"Grand jury won’t investigate Florida shooting case" by Mike Schneider | Associated Press, April 10, 2012
ORLANDO, Fla. - A grand jury will not look into the Trayvon Martin case, a special prosecutor said Monday, leaving the decision of whether to charge the teen’s shooter in her hands alone and eliminating the possibility of a first-degree murder charge.
That prosecutor, Angela Corey, said her decision had no bearing on whether she would file charges against George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who has said he shot the unarmed black teen in self-defense.
Corey could still charge him with a serious felony such as manslaughter, which can carry a lengthy prison sentence if he is convicted.
A grand jury had been set to meet Tuesday in Sanford, about 20 miles northeast of Orlando. Corey has long had a reputation for not using grand juries if it was not necessary. In Florida, only first-degree murder cases require the use of grand juries.
Corey’s decision means she does not have to rely on potentially unpredictable jurors, said David Hill, an Orlando criminal defense attorney.
You know, those pesky people who might critically analyze things for themselves.
“Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she knows there isn’t enough for first-degree murder but she wants to maintain control and charge him with something else,’’ Hill said. “What does she need a grand jury for? She cuts out the unpredictability of the grand jury. She goes where she feels she has more evidence.’’
Corey took over the case last month after the prosecutor who normally handles cases out of Sanford recused himself. That prosecutor, Norm Wolfinger, had originally called for the case to be presented before a grand jury.
“From the moment she was assigned, Ms. Corey noted she may not need a grand jury,’’ said a statement from Corey’s office.
Prosecutors sometimes use grand juries to avoid the political fallout from controversial cases. But Corey was elected by voters more than 100 miles away in the Jacksonville area, so political problems are less of an issue for her, Hill said.
Martin was killed Feb. 26 during a confrontation with Zimmerman in a gated community in Sanford.
Zimmerman said he acted in self-defense, and Florida’s self-defense law gives wide leeway to use deadly force and eliminates a person’s duty to retreat in the face of danger.
Zimmerman’s attorney, Craig Sonner, said he did not want to comment on Corey’s decision.
An attorney for Martin’s parents said in a statement that he is not surprised by the decision to avoid the grand jury and hopes a decision on prosecution is reached soon.
“The family has been patient throughout this process and asks that those who support them do the same during this very important investigation,’’ said attorney Benjamin Crump.
The case has led to protests across the nation and spurred a debate about race and the laws of self-defense. Martin was black; Zimmerman’s father is white and his mother is Hispanic.
In Georgia, a civil rights activist is challenging that state’s so-called stand your ground law. The Rev. Markel Hutchins said he filed suit Monday in Atlanta in response to Martin’s death. The lawsuit claims the law leads to the unnecessary use of lethal force.
On Monday, one protest led to the temporary closing of the Sanford Police Department offices to the public for most of the day as about a half-dozen student activists blocked the building entrance.
Police officers took no action to remove the protesters, who were part of a group of students who marched from Daytona Beach to Sanford over the weekend.
They were not Occupy protesters -- who happen to come in all colors.
Also see: Printed Paper Protest Photo
A march that received a lot less coverage.
Citizens wanting to do business with the Police Department were directed to City Hall.
Calling themselves “the Dream Defenders,’’ the protesters demanded Zimmerman’s arrest; a special investigation into the Sanford Police Department; a community meeting; and the firing of the city manager and the police chief who temporarily stepped down after Martin’s death, Bill Lee.
Darren Scott, a 23-year veteran of the Sanford Police Department, was named acting chief. Lee is still employed with the department and receiving his salary.
After meeting with six of the protesters, city officials agreed only to a community forum next week.
“The city certainly is committed to justice for Trayvon Martin,’’ said City Manager Norton Bonaparte Jr.
One of the Martin family’s attorneys, Daryl Parks, indicated last month that a civil lawsuit against the homeowners’ association was probable.
The Retreat at Twin Lakes homeowners’ association designated Zimmerman as the neighborhood watch captain in its newsletter.
--more--"
"Florida shooter’s lawyers pull out of case" Associated Press, April 11, 2012
SANFORD, Fla. - Two lawyers for the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin withdrew from the case Tuesday, they said, because they have not heard from George Zimmerman in days and he is taking actions related to the case without consulting them.
Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig said at a news conference they have not heard from Zimmerman since Sunday. They said that against their advice, Zimmerman contacted special prosecutor Angela Corey, who will decide whether he should face charges. A spokeswoman for Corey’s office did not immediately respond to an e-mail and two phone calls.
Sonner said he had talked to Zimmerman almost every day since taking the case last month.
Zimmerman has said he shot Martin in self-defense after following the teenager in Sanford, a gated community outside Orlando, on Feb. 26. He was not arrested partly because of Florida’s stand your ground self-defense law.
The lack of an arrest has led to protests across the nation and spurred a debate about race and the laws of self-defense.
Actually, my first impression was fallout from the promotion of fascism through fear. Then the fog was lifted despite the MSM's continued attempts at obfuscation and division.
Uhrig said that he and Sonner were concerned about their now former client.
“George Zimmerman, in our opinion . . . is not doing well emotionally, probably suffering from posttraumatic stress syndrome,’’ Uhrig said. He is not sure why Zimmerman has decided to suddenly change directions but speculated that the pressure of being in hiding, fearing for his life, not being able to talk to family and friends, “pushed him a little over the edge.’’
--more--"
I think the Globe is baiting me and putting me over the edge. What is with the rewrites?
"George Zimmerman is charged with 2nd-degree murder in Trayvon Martin shooting" by ,
George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot Florida teenager Trayvon Martin 46 days ago, was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday, marking a turning point in a case that has provoked nationwide debate over racial profiling....
Criminal justice lawyers said Corey faces an uphill battle in persuading a jury to convict Zimmerman of second-degree murder. Zimmerman told police he was fighting for his life in an altercation with Martin, who was 17 and unarmed, before he fired in self-defense.
Murder in the second degree, under Florida law, refers to a killing carried out without premeditation but with “a depraved mind regardless of human life.”
If that is the burden of proof you must acquit.
****************************
Martin was fatally shot Feb. 26 while walking in the Retreat at Twin Lakes, a complex of about 260 peach-colored townhouses in Sanford, Fla. Martin was staying with his father and his father’s fiancee in her townhouse, and he had left briefly to walk to a nearby 7-Eleven to buy a bottle of iced tea and a bag of Skittles.
Zimmerman, 28, who worked at a fraud-detection company, was driving to Target, according to his father. Zimmerman spotted Martin and called 911, saying that there had been a rash of burglaries in the area and that there was “a guy . . . walking around, looking about.”
“This guy looks like . . . he’s on drugs or something,” Zimmerman said.
Before police arrived, Zimmerman and Martin encountered each other in a grassy area between the back yards of two rows of townhouses. Zimmerman says Martin punched him in the face, knocked him down and slammed his head against the pavement.
He has maintained that he was defending himself when he pulled a black Kel-Tec 9mm and shot Martin at close range in the chest after the teenager tried to take the gun. When officers arrived, they found Martin dead in a pool of blood in the grass and Zimmerman bleeding from his nose and the back of his head.
Somehow that has been lost in the agenda-pushing coverage and conventional myth media.
Authorities in Sanford decided not to charge Zimmerman, citing Florida’s “stand your ground” law, which allows a person to use deadly force in self-defense when there is a reasonable belief of a threat and which does not require people to retreat. Allowing Zimmerman to go free prompted a wave of protests across the country, led in part by Martin's parents.
The case stirred racial tension in part because Zimmerman, whose father is white and whose mother is Hispanic, described Martin in his call to police as looking suspicious and "up to no good." For weeks, the Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders have invoked memories and Emmett Till and organized protest rallies. Images of Martin and Zimmerman have played continually on cable television. President Obama weighed in with a comment from the White House. “If I had a son,"he said, "he’d look like Trayvon.’’
I'm glad I don't watch.
Zimmerman's father has said that his son is not a racist and that he was trying to protect his neighborhood.
Martin's parents and their attorneys heard the news of the charge Wednesday in Washington, where they had traveled for the annual convention of the National Action Network, a civil rights organization founded by Sharpton.
