Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Trayvon Martin Case: Shooter Appears Uninjured in Police Video on Night of Shooting

Trayvon Martin case: Shooter George Zimmerman appears uninjured in police video on night of shooting

Contradicting claims, video shows that George Zimmerman's nose is not broken or bleeding and the back of his head is unmarked by grass or bruising

By Helen Kennedy / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Wednesday, March 28, 2012, 9:10 PM
Updated: Wednesday, March 28, 2012, 9:36 PM
ABCNEWS.COM

The Sanford, Fla., Police Department says it did not arrest the Hispanic neighborhood watchman who killed the unarmed black teenager because Trayvon was pounding his head into the ground and Zimmerman shot in self-defense.

The security camera footage shot inside the police station directly contradicts a police report written that night.

“I could observe his back appeared to be wet and was covered in grass, as if he had been laying on his back on the ground,” Officer Timothy Smith wrote after the shooting Feb. 26.

“Zimmerman was also bleeding from the nose and back of his head,” the officer wrote.

The high-quality security footage obtained by ABC News shows clearly that Zimmerman’s red and black fleece jacket is unmarred, the back of his close-cropped head is clean and his nose is not bloody.

He walks easily and appears to be in no pain. At one point , an officer is seen pausing to look at the back of Zimmerman's head, but no abrasions or stains can be seen.

Zimmerman’s attorney, Craig Sonner, has told reporters that Trayvon beat his client so badly that Zimmerman suffered a broken nose and injuries to the back of his head.

The tape obtained by ABC shows Zimmerman, 28, getting out of the back of a squad car in the Sanford Police garage.

His hands are cuffed behind him, but is able to get out on his own. He appears fitter and lighter than he did in his now-famous pudgy 2005 mug shot.

Police appear to treat him casually, chatting easily with him.

Zimmerman killed 17-year-old Trayvon after calling 911 to report a suspicious person in the Orlando-area gated community. The teenager was staying with his father and went out to buy a bag of Skittles and an iced tea.

Zimmerman claims Trayvon confronted him, decked him with a single punch and pounded his head into the ground.

Trayvon’s family says he was on the phone while walking, talking with his 16-year-old girlfriend, who said he was scared about a man following him.

Calls to 911 from worried residents captured screams for help. Trayvon’s family and some witnesses say he was calling out: Zimmerman’s lawyer and other witnesses say the cries were his.

The case - and the police refusal to arrest Zimmerman - has started a national argument about racial profiling and the merits of “stand your ground” laws that allow a person to kill if they feel threatened.

In Washingon, Rep. Bobby Rush, the storied Chicago congressman whose own son was shot and killed a decade ago, was reprimanded and kicked off the House floor Wednesday for wearing a hoodie like Trayvon’s.

Rush took to the floor in a regular suit to talk about racial profiling and Trayvon’s death.

“Racial profiling has got to stop,” he said at the podium, removing his suit jacket to reveal a grey sweatshirt with a hood that he lifted over his head.

“Just because someone wears a hoodie does not make them a hoodlum,” Rush said, replacing his reading glasses with sunglasses.

House rules bar members from wearing hats on the floor.

Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.), who was presiding, banged the gavel repeatedly and called Rush out of order as the congressman ignored him and recited loudly from the Bible.

“May God bless Trayvon Martin’s soul and his family,” Rush said as he was finally led away by the Sergeant at Arms.

The 10-term congressman from Chicago’s South Side - a one-time Black Panther - lost his 29-year-old son, Huey, in 1999 to a robber posing as a cop.

Trayvon was wearing a hoodie the night he was shot, and the sweatshirt has become a symbol of the racial profiling many believe was behind the shooting.

The National Rifle Association was taking heat for selling a hooded sweatshirt with a hidden pocket for a gun. Some critics mistakenly believed the NRA started selling them after Trayvon’s death, but the $59.95 “concealed carry hooded sweatshirt” was introduced late last year.

In New York, City Council members wore hoodies at a press conference calling for Zimmerman’s arrest.

“What George Zimmerman did was wrong, and he needs to be held accountable,” said Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who wore a wrinkled red hoodie.

Councilwoman Melissa Mark Viverito (D-Manhattan) said, “Trayvon's only crime was being black and wearing a hoodie in a gated community.”

Councilwoman Deborah Rose (D-Staten Island) said: “Wearing a hoodie should not be a death sentence.”

“We must decriminalize black men walking,” she said.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/trayvon-martin-case-shooter-george-zimmerman-appears-uninjured-police-video-night-shooting-article-1.1052433#ixzz1qTAhYhxD

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