Trayvon Martin

Police: Zimmerman says Trayvon decked him with one blow then began hammering his head

4:35 p.m. EST, March 26, 2012|

By Rene Stutzman, Orlando Sentinel

With a single punch, Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who eventually shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old, then Trayvon climbed on top of George Zimmerman and slammed his head into the sidewalk, leaving him bloody and battered, law enforcement authorities have revealed to the Orlando Sentinel.

That is the account Zimmerman gave police, and much of it has been corroborated by witnesses, authorities say. There have been no reports that a witness saw that initial punch Zimmerman told police about.

Zimmerman has not spoken publicly about what happened Feb. 26. But that night, and in later meetings, he described and re-enacted for police what he says took place.

In his version of events, he had turned around and was walking back to his SUV when Trayvon approached him from
behind, the two exchanged words then Trayvon punched him in the nose, sending him to the ground, and began beating him.
Zimmerman told police he shot the teenager in self-defense.

Civil rights leaders and more than a million other people have demanded Zimmerman's arrest, calling Trayvon a victim of racial profiling and suggesting Zimmerman is a vigilante.

Trayvon was an unarmed black teenager who had committed no crime, they say, who was gunned down while walking back from a 7-Eleven with nothing more sinister than a package of Skittles and can of Arizona iced tea.

This is what the newspaper has learned about Zimmerman's account to investigators:

He said he was on his way to the grocery store when he spotted Trayvon walking through his gated community.

Trayvon was visiting his father's fiancée, who lived there. He had been suspended from school in Miami after being found with an empty marijuana baggie. Miami schools have a zero-tolerance policy for drug possession.

Police have been reluctant to provide details about their evidence.

But after the Sentinel story appeared on the newspaper's website Monday morning, City Manager Norton Bonaparte Jr. issued a news release, saying there would be an internal affairs investigation into the source of the leak and if identified, the person or people involved would be disciplined.

He did not challenge the accuracy of the information.

At a Monday news conference, Trayvon's mother, father and their lawyers called the report that their son was suspended from school because of a marijuana baggy irrelevant and needlessly hurtful.

Trayvon's father Tracy Martin, said "even in death, they are still disrespecting my son, and I feel that that's a sin."

His mother, Sybrina Fulton, said, "They killed my son and now they're trying to kill his reputation."

Supporters have held rallies in Sanford, Miami, New York and Tallahassee, calling the case a tragic miscarriage of injustice.
Civil Rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton headlined a rally in Sanford Thursday that drew an estimated 8,000 people. The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Sunday spoke at an Eatonville church, where he called Trayvon a martyr.

Zimmerman has gone into hiding. A fringe group, the New Black Panthers, have offered a $10,000 reward for his capture.
On Feb. 26, when Zimmerman first spotted Trayvon, he called police and reported a suspicious person, describing Trayvon as black, acting strangely and perhaps on drugs.

Zimmerman got out of his SUV to follow Trayvon on foot. When a dispatch employee asked Zimmerman if he was following the 17-year-old, Zimmerman said yes. The dispatcher told Zimmerman he did not need to do that.

There is about a one-minute gap during which police say they're not sure what happened.

Zimmerman told them he lost sight of Trayvon and was walking back to his SUV when Trayvon approached him from the left rear, and they exchanged words.

Trayvon asked Zimmerman if he had a problem. Zimmerman said no and reached for his cell phone, he told police. Trayvon then said, "Well, you do now" or something similar and punched Zimmerman in the nose, according to the account he gave police.

Zimmerman fell to the ground and Trayvon got on top of him and began slamming his head into the sidewalk, he told police.
Zimmerman began yelling for help.

Several witnesses heard those cries, and there's been a dispute about whether they came from Zimmerman or Trayvon.

Lawyers for Trayvon's family say it was Trayvon, but police say their evidence indicates it was Zimmerman.

One witness, who has since talked to local television news reporters, told police he saw Zimmerman on the ground with Trayvon on top, pounding him — and was unequivocal that it was Zimmerman who was crying for help.

Zimmerman then shot Trayvon once in the chest from very close range, according to authorities.

When police arrived less than two minutes later, Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose, had a swollen lip and had bloody lacerations to the back of his head.

Paramedics gave him first aid, but said he did not need to go to the hospital. He got medical care the next day.
Copyright © 2012, Orlando Sentinel

The operator say it at about 2:25

By DAVID MUIR (@DavidMuir) and OLIVIA KATRANDJIAN
March 25, 2012

The attorney counseling George Zimmerman, who shot unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin as he was walking home from the store with a bag of Skittles, says if charges are filed, Zimmerman will argue that he acted in self-defense and that Florida's stand-your-ground law applies.
Attorney Craig Sonner said the public is only hearing part of the story, and when all the facts come out, it will be clear that Zimmerman acted in self defense. A grand jury is scheduled to begin hearing the case April 10.

