriminatory practice of "racial profiling" by an overly-zealous, cop wannabe, paranoid vigilante -- not well-trained law enforcement like the FBI -- only proves how far some Americans will trample on our civil and unalienable rights!
Typical extremely poor cop, and one that probably manufactured evidence in order to convict innocent people, since the 911 tape CLEARLY shows that the vigilante stated, "he's a black man."
Your arrogance clearly shows in your post of ALL CAPS too!
The investigators go on to describe how the police dispatcher told Zimmerman not to follow Trayvon.
"Martin attempted to run home but was followed by Zimmerman who didn't want the person he falsely assumed was going to commit a crime to get away before the police arrived."
Obviously, the overly-zealous, cop wannabe, vigilante's paranoia got the better of him, and by his racial profiling of an innocent black teenager and his total assumption of guilt, his ignorant behavior led him down the path of a criminal act and eventual murder.