Patterico's Pontifications

2/24/2015

No Federal Charges Against George Zimmerman

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 8:18 pm



Not a shock — just surprising (OK, not surprising) that it took this long:

The Justice Department said Tuesday its independent investigation found “insufficient evidence” to charge George Zimmerman with federal civil rights violations in the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the evidence did not meet the “high standard for a federal hate crime prosecution,” but the decision should not end efforts to explore racial tensions in the justice system. The decision closes the federal investigation.

“This young man’s premature death necessitates that we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface,” Holder said in a statement. “We, as a nation, must take concrete steps to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future.”

Don’t attack and beat guys with guns, would be one way to do that, Mr. Holder.

37 Responses to “No Federal Charges Against George Zimmerman”

  1. Ding.

    Patterico (9c670f)

  2. Lots of potential ideas as to what may have happened:

    * Holder is leaving the Justice Department and his underlings were unanimous that they didn’t want to be saddled with that dog’s breakfast of a Civil Rights case.

    * The racial grievance industry has come to understand that they have squeezed as much juice as they can possibly get out of this particular orange and this decision gives them one last chance for a fund-raising appeal on Trayvon’s dead body.

    * Someone polled and discovered that this issue doesn’t work in Democrats’ favor, so the Hillary! folks convinced Holder to put the kibosh on it

    * The Justice Department is currently lost in their obsession with phony tales of campus rape that they can’t possibly spend time on these sorts of issues any longer

    Anyone have other ideas?

    JVW (854318)

  3. Err, politicians come and go but federal prosecutors are mostly competent professionals who follow their own rules? I’ve read the DOJ guidelines for successive prosecutions and Zimmerman’s case did not meet them. Chief consideration, nobody can say that he was not vigorously prosecuted in the state case.

    nk (dbc370)

  4. well the case was generated through Sharpton’s mouthpiece, Crump who leaned on Bondi, while the DOJ organized demonstrations to set the narrative,?

    narciso (ee1f88)

  5. I don’t know, nk. If Obama and Holder wanted charges to be filed then don’t you think charges would have been filed? The federal prosecutors may have not liked it, but I don’t think O or H would have given a tinker’s damn about their misgivings.

    JVW (854318)

  6. Or actually, if Valerie Jarrett had wanted charges to be filed then charges probably would have been filed.

    JVW (854318)

  7. 3. … I’ve read the DOJ guidelines for successive prosecutions and Zimmerman’s case did not meet them…

    nk (dbc370) — 2/24/2015 @ 8:51 pm

    How could it have possibly met the guidelines? A jury said he fired in self-defense. According to the jury, Zimmerman was justified.

    Steve57 (f800ed)

  8. it served their purpose, back in 2012, they tried the same playbook last year, but like Patton re Rommel, we knew the plays,

    narciso (ee1f88)

  9. I hope everyone in the community knows they got played. Officer Wilson, George Zimmerman got a visit from the outrage machine and walked.
    But appearances are everything these days and the Obama Administration made some nice speeches before they went back to Lobster in DC

    steveg (794291)

  10. In crude terms, the federal law prosecuting ordinary murder as a civil rights violation was, and is, intended for Klansmen acquitted by Klansmen juries for the lynching of black people in Mississippi.

    nk (dbc370)

  11. “insufficient evidence” = we couldn’t find anyone who would perjure themselves for us, and there wasn’t any real evidence either, hence the need to find someone willing to lie.

    GZ’s friendly witnesses at trial were several bridges too far for even this regime to create a false narrative to sell to the LIV public.

    redc1c4 (589173)

  12. Maybe, juuuust maybe we might focus on criminals getting themselves in trouble. I’m not saying that blacks in this country don’t have a legitimate gripe, but it sure as hell ain’t what the Sharpton/Holder/Obama crowd says it is, and you sure don’t advance a legitimate gripe by fussing about a racist video of thugs breaking into and raiding a store just because there happened to be a “demonstration” which caused the crowd to be there anyway.

    Just saying…

    How much longer does this lawless crowd have before Jan 2017? Be it two weeks or 696 days, it is too dam long.

    neocon_1 (324e03)

  13. I’m not saying that blacks in this country don’t have a legitimate gripe…

    what would that be?

    i can think of several, but, since they are all, more or less, self-inflicted, they need to look inward for the solutions.

    imho, of course. let the denouncements begin.

    redc1c4 (589173)

  14. The legitimate gripe would be against people like Sharpton, Holder, and Obama.

    Imagine being saddled with “leaders” like them. And it’s just assumed that they are leaders in the “community.” I know more than a few black people who are sick and tired of being accused of treason by liberals when they protest that none of the above speak for them.