"George Zimmerman suffered a broken nose, and had an injury to the back of his head, he was attacked by Trayvon Martin on that evening," Sonner said. "This was a case of self defense."

When asked why Zimmerman went after Martin, even though a 911 dispatcher told him not to, Sonner said: "Those are questions that will be answered."

Trayvon Martin Case: Timeline of Events

Sonner said the so-called stand-your-ground law, under which a person who feels threatened is not required to retreat and can "meet force with force" if attacked, will be applicable in the case.

Sonner insisted that Zimmerman is not a racist, pointing out that he and his wife mentored for two black children for free.



"When I asked this mother [of the mentees], who trusted [Zimmerman and his wife], and she's an African-American, if she trusted George Zimmerman, she said she did, and I asked her if there was anything that caused her to believe that she was a racist, and she said, 'Absolutely not.' And I said, went further, 'Did you ever hear him use racial slurs in any time that you'd been around him?' And she said, 'no' as well," Sonner said.
Joe Oliver, a family friend of Zimmerman's who spoke with him this weekend, told ABC News that as a volunteer community watch commander, Zimmerman had to look out for suspicious-looking people.

"There are people who have accused George of profiling, well, I would think as a watch commander you are keeping an eye out for people you don't recognize in your neighborhood," Oliver said.

"The reason why he was following this suspicious person that he saw was because the neighborhood had a rash of break-ins," he said. "George had no intention of taking anyone's life. He cried for days after."

Oliver said the headlines have taken a toll on Zimmerman, his wife, and his family.

"He's moved, they've disconnected their phone numbers, they're in hiding, they're fearful," Oliver said.

The Zimmerman family friend also denied that a word the watchman is heard blurting out on one of the 911 tapes is the racial slur, "coon." Oliver said the word he hears Zimmerman saying is "goon."

"As far as, I mean as far as George being racist, I didn't take it as a racist term. I heard 'goon' and talking to my teenage daughter, apparently goon is a term of endearment in high school these days," he said.

"He wasn't talking to Trayvon when that comment was made. He was speaking a generality in that this suspicious person was someone who he – lumped in -- as always getting away -- goon, coon. I mean, the bottom line, he thought he needed to keep an eye on this individual for whatever reason," Oliver said.

Oliver said he believes the voice screaming for help on the 911 tape is Zimmerman's.

After talking with Zimmerman, Oliver says he's convinced that it came down to a final life-or-death moment: "At that point, either George or Trayvon was going to die."

Again my friend, it doesn't matter what the 911 operator said, she is a 911 operator, she is supposed to say that but George Zimmerman, a neighborhood Watch volunteer and Captain for over ten years had the legal right to use his own discretion.

As it were, it appears he lost sight of trayvon and was headed back to his truck when travon confronted him and then assaulted him. This case is mostly over, the grand jury will never indict him if the statements I just posted hold up.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/george-zim...artin-incident/story?id=15999256#.T3DiA_WDmSo

Video at that link. Zimmerman's attorney and family friend.

These neighborhood watch people are told by the police specifically not to engage or follow only to report which he did. After that they are instructed to step aside and let law enforcement do their job. That's is where Zimmerman made his mistake. By not listening to the 911 operator, he put at least two lives at risk, his and Trayvons. If he had done what he was told to do, facts are Trayvon would be alive today. Zimmerman screwed up by not listening and now there are probably consequences he is going to have to paid.

Chicken hawk Zimmerman, the habitual 911 caller gets beat up by a kid.

I hear what you are saying but statements have been by zimmerman's lawyer that zimmerman was headed back to his truck when this travon kid confronted and attacked him. That is not justified. Just because someone followed you, you are not allowed to strike them, break their nose and then start banging their head open on the sidewalk! Hello? That gets you shot and killed. Looks like Trayvon over-reacted and got himself killed.

A well known racist is trying to claim that..

Which the dispatcher obviously did b saying "we don't need you to do that". What do you thing they are refering to when the dispatcher said "that" in reference to Zimmerman admiting that he is following the kid?


I see, so when a police officer said he needed me to move my car so the ambulance could park in our driveway for our neighbor he wasn't actually advising me to move my car.

911 dispatchers have no police power

That might be true Mark but the fact still remains that if he had done what he was instructed to do he wouldn't have put himself into a position to be attacked if that is indeed what happened.

They aren't policemen, but at least around here they are police employees.

Actually the 911 dispatcher in my town (and many other town around me, its actually pretty typical for small towns it's a way to keep another cop on the payroll) is a police officer.....

His lawyer said. Like that means anything. Of course his lawyer is going to say he is as innocent as a baby armadillo.

