(Salon.Com)  Since Florida cannot defend black life against white fear, the question now is: How should black people respond?

How much more are black people in this country supposed to take?

On Saturday, a Florida jury failed to convict Michael Dunn for the callous murder of Jordan Davis. Though he was convicted of three counts of attempted murder and also on a gun charge, a mistrial was declared for the first-degree murder charge. He will face substantial jail time – perhaps up to 75 years on the four charges for which he was found guilty.

Prosecutor Angela Corey has also publicly declared her intent to seek retrial on the murder conviction. However, she is the same prosecutor who oversaw the Zimmerman murder trial and failed to get a conviction. (more…)

I’ll be writing up some thoughts on how the media is presenting this again.

The issues are far more complex than can be summarized in a six to eight hundred word synopsis.

There are serious issues represented in how Chris Cuomo and the larger media are continuing to advance a historically flawed narrative surrounding the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. When the trial evidence was presented (poorly in my opinion) and then the jury verdict was announced, a decision by the media was needed. Would they admit their former false presentations, or would they double down on their false media narrative.

It is now clear the media is wantonly doubling down on their falsehoods.

It is also clear the reason they can get away with it is because Mark O’Mara played a white-guilt apologist role in keeping the “why” out of the sunlight.

As the only person who interviewed hundreds of students in/around Krop Senior High School, and having invested thousands of hours in research to the people and motivation’s behind the story, we will attempt clarification.

VERY FEW, almost no-one, at Krop Senior High School knew Trayvon Martin. When you understand why that is, you begin to understand how totally false the entire construct of the shooting storyline, as presented by the media, actually is.

The STAND YOUR GROUND statute was NOT used in either the Zimmerman or Dunn trials.   Period.

Let me repeat.  The STAND YOUR GROUND statute was NOT used in either the Zimmerman or Dunn trials.   Period.

Repetition is needed because literally every single media pundit talking about either trial says, as if it were true, that Stand Your Ground was a factor in the self-defense claims of George Zimmerman and Michael Dunn.  However, for media and politicians they can never let facts get in the way of their propaganda.

FLORIDA – Critics of Florida’s Stand-Your-Ground law are using the verdict in the murder trial of Michael Dunn to showcase their argument that state laws should be changed.

Dunn was convicted on three counts of second-degree attempted murder, but the jury could not reach a verdict on first- or-second-degree murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis after about 30 hours of deliberations.

“It’s a sloppy bill. It needs to be narrowly tailored and judges need more discretion,” U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, a Jacksonville Democrat, said Sunday.

“When the law started, the intention was very good: If you break into my house, I’m going to deal with you. But when you extend [that premise]…. there are problems.” (more…)

(Via MediaIte)  CNN legal analyst Paul Callan noted the issue here is whether the shooting was premeditated or if it was a last-minute decision. Lemon took note of all the people pointing out online how angry he’s been over the case, saying, “I know people are saying Don Lemon is pissed on Twitter. Yes, I am pissed! I am absolutely pissed!”

He continued, “I think there needs to be a Mind Your Business law that goes along with the Stand Your Ground law.”  (link)

Common theme of #MichaelDunn & #GeorgeZimmerman > 2 interfering busy-bodies who if they'd minded their damn business wouldn't have killed.

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 16, 2014

(more…)

(JACKSONVILLE)  Jurors took more nearly 40 hours and finally decided: Michael David Dunn is guilty of attempted murder in the November shootings that killed 17-year-old Jordan Davis in a dispute over loud music.

The jury said it could not break its deadlock on the more serious charge of Davis’ murder, and Judge Russell Healey declared a mistrial on that count.

Dunn was convicted on three counts of the attempted murders of the three teenagers who were riding with Davis in a Dodge Durango. Dunn also was convicted on a weapons charge. (more…)

According to Jacksonville Florida media reports the jury in the Michael Dunn trial is deadlocked on at least one count. Here’s the latest:

JACKSONVILLE – They are deadlocked on at least one of the charges against him.

Around 5 p.m. jurors sent a question to acting Circuit Judge Russell Healey asking if it was possible to not reach a verdict on one count and reach a verdict on the other counts. Healey told them that was possible, and then granted a request they made for a 30-minute break.

The jurors appeared exhausted when they came into the courtroom, and one juror appeared to be close to crying. Dunn is charged with the murder of Jordan Davis, the attempted murders of Tevin Thompson, Leland Brunson and Tommie Stornes and shooting or firing a deadly missile. (more…)

The defamation suit against NBC was on hold pending criminal trial outcome.  The Zimmerman motion for sanctions, still in limbo, against prosecutors Bernie De La Rionda and Angela Corey are part of the criminal trial.   Subsequently and consequentially the request for the defamation suit to move forward has been denied.

SANFORD — Orlando lawyer Mark O’Mara on Thursday took another step away from his most famous client, George Zimmerman, by bowing out of a defamation suit against NBC Universal Media.

O’Mara was co-counsel for Zimmerman when the former Neighborhood Watch volunteer sued the network broadcaster just over a year ago, accusing it of falsely portraying him as racist in five reports.

[Zimmerman’s] … defamation suit has sat dormant for 11 months. Both sides agreed last February that they’d do nothing until Zimmerman’s criminal case was closed. (more…)

Nothing for nothing, but at a certain point you just gotta say George Zimmerman is stuck on an escalator built like an Escher Staircase.    Current Destination – Hateville.    

Get a flipping grip world – it’s a painting.   Get that?  

A Painting !

(Via Daily Mail)  George Zimmerman’s recent foray into the art  world hasn’t exactly earned him much critical praise. But it’s definitely  garnered him some attention – so much so that it could potentially get him sued  by one of the largest news-wire services on earth.

For his latest painting, the man acquitted of  murder in the shooting death of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin has painted  a portrait of Florida State Attorney General Angela Corey, who is the woman who  decided to charge Zimmerman with murder in Martin’s death. (more…)

“Look, if he’s doing something that calms him down, keeps him out of the public eye, relaxes him, I think that’s a healthy habit to take on,” O’Mara said.

“I looked at the art,” he continued. “It’s an interesting picture, it carries a certain cuteness to me that she has that picture and that quote in it because you know my feelings about the way she handled herself and the ethics of the way the prosecution handled it’s case. Cute clip.” (link with audio clip)

Meanwhile Biggie, who will forget more about artsy stuff than we will ever learn, @iOTW has a warning for George – CLICK HERE

Very proud to introduce @TherealGeorgeZ ‘s latest…”Angie”. Sale info & details available tomorrow. #ronaldthompson pic.twitter.com/yDkIl4QH0R

— Robert Zimmerman JR (@rzimmermanjr) January 22, 2014

You might remember that Angela Corey cancelled an already impanelled Grand Jury and held a press conference to announce she was proceeding with the Second Degree murder charge on her own auspices. The artwork’s inspiration may have come from this photograph. (more…)