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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSeriously, How does Zimmerman keep getting away?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_ZimmermanOn September 9, 2013, in Lake Mary, Florida, police responded to a 911 call by Zimmerman's estranged wife, who reported that Zimmerman had threatened her and her father with a gun and had punched her father in the face. Zimmerman was briefly detained and questioned by police.[30] No gun was found at the scene. Police took a broken iPad from the scene for examination of a video recording of the incident to determine whether to press charges against either Zimmerman or his wife.[31] His wife declined to press charges, later expressing regret about her decision.[32] After determining that the iPad video could not be recovered, the Lake Mary police department announced they would not be pressing charges against Zimmerman, his wife, or her father.[33]
On November 18, 2013, Zimmerman's girlfriend called the police alleging that after she had asked Zimmerman to leave her home, he had pointed a shotgun at her and begun breaking her belongings.[34] The police reported that Zimmerman had barricaded himself inside the apartment before they had made their way inside and arrested him.[35] He was charged with aggravated assault with a weapon a felony as well as domestic violence battery and criminal mischief.[36][37] On December 6, Zimmerman's girlfriend asked that the charges against Zimmerman be dropped and that the restraining order barring him from seeing her be lifted, after which prosecutors said that they would no longer be pursuing a case against him.[38][39]
On Tuesday September 9, 2014, George Zimmerman was named by police in a road rage incident where he reportedly threatened and followed another driver.[40] Zimmerman reportedly responded aggressively when he noticed another driver pointing at him. According to the other driver Zimmerman said "Do you know who I am?" before saying, "I'll (expletive) kill you." Zimmerman allegedly followed the other driver to a parking lot while the driver called 911, but he fled before the police arrived.[41] The other driver declined to press charges.
On January 9, 2015, Zimmerman was arrested by Lake Murray police and charged with aggravated assault with a weapon after allegedly throwing a wine bottle at his ex-girlfriend.[42] He was released on bond the following day.[43] The charges from the wine bottle incident were later dropped after the complainant recanted her story
Now he will not be charged Federal hate crime. This is scary.
JustAnotherGen
(31,931 posts)Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)Because he remains a hero to a certain subset of the population...
liberal N proud
(60,346 posts)Tommy_Carcetti
(43,213 posts)And according to him that fateful night, "These assholes. They always get away."
uppityperson
(115,681 posts)enough to soon.
former9thward
(32,096 posts)I doubt that...
uppityperson
(115,681 posts)glasshouses
(484 posts)uppityperson
(115,681 posts)I do not hope he runs across anyone else, but the reason those in op didn't presses charges could very well be out of fear.
Eta, It is common in DV situations for the abused to not presses charges out of fear and more self esteem. I never pressed charges because I thought he'd come kill me, as for happen. I just wanted him gone, which is common.
glasshouses
(484 posts)I don't have any doubts on that . I was just referring to the federal charges the OP
wrote in his post.
He seemed surprised the justice dept didn't find evidence to charge him of a hate crime.
uppityperson
(115,681 posts)responding to different parts. No worries.
onehandle
(51,122 posts)Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)Jake Stern
(3,145 posts)1. Zim has supporters who help him out with $$$$. A few thou in the bank can induce amnesia.
2. He has fanboys in police departments and possibly the DAs office.
glasshouses
(484 posts)uppityperson
(115,681 posts)non-federal cases also.
glasshouses
(484 posts)Holder and the justice dept didn't charge him because a hate crime didn't happen.
"Now he will not be charged Federal hate crime"
GGJohn
(9,951 posts)it's that the DoJ weren't confident they could get a conviction.
glasshouses
(484 posts)Not one single witness for or against him in his past before the shooting ever said he was a racist.
In fact it was the contrary .
GGJohn
(9,951 posts)The DoJ said that there wasn't enough evidence to meet the high standard for an indictment, he didn't say there was no evidence.
Regardless, the Martin family is, again, IMO, let down by the Justice system.
glasshouses
(484 posts)Did you see something specific where you thought was evidence in a hate crime ?
The reason I ask is I didn't see any evidence of a hate crime.
I thought they might produce something from his past but the only thing they found was when
he had jumped into a fight to help an African American man he didn't know being beat up .
GGJohn
(9,951 posts)they said there wasn't enough evidence to meet the high standard.
glasshouses
(484 posts)GGJohn
(9,951 posts)had far more important things on my plate at the time.
Anyway, this is my opinion, GZ got away with, at the least, manslaughter.
glasshouses
(484 posts)I don't want to retry this here but I watched the trial and what was first reported
with Zimmerman on top and he had no injuries or that his head
wasn't being banged on the side walk wasn't the case.
It happened , do you wait until you lose
consciousness?
tough call
Kingofalldems
(38,492 posts)olddots
(10,237 posts)sad but true this country loves the bad guy .
DFW
(54,447 posts)Yet.
It's usually only a matter of time.
benld74
(9,911 posts)nichomachus
(12,754 posts)Worked for Bush.