When "Neighborhood Watch" Gets Out of Hand

Watch Zimmerman ask for a speedy trial (which he should) and he'll get acquitted. Then riots.

yay.

[Clip-Clop]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

Watch Zimmerman ask for a speedy trial (which he should) and he'll get acquitted. Then riots.

yay.

It is the perfect storm and exactly what is likely to happen.
Disney first!

[OldDog]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

Watch Zimmerman ask for a speedy trial (which he should) and he'll get acquitted. Then riots.

yay.

No need to wait.

http://www2.wkrg.com/news/2012/apr/2...on-ar-3659891/

[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by OldDog

No need to wait.

http://www2.wkrg.com/news/2012/apr/2...on-ar-3659891/

thats terrible. I hope all 20 people are found and convicted of attempted murder. Send them away for life for all I care.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Reuters did an exhaustive investigation into Zimmerman. The investigation answers a lot of questions that many of you may have wondered about such as why Zimmerman got a gun, why Zimmerman was asked by neighbors to become the neighborhood watch captain, what types of incidents was Zimmerman involved with in the past in his role as neighborhood watch captain, how neighbors felt about Zimmerman, what types of crimes had been occurring in the neighborhood, what is the racial makeup of the homeowners in the neighborhood, etc.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...83O18H20120425

[Antitrust32]

Thank god Zimmerman does not live in my town, Ocala. Half the town would have been shot dead by now.

Originally Posted by Antitrust32

Thank god Zimmerman does not live in my town, Ocala. Half the town would have been shot dead by now.

Agree with you on the first sentence. Not sure where you're coming from in the second.

I don't live in Ocala proper, but around 15 miles away on a small horse farm in "horse country." Not much crime here, except for the occasional domestic dispute. You must be referring to the Shores, or the Forest, or maybe the area around 40 downtown.

You do know, of course, that local neighborhood watch programs are very highly regulated around town. None are armed, none are ever supposed to follow anyone, and all are supposed to report anything suspicious to the police/sheriff.

[Riot]

You may remember this story about Jean Kalonji and his wife Angelica, the purchaser of a foreclosed home in Newton County GA. While changing the locks on their new home, they were threatened and held at gunpoint by two of their white neighbors.

When the local sheriff deputies arrived they arrested the Kalonjis without checking to find out if they were the homeowners, and took no action against the men who threatened and assaulted Jean and Angelica with their firearms and held them against their will for no apparent reason other than that 61 year-old Jean Kalonji was black.

Well, it seems the Newton County Sheriff's Department has had a change of heart about the actions of these two vigilantes (though the Kalonji's lawyer's meeting with the Sheriff and the local DA on Monday may have helped clarify the situation for them).

Yesterday, Robert Canoles and his son, Branden, were taken into custody and charged with "aggravated assault, false imprisonment and criminal trespass."

Frankly I am surprised, but also grateful that the Newton County authorities reversed themselves and made the proper decision to charge these two morons.

These idiots took it upon themselves to assault a 61 year old black man and his 57 year old white spouse and cause them to fear for their lives merely for lawfully occupying their own property.

Nonetheless, shamefully, both men reacted with defiance and an utter lack of remorse at what they had done to these two innocent people.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/0...2nd-Amendment-

[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by Ocala Mike

Agree with you on the first sentence. Not sure where you're coming from in the second.

I don't live in Ocala proper, but around 15 miles away on a small horse farm in "horse country." Not much crime here, except for the occasional domestic dispute. You must be referring to the Shores, or the Forest, or maybe the area around 40 downtown.

You do know, of course, that local neighborhood watch programs are very highly regulated around town. None are armed, none are ever supposed to follow anyone, and all are supposed to report anything suspicious to the police/sheriff.

yes.. shores, marion oaks, downtown, and the area I live in (475A & 312).. I've read about more violent crime in Ocala the past 5 years I've lived here than any other place I've lived. plus Ocala is robbery central. The horse farms are great and beautiful and safe! But the dense population area's are low income with a pretty good crime rate.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

Reuters did an exhaustive investigation into Zimmerman. The investigation answers a lot of questions that many of you may have wondered about such as why Zimmerman got a gun, why Zimmerman was asked by neighbors to become the neighborhood watch captain, what types of incidents was Zimmerman involved with in the past in his role as neighborhood watch captain, how neighbors felt about Zimmerman, what types of crimes had been occurring in the neighborhood, what is the racial makeup of the homeowners in the neighborhood, etc.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...83O18H20120425

none of that really matters. had he not followed, ignoring the 911 operator, this thread wouldn't even exist. the shooting wouldn't have occurred.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Danzig

none of that really matters. had he not followed, ignoring the 911 operator, this thread wouldn't even exist. the shooting wouldn't have occurred.