    Steve57 (f800ed)

  15. I’m not saying that blacks in this country don’t have a legitimate gripe…


    what would that be?

    i can think of several, but, since they are all, more or less, self-inflicted, they need to look inward for the solutions.

    imho, of course. let the denouncements begin.

    I’ll grant there is certainly a measure of discrimination — people DO look at blacks and assume — possibly incorrectly — that one is looking at a thug and borderline criminal.

    That part of the reason for this is, as you suggest, self-inflicted due to the prevalence of thuggish behavior in the black community, along with acceptance of same as somehow acceptable, it’s still a racist attitude, in that there’s enough injustice that it’s not justified as an overall presumption — it’s just the safer way to bet from the statistics.

    And sometimes this leads to extra levels of incarceration — an otherwise upstanding black guy happens to be in a car with a couple other black guys who have weed in the car, getting a ride somewhere. The cops pull the black guys over, possibly for “DwB”, possibly for a good reason, and find the weed. The guy in the car is prosecuted with the others, and has nothing but a piece of shit PD (not all are PoS, mind you), who argues he should plead to a lesser charge. OK, now he’s got the black mark of a criminal, even though a white guy in the same circumstance probably would have gotten offered probation/OR with no criminal record.

    No, not saying that’s what happens 90% of the time, but if it happens even 25%, yeah, that’s not good.

    Yes, I’m not insensitive to the argument “you know things are rigged against you, don’t go looking for problems like hanging around with people who smoke weed” or, more colorfully put, “If you’re walking on eggs, Frank, Don’t Hop“. One can argue that’s a self-inflicted issue, as well. But it seems reasonable to also say it’s racially unfair.

    P.S., that story context was related to me by a black guy I know, who, luckily, had a good defense attorney — but if he hadn’t, it might have screwed his life up.

    IGotBupkis, "Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses." (225d0d)

  16. Happy Trayvon Martin Death-Day-Eve.

    Bobby (f7407a)

  17. don’t forget pammie jo bondi still got her trashy ass re-elected

    even after trying so hard to railroad Mr. Z

    the fascist urge is strong in this lil country

    happyfeet (831175)

  18. JVW asked:

    Anyone have other ideas?

    Yeah: there simply wasn’t any evidence to support a federal charge. As much as the esteemed Mr Holder would like to throw George Zimmerman in jail, there simply was not any crime committed there, and nobody wants to be stuck bringing that poor a case to trial; that already happened with the state trial, and the Justice Department can see the result.

    The Dana who isn't an attorney (f6a568)

  19. Mr 57 wrote:

    The legitimate gripe would be against people like Sharpton, Holder, and Obama.

    Imagine being saddled with “leaders” like them.

    If people don’t like their leadership, they can throw it out. The Reverend Al Sharpton might be self-appointed, but black Americans listen to him; that’s their fault. Black Americans gave Barack Hussein Obama, and thus Eric Holder, well over 90% of their votes; it seems to me that blacl Americans have precisely the leadership they want.

    The brutal truth is that black Americans really don’t listen to what white Americans say black Americans need or should want. It doesn’t matter whether white Americans are right or well-intended or noble or anything like that; only the messages of other black Americans count in the black community.

    The coldly realistic Dana (f6a568)

  20. If people don’t like their leadership, they can throw it out.

    republican voters would beg to differ

    happyfeet (831175)

  21. 13. I’m not saying that blacks in this country don’t have a legitimate gripe…

    And exactly what would that gripe be? Blacks in this country are just as free as anyone else. They constitute among the wealthiest and most successful Blacks in the world. They are kowtowed to, given special preferences, put at the front of the line for everything from college entrance to public job opportunities to special minority contracts, grants and loans. They are a large percentage of people in sports and entertainment all of whom make big bucks and enjoy lives of endless comfort. Would they be better off in Somalia covered in flies? They should thank their lucky stars they were born here. I know I do.

    The only gripe I see is the constant din that they “deserve” something they haven’t earned. They have an entire subculture built on the lowest common denominator. That being the wise cracking, smart ass with his pants down his butt, cursing and jiving all over the place and then screaming “racism” every time someone challenges his actions. Wives without husbands, babies without fathers. Entire neighborhoods turned into Detroit. Yeah, they got a gripe alright and it’s with themselves.

