Thursday, March 29, 2012

We have video…finally...


Full disclosure – I’ve seen more than one broken nose incident in my lifetime. And I’ve seen more than one lacerated scalp too. I’m a hockey fan! That shit happens all the time to those who play the best sport on ice.


The video is not the best quality (not bad though - I've seen worse), but it does show a curiously blood-free face and back-of-the-head on Zimmerman.  Zimmerman’s clothing also does not appear to have blood on in.

Broken noses bleed like hell. Athletes have to plug them up to prevent the flow and get back in the game. And…well…the flow or gush of blood from a broken nose is key here.

Blood should be everywhere and certainly on the front of Zimmerman’s shirt.

If the police allowed him to change shirts…well, that opens up an entirely different can of improper collection of evidence.

If Zimmerman’s head was slammed to the ground several times one would think that it would be abraded…it doesn’t appear so on the tape.

But here’s my Zimmerman Walks Free quizzical of the day – where’s the medical report on Zimmerman’s broken nose? Having one's face slammed into the ground is known to cause concussions - he should've seen a doctor for sure if it was a violent enough assault to make him feel in imminent danger. Did the police cuff him and deny him access to standard medical care for the head trauma and a broken nose we see no sign of on the video? Where’s the towel used to stop the flow of blood from Zimmerman’s broken nose? 

In other words, where’s the evidence of the attack that I’ve been hearing so many fucking definitive statements about?

Pause…sip coffee…continue.

While I wait, I’ll reiterate my thoughts from yesterday – if there was a scuffle, then Trayvon Martin stood his ground. 

I'm more than a little disturbed by how eager some seem to define Trayvon Martin as a thug and thus deserved of being shot to death armed or not. The eagerness speaks to the disgusting view that an unarmed black teen is either a teen who just dropped off a weapon or a teen who is about to go get a weapon...just as Zimmerman felt that a black teen walking around was either in search of crime or returning from having committed a crime.

Ugh.

Anyhoo.

This case already begs the question - does Florida law protect a black teen when that teen tries to protect himself or is there a People of Color Exemption Clause in the fine print?

Now we can add - what, if any, guidelines have police been given to determine whether a murder meets the qualifications to be considered justified based on Stand Your Ground? 

***cue crickets***

8 comments:

Middle Girl said...

Precisely.

Anonymous said...

Supposedly Zimmerman was attended to by a paramedic unit. If there were real investigative journalism any more, someone (put a stringer on it!) would be calling every single crew in the Sanford area to find out if they treated anyone even vaguely matching Zimmerman's description that day. I have a suspicion they'd turn up a big goose egg.

pluky said...

and who called to get the Chief of Police and the State's Attorney to haul their asses to the station on a Sunday evening to make sure Zimmerman got released without charge?

freebones said...

hello. new reader here. white heterosexual male. not the target audience? too bad. i get along with everyone and i prefer people who say exactly what they think, so here i am. i like your writings.

relevant to this post:
interestingly, i'm numb enough to this type of bullshit that i automatically assumed that george zimmerman shot martin for racial reasons. and now that i've been forced by my "always questioning" (read: always quick to make their racism seem intelligent) conservative friends to do some hard research into the matter... i'm still positive beyond a doubt that martin murdered trayvon because he assumed he was some kind of hoodlum. shameful, really.

the bewilderness said...

Two things struck me about the video. One is there did not seem to be any mercuracrome painted on the back of Zimmermans head. So maybe they don't do that any more, and I'm too old and out of the loop to know.
The other was a shocking violation of policy where blood and body fluids are present. The cop who appeared to be patting him down did not have gloves on.

ProseHack said...

Kinda newbie...was around a while ago, then life and moving and all kinds of stuff...anyway. Reading again.

I wanted to point out 2 things, not as an apologist for Z, but questions. 1/Was he allowed to change his shirt? I realize this one's reddish, too, but is it the shirt he had on at the time of the shooting? I was involved in a shooting, a suicide, and I had to change my clothes and the ones I was wearing at the time were taken by the forensics people. If he were on the ground and shot someone in the chest, there would be the victim's blood on his clothing. I was 3 feet away, and I did.

2/The video is really crappy resolution.

With the resolution of the video, I could see perhaps a cut on the scalp being missed, but his face...

I've broken my nose 2x (as a kid and adult both) and there was blood EVERYWHERE. So Z had gone through 2 major bloody incidents, yet had not his nor Martin's blood visible anywhere. But blood would not show if he'd changed his shirt.

The most telling thing for me is my face and eyes swelled almost immediately. The time stamp indicates this was long enough after the incident that some of that should have occurred.

Shark-Fu said...

Hi ProseHack and welcome back!

Good questions that are currently lacking answers.

To #1 - he should NOT have been allowed to change his shirt without it being taken in as evidence. A photo should have been taken in a well lighted area of Zimmerman before he was allowed to change his shirt.

I should add that his father, brother, and official black friend have been all over the press defending him since the video's release but have not explained the lack of blood by offering that he changed shirts ...and Z's lawyer hinted that he may not have received medical attention or be able to show proof of that as previously indicated via interviews.

And the video quality SUCKS...but the only thing I've seen bleed more than a broken nose was a scalp laceration, so I'm still stumped about the lack of blood and bandage less than an hour after an alleged serious cut.

I'm not holding my breath that these questions will get addressed any time soon.

Anonymous said...

I just have to say this about the situation. Zimmerman point blank didn't know how to take a good ass whooping and shot that young man cause he was getting his ass beat. What happened to the more than what you bargained for law? Zimmerman asked for it Trayvon gave it to him and Zimmerman shot him cause he couldn't do nothing with him. And cmon he knew Trayvon didn't have no gun. How many people do you know who carry guns and when the threat of danger approaches doesn't pull it out? Zimmerman followed him so how scared was he? Sorry folks,but if I thought someone was on drugs and acting funny there is no way I am going to follow him/her or approach them. Have you ever seen how someone acts who is on drugs? You may watch them from a distance to make sure they don't get near and call the police,but you sure as hell don't approach them out of fear of what they might do. Zimmerman was a wannabee police officer and should go to jail for murder,harassment, and stalking!

The Gumdrop Stage of Grief ...

So many of you have shared condolences and support after the death of my beloved brother Bill from COVID-19. I wish I could thank you indiv...