There's been a lot of talk about the shooting of Trayvon Martin over the last couple days. People have largely focused on the actions of George Zimmerman, and the 9-11 Tapes. The Sandford City Council issued a vote of "No Confidence" against Police Chief Bill Lee based on this one incident. But NAACP President Ben Jealous here on Countdown brings up the issue that this is far from the first time that someone with connections to law enforcement have been able to unjustifiably kill someone black - and face no charges what-so-ever.
Jealous: 2005, two men, security guards with connections to this police department, one a weekend volunteer police officer the other with family on the force, kill an unarmed black man and ultimately get away with murder.
Then in 2010, caught on video tape - it made national news - the son of a Lieutenant on this force jumps a black homeless man, beats him up and serves no jail time
And here's another thing, apparently the Supervising Sargent on the scene for the attack on the homeless man, was also the first supervising Officer on the scene of Trayvon Martin's shooting according to
Mother Jones.
There's just too many inconsistencies. No police force is really this bad at their job unless there's a reason. The "Stand Your Ground" Law is not an open license to kill, to stalk or to be an aggressor. It grants you the right to defend yourself outside your own home - and in this case the person who should have been shielded by the law is Trayvon - but it's likely that it was also designed to create exactly this kind of confusion for police, and considering the fact that is not just the product of the NRA but also ALEC and the Koch Brothers, that's not that surprising.
Jealous: In Sanford, if you kill a dog - you go to jail. But Trayvon's killer is walking free
But this shouldn't be surprising, in Florida the rate of "Justifiable Homicides" has essentially tripled in recent years according to
a study by the
Tampa Bay Times Some departments like Orlando have essentially
given up even investigating self-defense cases.
Since this incident occurred the Police have been acting as Zimmerman's advocate, as if they were his press office and attorney.
Even though Zimmerman has had prior convictions for domestic violence he still has a concealed weapons permit. Everything about this just stinks.
Sanford Resident to Ben Jealous: They're as crooked as a barrel of fishhooks.
Sharpton: The chief is setting the bar so high that you have to have a conviction before you make an arrest.
And sadly this is far from the first time something like this has happened according to MJ.
The case bears faint echoes of the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson, whose case gripped Florida for nearly a year in 2006. Anderson, an African American who was attending a boot-camp-style detention center run by the Bay County Sheriff's Office, died during physical training that January; the initial autopsy said he'd died of complications from sickle-cell anemia. But after civil rights groups alleged bias by the white officers running the camp, further investigation revealed Anderson had been physically abused and forced to inhale ammonia.
The boot-camp officers were eventually acquitted of manslaughter at trial, but Florida lawmakers shut down the boot camps, and incoming Gov. Charlie Crist signed an order paying $5 million to Anderson's family. The commissioner of Florida's top law enforcement agency, was ultimately forced to resign after making racially insensitive remarks in connection with the case.
There seems to be a clear pattern at work, at least to the residents of Sanford.
Ultimately though as you see here, the Sanford City manager, who has the ability to fire the chief, may be taking that option very serious - although it should be noted that when the Lieutenant's son was caught on tape attacking a homeless man, that chief was forced to resign, but the Supervising Sgt. and other Officers remain.
Yep, Crooked as a barrel full of fishhooks.
Vyan