Yes I know police don't charge you, they arrest you and as I said, they had no basis to arrest him for murder which is just about an equivalent to being charged.

There is no way the police would have arrested him in this case, that's the point I'm trying to make and our fucked up media should be explaining that to all the idiots that now want to firebomb George Zimmerman's house. leave it to the media to convict another innocent person.

Never heard of paying a police officer to do a dispatchers job but I would believe anything. It still doesn't mean that zimmerman had to obey the 911 dispatchers suggestion.

Bottom line, trayvon shouldn't have sucker punched zimmerman, jump on him and start banging his head on the sidewalk. Looks like zimmerman was correct, the kid was a fucking nut-case.

And it was corroborated by an eyewitness...

Game over.

Keep moving the goal post further and further, funny how now it's "well he was advised to not follow but doesn't have to listen because the dispatcher is not a cop".

Please link and cite a witness who saw the INITIAL confrontation....

sounds like the little thug had it coming....

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/26/2714778/thousands-expected-at-trayvon.html#storylink=cpy

Multiple suspensions paint complicated portrait of Trayvon Martin

This undated file family photo shows Trayvon Martin. Martin was slain in the town of Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26 in a shooting that has set off a nationwide furor over race and justice.

MARTIN FAMILY, FILE / AP PHOTO

SANFORD -- Miami Gardens teenager Trayvon Martin was suspended from school in October in an incident in which he was found in possession of women’s jewelry and a screwdriver that a schools security staffer described as a “burglary tool,” The Miami Herald has learned.

Trayvon, who claimed that an unnamed friend had given him the jewelry, was not disciplined because of the discovery, but was instead suspended for graffiti, according to a Miami-Dade Schools Police report obtained by The Miami Herald.

A lawyer for the dead teen’s family acknowledged Trayvon had been suspended for graffiti, but said the family knew nothing about the jewelry and the screwdriver, calling the information in the report an attempt to “demonize” the youth.

According to the report, on Oct. 21 staffers monitoring a security camera at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School spotted Trayvon and two other students writing “W.T.F.,” an acronym for “What the f---,” on a hallway locker, according to schools police. The security employee, who knew Trayvon, confronted the teen and looked through his bag for the graffiti marker.

Trayvon’s backpack contained 12 pieces of jewelry, in addition to a watch and a large flathead screwdriver, according to the report, which described the screwdriver as a burglary tool.

Trayvon was asked if the jewelry, which was mostly women’s rings and earrings, belonged to his family or a girlfriend.

“Martin replied it’s not mine. A friend gave it to me,” according to the report. Trayvon declined to name the friend.

School police impounded the jewelry and sent photos of the items to detectives at Miami-Dade police for further investigation.

“Martin was suspended, warned and dismissed for the graffiti,” according to the report prepared by Miami-Dade Schools Police.

That suspension was followed four months later by another one, in February, in which Trayvon was caught with an empty plastic bag with traces of marijuana in it, the boy’s family’s attorney has confirmed. A schools police report obtained by The Miami Herald specifies two items: a bag with marijuana residue and a “marijuana pipe.”

The suspension was the third for the teen. On Monday, the family also acknowledged Trayvon had earlier been suspended for tardiness and truancy.

The reports of the suspensions surfaced as a more complicated portrait of Trayvon began to emerge Monday. Trayvon was shot to death in Sanford on Feb. 26 during a scuffle with neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. He was suspended from school at the time.

Reacting to the new schools police report, Ben Crump, an attorney for the parents, said they “never heard anything like this about a bag of jewelry….And anyway, it’s completely irrelevant to what happened Feb. 26. They never heard this, and don’t believe it’s true. If it were true, why wouldn’t they call the parents? Why wasn’t he arrested?”

“We think everybody is trying to demonize him.”

Trayvon, who was 17 when he died, had never been arrested, he said.

His mother, Sybrina Fulton, said her son never had any problems with gangs or the police. In fact, she said, when she transferred him out of Carol City High School to be closer to home, the school wanted him to stay at Carol City because they liked him and he was a good student, she said.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/...d-at-trayvon.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

You've been gone a while, get busted staring and checking out the underage kids at the pool again?

I'm not moving any goalposts, I posted long ago that he did not need to follow the dispatchers suggestion and he was acting legally as a neighborhood watch.

George Zimmerman's broken nose and lacerated head are witness to the assault. Along with the real eyewitness of course.

Why defend this kid when its becoming obvious he was the one that initiated the violence? George Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch for over 12 years? He never had a problem like this before, this kid sounds like a nut that got "dissed" and then decided to bust the guys head open.

He reaped it.

thats ok. unjustified shootings are just the price we have to pay so wanna be cop doughy republic party pussies can run around with their toys