"It's about justice, justice, and only justice," said Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump. "We can take a short breath because we are just now getting to first base. This is only first base in this game of justice."
There is never justice without truth, and the AmeriKan media's distortions are not helping.
--more--"
"Murder charge brought in Trayvon Martin case; Zimmerman accused of 2d-degree murder" by Sari Horwitz | Washington Post, April 12, 2012
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - More than six weeks after he shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old with no criminal record, George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch coordinator at a small gated community in Sanford, Fla., was charged with second-degree murder by a special prosecutor Wednesday evening and taken into custody.
The charges, which Martin’s family praised but called overdue, opened a new chapter in a case that set off a searing national discussion of racial profiling, Florida’s expansive self-defense laws, and the fairness of the criminal justice system.
The charges against Zimmerman were announced by Angela Corey, the state attorney for the Jacksonville area, who was appointed as a special prosecutor after the local state attorney stepped aside amid criticism that the case had been moving too slowly. Corey took pains to praise the local law enforcement officials at a news conference in Jacksonville and pledged to pursue justice for the Martin family.
“We only know one category as prosecutors, and that’s a ‘V,’ ’’ Corey said. “It’s not a ‘B,’ it’s not a ‘W,’ it’s not an ‘H.’ It’s ‘V,’ for victim. That’s who we work tirelessly for. And that’s all we know, is justice for our victims.’’
If he is convicted of second-degree murder, Zimmerman, 28, could face life in prison. It is the toughest charge he could have faced. First-degree murder would have required a finding of premeditation and a grand jury review, which Corey decided against this week.
Martin’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, praised the decision to arrest and charge
Zimmerman at an emotional news conference in Washington, where they had been meeting with their lawyers and supporters.
“We simply wanted an arrest,’’ Fulton said. “We wanted nothing more and nothing less; we just wanted an arrest. And we got it. And I say, ‘Thank you, thank you, Lord, thank you, Jesus.’ ’’
Zimmerman arrived at the Seminole County Jail about 8:25 p.m. and stepped out of a black SUV in the custody of law enforcement agents.
Trayvon Martin was shot on the evening of Feb. 26 as he returned from buying Skittles and iced tea at a 7-Eleven, bound for the home where he and his father were guests in a gated community in Sanford, a small city just north of Orlando. The killing incited outrage and protest marches across the country.
Zimmerman, founder of the local neighborhood watch, called 911 that evening to report “a real suspicious guy.’’ Some questioned whether Martin attracted Zimmerman’s attention simply because he was black. Others were outraged by the slow reaction of local police and prosecutors, who did not immediately arrest and charge Zimmerman, saying that Florida’s expansive self-defense law could make it difficult to prove a criminal case against him.
President Obama weighed in on the case at one point, saying, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.’’
After television commentators suggested that Martin might have looked suspicious because he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, people around the country began donning the shirts in solidarity.
LeBron James and other members of the Miami Heat basketball team posed in them for a photograph they posted on Twitter. US Representative Bobby Rush of Illinois, a Democrat, even wore one on the floor of the House, saying “Just because someone wears a hoodie does not make them a hoodlum.’’
The case drew attention to Florida’s “stand your ground’’ law, which was enacted seven years ago after lobbying by the National Rifle Association, despite objections from some law enforcement officials. The law gives the benefit of the doubt those who claim self-defense, even if they are not in their homes. It says that people who feel that they are in danger do not need to retreat, even if it would seem reasonable to do so.
In this case, Zimmerman, who had founded a neighborhood watch during the summer after a string of burglaries in the area, saw Martin, began following him and called 911, telling the dispatcher that he appeared “suspicious.’’
The dispatcher asked if Zimmerman was following him.
“Yeah,’’ Zimmerman said.
“OK, we don’t need you to do that,’’ the dispatcher said.
Zimmerman said: “OK.’’
The case will probably hinge on what happened next.
What appears to have happened is Zimmerman lost sight of him and was returning to his truck when he was attacked from behind. He was then able to pull the pistol off his side and fire into the side of the kid during the scrum.
Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey said “the search for justice has brought us to this moment.’’ She said shooter George Zimmerman had turned himself in.