People in neighborhood watch programs follow people every day. That is a good thing, not a bad thing. It saves property and lives.

On your other point, if a police officer gives you an order, you have to follow it or there is a good chance you will get arrested. When a 911 operator advises you, "We don't need you to do that", that is advice. That is not an order. A person is not compelled by law to follow that advice.

In this case, in hindsight we know that Zimmerman should have followed the advice of the 911 operator. As you said, the incident would not have happened had Zimmerman taken the advice. Hindsight is 20/20. But I'm sure there are hundreds of similar situations that happen across the country every year, where there is a different ending. The neighborhood watch person follows the suspect until the police arrive, and the suspect ends up being arrested (because they turned out to be a criminal), or released because the police determine that there was no criminal intent on the part of the suspect.

It's easy to second-guess Zimmerman in hindsight, after you know that this was the one case in a thousand, where there was a bad ending. But what about the other thousand of cases a year (where a neighborhood watch person follows a person until the police arrive), and there is a happy ending?

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

People in neighborhood watch programs follow people every day. That is a good thing, not a bad thing. It saves property and lives.

On your other point, if a police officer gives you an order, you have to follow it or there is a good chance you will get arrested. When a 911 operator advises you, "We don't need you to do that", that is advice. That is not an order. A person is not compelled by law to follow that advice.

In this case, in hindsight we know that Zimmerman should have followed the advice of the 911 operator. As you said, the incident would not have happened had Zimmerman taken the advice. Hindsight is 20/20. But I'm sure there are hundreds of similar situations that happen across the country every year, where there is a different ending. The neighborhood watch person follows the suspect until the police arrive, and the suspect ends up being arrested (because they turned out to be a criminal), or released because the police determine that there was no criminal intent on the part of the suspect.

It's easy to second-guess Zimmerman in hindsight, after you know that this was the one case in a thousand, where there was a bad ending. But what about the other thousand of cases a year (where a neighborhood watch person follows a person until the police arrive), and there is a happy ending?

bullshit. it's called neighborhood WATCH. not follow, not get out of your car, not apprehend, not play cop, just watch. he was specifically told not to follow. not only did he do so, he then left his car and followed on foot. all of it against what they told him to do, all of it not what neighborhood watch is supposed to do. you see something, you all the people trained to handle it. you don't try to handle it yourself.

[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

People in neighborhood watch programs follow people every day. That is a good thing, not a bad thing. It saves property and lives.

On your other point, if a police officer gives you an order, you have to follow it or there is a good chance you will get arrested. When a 911 operator advises you, "We don't need you to do that", that is advice. That is not an order. A person is not compelled by law to follow that advice.

In this case, in hindsight we know that Zimmerman should have followed the advice of the 911 operator. As you said, the incident would not have happened had Zimmerman taken the advice. Hindsight is 20/20. But I'm sure there are hundreds of similar situations that happen across the country every year, where there is a different ending. The neighborhood watch person follows the suspect until the police arrive, and the suspect ends up being arrested (because they turned out to be a criminal), or released because the police determine that there was no criminal intent on the part of the suspect.

It's easy to second-guess Zimmerman in hindsight, after you know that this was the one case in a thousand, where there was a bad ending. But what about the other thousand of cases a year (where a neighborhood watch person follows a person until the police arrive), and there is a happy ending?

the past means nothing. the neighborhood watch means nothing. The dead kid is what this is all about. And taking the law into your own hands with a firearm.

It would be a WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY if Martin was shot while breaking into someone's home. That wasnt the case. He was innocently walking home to his dads house, thats all. If he threw some punches because he was sticking up for himself for being followed by some cop wanna be looney toon, that still does NOT give Zimmerman the right to kill the teenager.