    Hoagie (58a3ec)

  22. Mr Feet wrote:

    If people don’t like their leadership, they can throw it out.

    republican voters would beg to differ

    Certainly some Republican voters might beg to differ, but every Republican in office today is in there because he actually won an election. Some of those Republicans faced primary challenges, but still won. A lot of conservatives wanted to replace Mitch McConnell with Matt Bevin — who’s now running for governor in Kentucky — but, in a free and fair primary, Mr McConnell won by a nearly two-to-one margin.

    A few TEA Party challengers did win primaries, and some of them won in the general election as well . . . though some of them also lost general elections that should have been Republican victories.

    We should have Republican senators in Delaware and Indiana and Missouri, but don’t. As Coach Lombardi once said, winning isn’t everything, winning is the only thing.

    The Dana who can count votes (f6a568)

  23. I thought what Lombardi said is “Cheese is too precious to waste on Philly steaks”?

    nk (dbc370)

  24. Poor urban blacks (and other colors) have a legitimate gripe about how policing is done in this country. Far too many municipalities have SWAT teams that they use promiscuously and idiotically, and the weight of the mistakes falls disproportionately on the poor (who, after all, are likelier to have badly marked addresses, or have moved recently into a dwelling formerly used by a drug dealer, etc.).

    Naturally the Poverty Pimps like Sharpton aren’t focussing on those issues. The poverty pimps LIKE having an audience in semi-perpetual dread of The Man. That’s why they make such a fuss about issues like Zimmerman and Furgeson, where there is little chance that what they are pleased to style “justice” will be done and their pawns will be bound to them even more tightly by the “defeat”.

    So Sharpton makes a huge fuss over fairly clear-cut self-defense shootings of young black thugs … and passes over incidents like the toddler in Georgia who was badly hurt by a police flash-bang thrown into his crib as lightly as he can get away with. After all, if police were actually held accountable for idiocy like that, poor urban people might start feeling secure in their homes, and then Sharpton might have to actually get legitimate work.

    Poor blacks in this country have a number of genuine gripes; almost all of them traceable to the Liberal Intellectual Radical Progressives who profess to be helping them.

    The Democrats Party; keeping poor people with dark skins in their place for more than a Century.

    C. S. P. Schofield (a196fd)

  25. IGotBupkis, “Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses.” (225d0d) — 2/24/2015 @ 10:34 pm
    I’ll grant there is certainly a measure of discrimination — people DO look at blacks and assume — possibly incorrectly — that one is looking at a thug and borderline criminal.
    someone who thinks I’m a racist for disagreeing with Barack Hussein Obama.

    It’s not that I’m complaining it is a great hardship, it’s not compared too oh so many other things
    but it is very unhelpful to our nation, including/especially those stuck in the results of Dem policies

    MD in Philly (f9371b)

  26. Gotta say that Sharpton has an impressive network that makes ambulance chasers look like sluggards. He can catch a plane and be on scene 800 miles away pushing his narrative before the body is cold.
    He has dreams that one day an innocent black teen will be shot and killed by a racist white security guard that works for a Dow 30 company… imagining the opportunities for shakedown…
    when Sharpton wakes up in a puddle we all need a shower

    steveg (794291)

  27. nk, Coach Lombardi should have said that, given that cheese is nothing but rotten, sour, clabbered milk. I’ll take the steak sub, or hoagie, if you will, and y’all can keep the cheese.

    The Dana with excellent taste (f6a568)

  28. The Department of Justice has become the Department of INJustuice.
    Here is another stark example of BLOW’n the Whistle on corrupt fed judges and the corrupt DOJ.
    Of course, to those in the know, this is old news. But it is always good to see when someone in the system, one of their own – sees the light, steps forward & has the courage to BLOW the whistle on ’em.
    Former U.S. Attorney [Herb Titus] Describes Corruption In Fed Judiciary & DOJ. See http://joemiller.us/2015/02/former-us-attorney-describes-corruption-in-federal-judiciary-department-of-justice/?utm_source=JoeMiller.US+List&utm_campaign=d1951b57e3-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_065b6c381c-d1951b57e3-230929913
    ___________________________________________________________________________
    Of course, also recall Ms. Sidney Powell’s LICENSED TO LIE: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice (2014) http://licensedtolie.com/ , Mr. Christian Adams’ INJUSTICE: Exposing The Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department 2011)) http://www.amazon.com/Injustice-Exposing-Racial-Justice-Department/dp/1596982772 and former Chief Justice Elizabeth Weaver’s JUDICIAL DECEIT: Tyranny & Unnecessary Secrecy in the Michigan Supreme Court (2013) http://www.judicialdeceit.com/ .
    Then there is the Moonlight Fire case in California, involving both state and federal massive prosecution corruption. http://www.moonlightfire.net/legal.html
    And who can forget Ms. Sibel Edmonds and what happened to her when she Blew the Whistle. See CLASSIFIED WOMAN: The Sibel Edmonds Story (2012) http://www.classifiedwoman.com/.
    And of course, then there is resident Obama stating twenty-two (22) time he can no do Amnesty because he does not have the authority to do such – and then he does it.
    Gee, ya think that there could be a pattern here?
    Wake up, the Rule of Law has collapsed in America. GLZ.