A lawyer for Martin’s parents, Benjamin Crump, has said that Martin was speaking on his cellphone at the time with his girlfriend, and told her that he was being followed. Crump said that the girl heard him being asked what he was doing before the line went dead.
Zimmerman’s father, Robert Zimmerman, gave a different account: He has said that his son had lost sight of Martin, who then appeared from behind and challenged him.
Witnesses then told 911 that they saw two men fighting. Then Martin was shot in the chest and killed.
What witnesses saw seems minimized by the media milieu.
The Sanford police came under criticism when they did not arrest Zimmerman, saying that they had no evidence to dispute self-defense claim. The police chief, Bill Lee, eventually stepped down from his post. The state appointed a special prosecutor. And the Justice Department announced that it would open a federal civil rights investigation.
Corey, the special prosecutor who announced the charges, said that if Zimmerman’s lawyers invoke Florida’s “stand your ground’’ law in his defense, and prosecutors do not believe the shooting was justified, they will challenge the claim.
“This case is just like many of the shooting deaths we’ve had in our circuit,’’ she said. “If ‘stand your ground’ becomes an issue, we fight it if we believe it’s the right thing to do.’’
--more--"
"Zimmerman ignored police, prosecutors say; Trayvon Martin case outlined; No plea entered by Fla. shooter" by Greg Bluestein and Tamara Lush | Associated Press, April 13, 2012
SANFORD, Fla. - After weeks in hiding, George Zimmerman made his first courtroom appearance Thursday in the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, and prosecutors outlined their murder case in court papers, saying the neighborhood watch volunteer followed and confronted the black teenager after a police dispatcher told him to back off.
The brief outline, contained in an affidavit filed in support of the second-degree murder charges, appeared to contradict Zimmerman’s assertion that Martin attacked him after he had turned away and was returning to his vehicle.
In the affidavit, prosecutors also said that Martin’s mother identified cries for help heard in the background of a 911 call as her son’s. There had been some question as to whether Martin or Zimmerman was the one crying out.
And there still is. It's hard to tell from the tape; however, sources I respect say it might sounded like Zimmerman.
The account of the shooting was released as Zimmerman, 28, appeared at a four-minute hearing in a jailhouse courtroom, setting in motion what could be a long, drawn-out process, or an abrupt and disappointingly short one for the Martin family because of the strong legal protections contained in Florida’s “stand your ground’’ law on self-defense.
During the hearing, Zimmerman stood up straight, held his head high, and wore a gray jail jumpsuit. He spoke only to answer “Yes, sir’’ twice after he was asked basic questions from the judge, who was not in the courtroom but on closed-circuit television.
The defendant’s hair was shaved down to stubble and he had a thin goatee. His hands were shackled in front of him.
He did not enter a plea; that will happen at his arraignment, which was set for May 29. Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara, has said his client will plead not guilty.
A bond hearing for Zimmerman probably will be held April 20, O’Mara said late Thursday.
To prove second-degree murder, prosecutors must show that Zimmerman committed an “imminently dangerous’’ act that showed a “depraved’’ lack of regard for human life. The charge carries a mandatory sentence of 25 years in prison and a maximum of life.
The special prosecutor in the case, Angela Corey, has refused to explain exactly how she arrived at the charge. But in the affidavit, prosecutors said Zimmerman spotted Martin while patrolling his gated community, got out of his vehicle, and followed the young man.
Prosecutors interviewed a friend of Martin’s who was talking to him over the phone moments before the shooting. His parents’ lawyer has said that Martin was talking to his girlfriend back in Miami.
“During this time, Martin was on the phone with a friend and described to her what was happening,’’ the affidavit said. “The witness advised that Martin was scared because he was being followed through the complex by an unknown male and didn’t know why.’’
During a recorded call to a police dispatcher, Zimmerman “made reference to people he felt had committed and gotten away with break-ins in his neighborhood. Later while talking about Martin, Zimmerman stated ‘these [expletive], they always get away’ and also said ‘these [expletive] punks,’ ’’ said the affidavit.
It continued: “When the police dispatcher realized Zimmerman was pursuing Martin, he instructed Zimmerman not to do that and that the responding officer would meet him. Zimmerman disregarded the police dispatcher and continued to follow Martin who was trying to return to his home.’’
