Maybe the place that prints Charles Manson t-shirts can take up the line?

Innocent my ass.

I'm sure the Cafepress/Zazzle purchases would have numbered in the fives.

"In an interview Tuesday, Sekara said that he planned to share some of the proceeds of his venture with Zimmerman, whom he does not know. Sekara also claimed not to be concerned about being criticized for seeking to profit from the shooting of an unarmed teenager.

In today’s e-mail, Sekara offered a dim view of cashing in on the criminal case. “With regards to the idea of making money off this, I agree that it is disgusting,” he wrote. Sekara added that the point he wanted to make was that “everyone has the right to trial by jury. Everyone tried and convicted the accused and put a bounty on his head. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be in this country.” "

Uh, the court of law is not the court of public opinion you ignorant fuck.

Seriously, of COURSE people use social sanctions on admitted murderers. We have all forms of record that he murdered a child. There is no reason to sit back and wait for the court to tell you differently than what the guy bragged about doing himself, to then form an opinion later. All the pertinent facts are out and have been from the beginning, aside from eyewitness testimony that had not originally been consulted, but that confirms that the child was murdered in cold blood.

'Sekara added that the point he wanted to make was that “everyone has the right to trial by jury. Everyone tried and convicted the accused and put a bounty on his head. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be in this country.”'

Yes! This is why the shirts said 'TRY ZIMMERMAN IN A FAIR AND JUST MANNER' instead of voicing outright support for him. What a maroon.

Most of the commentary, including naturally our resident brain-damage case @1, is missing the point of the Trayvon Martin case.

It's not about whether Zimmerman is a bad fellow, or even whether he is obviously guilty or not ("innocent my ass"). It ultimately isn't really about Zimmerman at all. Zimmerman is a red herring.

The issue that has arisen is this: When a black man is shot dead for being "suspicious", no one in a position of authority blinks an eye. I'm not talking about Zimmerman, I'm talking about the police in Florida, and the prosecutors in Florida. A dead black boy is, well, he's not anything. They took a statement from Zimmerman, and accepted it at face value with zero investigation, without even a cursory glance at the evidence. The case was stamped "closed" before it was even opened.

This is traditional. As Ta-Nehisi Coates has pointed out, what's remarkable about this case is how unremarkable it is. Black boy shot dead -- it's not even that he "must have deserved it", it's that Trayvon Martin (the one we know about) doesn't even get a hearing, doesn't even get a notice. Just another dead kid, stack him over there with the others. They didn't even notify the Martin family at first.

It is a step forward for righteousness that Zimmerman be charged. That is a change. Whether he gets convicted or not, well, I dunno, and I don't even care that much. Zimmerman isn't the story here. Equal justice is.

@5: Zimmerman, who has repeatedly and systemically abused the law through the virtues of his father's privilege, is a PART of the problem, not just an example of it.

I mean, I agree that there's other items at work that need fixing, but he's a particularly egregious example of someone who managed to get off in the past from abusing women and LEOs by virtue of daddy's graces. He nearly got away with murder, if it wasn't for the very loud public outcry.

Fnarf, that was particularly well-said.

Good job, sir.

@9,

If Zimmerman had shot me (a well-educated, middle class white woman) to death while I was walking down the street minding my own business, do you think his daddy's connections could have gotten him out of it?

The authorities were happy to drop it because of the race of the victim and the perceived race of the perpetrator.

He should have printed it on cups. Not the kind you drink out of. The athletic kind you wear to protect your balls THAT I'M GOING TO KICK IF I SEE THIS SLOGAN!

@9,

Also, do you think they would have just bagged and tagged my body without making any effort to find my next of kin? Race has EVERYTHING to do with this.

@9: Yeah, I'm not downplaying the importance of his point.

Certainly, even the Stand your Ground laws are racist enough on their own-

http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/04/12…

"Under Georgia's law (O.C.G.A. 16-3-23.1), a person is justified in using force intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm to prevent the commission of a "forcible felony" if "he or she reasonably believes that such threat or force is necessary to defend himself or herself or a third person against such other's imminent use of unlawful force," according to Hutchins' complaint.
Hutchins claims the law is unconstitutionally vague and wants its enforcement enjoined.
At issue is what constitutes a "reasonable fear," Hutchins says in the complaint.
"It is without question that the determination of the reasonableness of one's fear in the invocation of self-defense will differ in application if the decedent is an unarmed elderly white woman as opposed to an unarmed young black man," the complaint states. "Thus the reasonable person standard with regards to the use of self-defense when an individual is standing one's ground offers different levels of protection to individuals based upon their race.""

Black men have attempted to use the law to protect themselves (IN THEIR OWN HOME, in at least one case) from being assaulted, but are not treated as "afraid" of white men attacking them as blacks attacking whites, the law has not protected them equally.

That's fucked up, even beyond the abusive nature of the law.

I think a better t-shirt would have an image of GZ with a noose around his neck saying "Hey, Turnabout is Fair Play".

#1

FTW -- for like the whole freaking week, man!!

What @5 said.

Now, is it too soon or is it too late to discuss the wholesale acceptance of the term "hoodie"? Less than 5 years ago, adults—adult Californians even—laughed at this word. It's totes ridic. An Old Navy ad is one thing, but now we hear "hoodie" nonchalantly thrown out on the evening news?

We'll hopefully be a better nation for having a debate over what sits at the core of the Trayvon Martin case, but thanks to "hoodie", we're sure going to sound a fuck of a lot stupider along the way.

@5 Right. Have any of you noticed that no one has said a word about Trayvon Martin's right to stand HIS ground? As I understand it the law allows the use of deadly force if one has a reasonable fear of being harmed. Being stalked through the streets by a stranger at night would fill me with fear. I'm not implying that Trayvon Martin did attack George Zimmerman, I'm saying that the Stand Your Ground law, if applied without prejudice should have applied to him and not Zimmerman. I also think that, as the aggressor Zimmerman has no right to use it as a shield. I think that SYG laws are a danger to the public weal.

@9, you're just wrong. Black men have been casually murdered by authority figures without repercussions in the South for centuries.

@9 The cursory way Martin's death was investigated simply isn't the way American law enforcement normally does business.

Lol! You're hysterical. You should be on Letterman. What other jokes you have in that bag of yours?

#16 - so saying "hoodie" makes you sound stupid, but using phrases like "totes ridic" does not? Okay, whatevs, bra.

#20 - That was the fucking joke. And while some of the nuances escape me, I'm mostly sure bras don't speak tween talk, the most likely exception being "hoodie."

"...but ultimately decided that trying to profit off a dead teen's corpse was 'disgusting.'"

Sure is. Somebody ought to tell Sybrina Fulton that.

@21 you clearly are old. We were calling them hoodies in highschool back in the 90s, or at least in Seattle.

What about Trayvons mother copyrighting "Justice for Trayvon" so she could cash in on T-Shirt sales?

@23 and 25: Oh, she's selling Tshirts? Where at?

@25: So someone else couldn't make money off her dead son you revolting idiot.