    Gary L. Zerman (d0c56e)

  29. My godson lived in Green Bay. I got Vince Lombardi overload going to see him.

    Let me tell you how Packers crazy that place is. It’s not just that every second street and public building is named Lombardi. His parochial school, p-a-r-o-c-h-i-a-l, had a beer concession at Lambieu Field and his parents, both doctors, d-o-c-t-o-r-s were school parent volunteers peddling the beer.

    nk (dbc370)

  30. *Lambeau* Or is it Lambert Stadium?

    nk (dbc370)

  31. “We should have Republican senators in Delaware and Indiana and Missouri, but don’t. As Coach Lombardi once said, winning isn’t everything, winning is the only thing.”

    – The Dana who can count votes

    I wonder what Coach Lombardi’s thoughts on winning would have been if every team that he played started out with a 21-point lead from the moment of kickoff. And that’s just the analogy for incumbency advantage – not accounting for the structural advantage of “wasted vote” psychology enjoyed by the two major parties.

    It is misguided to argue that every politician who wins an election has the mandate of his or her constituents.

    Leviticus (f9a067)

  32. In an earlier life, I frequented a particular fast food place about a dozen times before my routine changed. There was an attractive, well-spoken young black woman working the counter frequently when I showed up. One of the last times I was there, a young black guy was in line ahead of me. He and the lady were acquainted. “I just got out of jail and I’m having a party. You should come.” She agreed cheerfully. Now, I know he could have been a martyr on the level of Mandela, but that wasn’t the way he was dressed.
    WTF? Can’t she see trouble? Can’t she tell the difference? WTF?

    Richard Aubrey (f09e14)

  33. My godson lived in Green Bay. I got Vince Lombardi overload going to see him.

    Let me tell you how Packers crazy that place is. It’s not just that every second street and public building is named Lombardi. His parochial school, p-a-r-o-c-h-i-a-l, had a beer concession at Lambeau Field and his parents, both doctors, d-o-c-t-o-r-s were school parent volunteers peddling the beer.

    nk (dbc370) — 2/25/2015 @ 9:45 am

    My nephew’s junior-high basketball coach / science teacher was a beer vendor at Comiskey. Helped pay the bills during summer, when there wasn’t coaching money coming in.

    carlitos (c24ed5)

  34. @Richard Aubrey,

    Maybe she’s stuck choosing between bad trouble and worse trouble…..

    Maybe the young punk is from the neighborhood, and going to his party is a good idea for keeping peace in the neighborhood.

    Maybe she said yes to acoid a scene at her place of work.

    C. S. P. Schofield (aa2c02)

  35. In the Third Book of Moses, it was written:

    I wonder what Coach Lombardi’s thoughts on winning would have been if every team that he played started out with a 21-point lead from the moment of kickoff. And that’s just the analogy for incumbency advantage – not accounting for the structural advantage of “wasted vote” psychology enjoyed by the two major parties.

    It is misguided to argue that every politician who wins an election has the mandate of his or her constituents.

    ‘Twould be even more misguided to say that a politician who loses has the support of the voters.

    I’m in production, and to me, only one thing counts: did you get the job done? Todd Akin and Christine O’Donnell and Richard Mourdock did great in the primaries, but still couldn’t close the deal in the general election.

    The Dana who can count (f6a568)

  36. Who knew that DoJ had any standards, let alone “high standards”, when it came to railroading political pawns?

    askeptic (efcf22)

  37. well Richard Lugar and Karl Rove, had a little to do with at least two of those three races,

    narciso (ee1f88)


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