“Zimmerman confronted Martin and a struggle ensued,’’ prosecutors said in their account.
The account provided no details on the struggle other than to say that witnesses heard numerous calls for help and that Martin’s mother reviewed the 911 recordings and recognized her son’s cry.
Zimmerman told authorities that Martin attacked him as he turned back to his vehicle, punched him in the face, knocked him down, and began slamming his head against the sidewalk.
Just wondering why the cops finding him bleeding has been omitted.
At Thursday’s hearing, the case was assigned to Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler, a 39-year-old former assistant state attorney from Sanford who was elected to the bench in 2010. Zimmerman is being held without bail at the county jail.
For all the relief among civil rights activists over the arrest, legal specialists warned there is a real chance the case could get thrown out before it ever goes to trial because of Florida’s stand your ground law.
As it should.
The measure gives people a broad right to use deadly force without having to retreat from a fight.
At a pretrial hearing, Zimmerman’s lawyers would only have to prove by a preponderance of evidence - a relatively low legal standard - that he acted in self-defense in order to get a judge to toss out the second-murder charges. And if that fails and the case does go to trial, the defense can raise the argument all over again.
--more--"
"Boston’s black leaders encouraged by criminal charges in Trayvon Martin killing" by Derek J. Anderson | Globe Correspondent, April 12, 2012
Michael Curry, president of the Boston branch of the NAACP, was happy to see some judicial movement in Martin’s case.
“I think there has been an appropriate reaction to’’ Martin’s case, Curry said. “The media has generated an awareness of this that it wouldn’t originally have. Thank God for that. Whether it’s holding Skittles up, or putting hoodies on, people can relate to this young man who lost his life.’’
I think it is a shame that they have ulterior motives for doing it.
Curry said that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People believes Martin was slain because of a stereotype that resulted in the series of events that led to the teenager’s death, he said....
The Rev. Eugene Rivers III, cofounder of TenPoint Coalition and director of Ella J. Baker House, agreed that the decision to charge Zimmerman was good in a judicial sense but that there was a far bigger issue at stake.
“The more important issue is the problem of black-on-black violence,’’ said Rivers. “How might we be discussing how this would be if Zimmerman was black? How might this be different? This is going to be political theater for a while.’’
He is seeing right through it.
Because Zimmerman is a white Hispanic, he said, Martin’s killing became a celebrity case.
And an agenda-pushing wedge so we don't all come together against banksters, war profiteers, and their political hand maidens.
Amid the discussion of numerous possible outcomes in the case, the local activists agreed that the killing could continue a conversation leading toward a better community.
“If this doesn’t bring an honest discussion about race and how we must find ways to live better together, I don’t know what will,’’ said the Rev. Jeffrey Brown, executive director of Boston TenPoint Coalition.
Maybe we could start with US foreign policy on that one.
--more--"
Also see: 200 march in Trayvon Martin case protest
Activists urge defeat of deadly force bill
Tulsa shootings appear to target black men
The timing sure is odd.
"Revenge seen as motive in Tulsa shootings; White suspects arrested; all five victims were black" by Justin Juozapavicius Associated Press / April 9, 2012
Two men were arrested Sunday in a shooting rampage that left three people dead and terrorized Tulsa’s black community, and police said one of the suspects may have been trying to avenge his father’s shooting two years ago by a black man. Police identified both suspects as white, while all five victims in the rampage early Friday were black.
Click to continue reading this article
That's not the link to article and author!
SEE?
"Tulsa police say shootings may have been revenge; On Facebook, one used racial epithet prior to shootings" by Channing Joseph andManny Fernandez | New York Times, April 09, 2012
TULSA, Okla. - Late Thursday afternoon, Jacob C. England, 19, posted a message on his Facebook page, expressing grief and anger over the second anniversary of his father’s death. England’s father, Carl, was shot on April 5, 2010, at an apartment complex here, and the man who was a person of interest in the case, Pernell Jefferson, is serving time at an Oklahoma state prison.
England is a Native American who has also described himself as white. Jefferson is black.
“Today is two years that my dad has been gone,’’ England wrote, and then used a racial epithet to describe Jefferson. “It’s hard not to go off between that and sheran I’m gone in the head,’’ he added, referring to the recent suicide of his 24-year-old fiancee, Sheran Hart Wilde. “RIP. Dad and sheran I Love and miss u I think about both of u every second of the day.’’
Hours later, the authorities say, England and his friend and roommate, Alvin Watts, 32, waged what city leaders believe was a racially motivated shooting rampage in the predominantly black neighborhoods of north Tulsa early Friday morning, driving through the streets in a pickup truck and randomly shooting pedestrians.
Three black people were killed, and two others were wounded in the attacks.
England and Watts, who is white, were arrested early Sunday after investigators received tips to the state’s anonymous Crime Stoppers line, the authorities said. They will face three counts of first-degree murder, they said, and two counts of shooting with intent to kill.
At a news conference in downtown Tulsa on Sunday, police officials said it was too early in the investigation to say precisely what motivated England and Watts, and they stopped short of describing the shootings as hate crimes.
“You can look at the facts of the case and certainly come up with what would appear to be a logical theory, but we’re going to let the evidence take us where we want to go,’’ said Chuck Jordan, Tulsa’s police chief.
In Tulsa - a city of 392,000, about 62,000 of whom are black - the shootings shocked, frightened, and angered many black residents on Easter weekend and prompted an intense manhunt. The authorities formed a task force called Operation Random Shooter, made up of more than two dozen local, state, and federal investigators from the Tulsa Police Department, the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office, and the federal Marshals Service. The FBI also joined the investigation.
Jack Henderson, a city councilman who is black and whose district includes all of the shooting sites, said that before the arrests, many in the area were terrified.
“A lot of people in my community have been calling me, afraid that they couldn’t go outside, didn’t know if they could even go to church, didn’t know if they could go to the grocery store,’’ Henderson said at the news conference.
“With these two people off the streets, people in my community as well as the rest of this city can feel that they are safer,’’ he said.
Tulsa officials said the shootings were unlike anything the city had seen in its modern history. None of the victims knew one another, and all of them were shot within a few miles. Henderson said he had heard from constituents that in one of the shootings, the suspects had approached their victims at random and asked for directions. “When they turned around to walk away, they just opened fire,’’ Henderson said.
In 1921, Tulsa was the scene of a riot that is one of the deadliest episodes of racial violence in the nation’s history, in which a mob of white Tulsans destroyed a black neighborhood and killed dozens, perhaps hundreds, of black residents.
After the Friday shootings, city leaders said that the anger in the black community had reached the point where people were talking about taking the law into their own hands. Asked Sunday if he feared any sort of uprising, Jordan replied: “I have much more faith in my fellow Tulsans than that. I think they let us do our job.’’
Jordan released few details about many aspects of the shootings, saying the investigation was continuing. He declined to say if the suspects were cooperating with investigators, and he said that England’s Facebook postings would be part of the prosecution of the case.
England, a stocky young man with a mohawk-style haircut, graduated in 2009 from Sperry High School. Late Friday evening, hours after the first shooting, England suggested on his Facebook page that he was contemplating suicide because people were accusing him of unspecified acts that “I didn’t do,’’ he wrote, adding that it might be time to “call it quits.’’
The three people who were killed were identified as Dannaer Fields, 49; Bobby Clark, 54; and William Allen, 31. The two people who were wounded did not suffer life-threatening injuries and have been released from the hospital, the authorities said. The shootings were reported between about 1 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Friday.
--more--"
What the NY Times missed:
"The Tulsa Police Department has been tainted by accusations of corruption. Three ex-police officers and a former federal agent were sentenced to prison in December after a two-year investigation involving allegations of falsified search warrants, nonexistent informants, perjury and stolen drugs and money. Two other ex-officers were acquitted of stealing money during an FBI sting but fired after an internal-affairs investigation.
But I'm sure you can trust the Tulsa police.
--MORE--"
TULSA, Okla. - Late Thursday afternoon, Jacob C. England, 19, posted a message on his Facebook page, expressing grief and anger over the second anniversary of his father’s death. England’s father, Carl, was shot on April 5, 2010, at an apartment complex here, and the man who was a person of interest in the case, Pernell Jefferson, is serving time at an Oklahoma state prison.
England is a Native American who has also described himself as white. Jefferson is black.
“Today is two years that my dad has been gone,’’ England wrote, and then used a racial epithet to describe Jefferson. “It’s hard not to go off between that and sheran I’m gone in the head,’’ he added, referring to the recent suicide of his 24-year-old fiancee, Sheran Hart Wilde. “RIP. Dad and sheran I Love and miss u I think about both of u every second of the day.’’
Hours later, the authorities say, England and his friend and roommate, Alvin Watts, 32, waged what city leaders believe was a racially motivated shooting rampage in the predominantly black neighborhoods of north Tulsa early Friday morning, driving through the streets in a pickup truck and randomly shooting pedestrians.
Three black people were killed, and two others were wounded in the attacks.
England and Watts, who is white, were arrested early Sunday after investigators received tips to the state’s anonymous Crime Stoppers line, the authorities said. They will face three counts of first-degree murder, they said, and two counts of shooting with intent to kill.
At a news conference in downtown Tulsa on Sunday, police officials said it was too early in the investigation to say precisely what motivated England and Watts, and they stopped short of describing the shootings as hate crimes.
“You can look at the facts of the case and certainly come up with what would appear to be a logical theory, but we’re going to let the evidence take us where we want to go,’’ said Chuck Jordan, Tulsa’s police chief.
In Tulsa - a city of 392,000, about 62,000 of whom are black - the shootings shocked, frightened, and angered many black residents on Easter weekend and prompted an intense manhunt. The authorities formed a task force called Operation Random Shooter, made up of more than two dozen local, state, and federal investigators from the Tulsa Police Department, the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office, and the federal Marshals Service. The FBI also joined the investigation.
Jack Henderson, a city councilman who is black and whose district includes all of the shooting sites, said that before the arrests, many in the area were terrified.
“A lot of people in my community have been calling me, afraid that they couldn’t go outside, didn’t know if they could even go to church, didn’t know if they could go to the grocery store,’’ Henderson said at the news conference.
“With these two people off the streets, people in my community as well as the rest of this city can feel that they are safer,’’ he said.
Tulsa officials said the shootings were unlike anything the city had seen in its modern history. None of the victims knew one another, and all of them were shot within a few miles. Henderson said he had heard from constituents that in one of the shootings, the suspects had approached their victims at random and asked for directions. “When they turned around to walk away, they just opened fire,’’ Henderson said.
In 1921, Tulsa was the scene of a riot that is one of the deadliest episodes of racial violence in the nation’s history, in which a mob of white Tulsans destroyed a black neighborhood and killed dozens, perhaps hundreds, of black residents.
After the Friday shootings, city leaders said that the anger in the black community had reached the point where people were talking about taking the law into their own hands. Asked Sunday if he feared any sort of uprising, Jordan replied: “I have much more faith in my fellow Tulsans than that. I think they let us do our job.’’
Jordan released few details about many aspects of the shootings, saying the investigation was continuing. He declined to say if the suspects were cooperating with investigators, and he said that England’s Facebook postings would be part of the prosecution of the case.
England, a stocky young man with a mohawk-style haircut, graduated in 2009 from Sperry High School. Late Friday evening, hours after the first shooting, England suggested on his Facebook page that he was contemplating suicide because people were accusing him of unspecified acts that “I didn’t do,’’ he wrote, adding that it might be time to “call it quits.’’
The three people who were killed were identified as Dannaer Fields, 49; Bobby Clark, 54; and William Allen, 31. The two people who were wounded did not suffer life-threatening injuries and have been released from the hospital, the authorities said. The shootings were reported between about 1 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. Friday.
--more--"
What the NY Times missed:
"The Tulsa Police Department has been tainted by accusations of corruption. Three ex-police officers and a former federal agent were sentenced to prison in December after a two-year investigation involving allegations of falsified search warrants, nonexistent informants, perjury and stolen drugs and money. Two other ex-officers were acquitted of stealing money during an FBI sting but fired after an internal-affairs investigation.
But I'm sure you can trust the Tulsa police.
--MORE--"
Related: 2 allegedly confess to Oklahoma shootings
"Many in Oklahoma city want shootings deemed hate crime; Prosecutors say that could muddy murder charges" by Justin Juozapavicius and Sean Murphy | Associated Press, April 11, 2012
TULSA, Okla. - Leaders of the predominantly black community declared the attacks a hate crime and warned of a possible vigilante response.
Quick arrests relieved many residents and ended talk of more violence, but community leaders still want the case treated as a hate crime. “We have to send a message,’’ one said Tuesday.
I always cringe when I see that kind of talk because it implies that truth will be disregarded.
But with a first conviction under Oklahoma’s hate crimes law carrying only up to a year in jail, some questioned whether it was worth the effort....
A hate-related killing has not been reported in Oklahoma since 2009, when there was one. Oklahoma City police say a group of black men approached Roberta Kay Hill, 43, a white woman, and shouted racial slurs before one man fired several shots, killing her. That case remains unsolved.
What?
--more--"
"Calif. prison panel denies Manson’s bid for parole" Associated Press, April 12, 2012
CORCORAN, Calif. - A prison panel denied parole Wednesday to mass murderer Charles Manson in his 12th and perhaps final bid for freedom.
Manson, now a gray-bearded 77-year-old, did not attend the hearing, at which the parole board ruled he had shown no efforts to rehabilitate himself and would not be eligible for parole for another 15 years....
Manson orchestrated a series of gruesome murders on consecutive nights that terrified the city of Los Angeles 40 years ago. His trial with three female acolytes was an international spectacle.
Manson and his followers were convicted in the 1969 slaying of actress Sharon Tate and four others.
Referring to the bizarre scene that included bloody scrawling on walls and use of the words “Helter Skelter,’’ the prosecutor asserted the phrase reflected Manson’s twisted idea that he could cause a race war with the killings.
I'm so sick of war I reject it out of hand.
No clear motive was ever established....
--more--"
"Black lawmaker in Idaho gets KKK mailing" Associated Press, April 11, 2012
BOISE, Idaho - The state’s only black lawmaker said she received a mailing from the Ku Klux Klan that has bolstered her resolve to fight prejudice.
Childhood memories of a cross burning on her lawn on Boise’s north end were rekindled for Representative Cherie Buckner-Webb when she opened a hand-addressed application last week to join the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
“It conjured up a lot of things for me that weren’t very comfortable,’’ she said.
The mailing had a return address for the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan offices in Harrison, Ark., the Statesman said. No one answered a phone call Tuesday from the Associated Press to the offices of the group.
The hallmark of an intelligence agency operation, for that is who I believe directs white supremacist organizations these days.
Remember, the GOVERNMENT NEEDS ENEMIES which is why groups like the KKK never go away -- and it also serves as a divisive tool for division of all kinds.
--more--"
Next Day Update: Zimmerman used no slur, state says
Oh, the AmeriKan media lied to us again? Whatta shocker!
More bait:
WASHINGTON - Bill Cosby said Sunday that the debate over the killing of Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch volunteer should be focused on guns, not race.
In a taped interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,’’ the actor and comedian said that calling George Zimmerman a racist doesn’t solve anything. He said the bigger question is what Zimmerman was doing with a gun, and who taught him how to behave with it.
The fatal shooting of the 17-year-old Martin on Feb. 26 has started a nationwide debate about race and self-defense. Martin was unarmed when he was shot in Sanford, Fla., by Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who has claimed self-defense.
Martin’s family believes Zimmerman singled out the teenager as suspicious because he was black. Zimmerman’s father is white and his mother is Hispanic.
Cosby said he once owned a gun but no longer does. He said the nation should tighten its gun control laws and people should be taught to use every possible alternative before shooting someone.
Now if we could only bring that view to AmeriKan foreign policy.
On Saturday, a top National Rifle Association official levied sharp criticism against the media, accusing it of sensationalizing the case and ignoring other crimes that happen across the country every day.
That's a given.
Some gun-control advocates have seized on the Florida shooting to emphasize the need for gun control....
There is always someone looking to push an agenda.
--more--"
