George Zimmerman Shot At; Big Media Reports: “George Zimmerman Involved in Another Shooting”
U.S. News and World Report: George Zimmerman Involved in Shooting in Florida
CNN: Police: George Zimmerman involved in Florida shooting*
NEWSWEEK: Reports: George Zimmerman Involved in Another Florida Shooting*
TIME: George Zimmerman Involved in Florida Shooting, Police Say
NBC: George Zimmerman Involved in Florida Shooting Incident
AP: George Zimmerman involved in Florida shooting; bullet lodged in car, lawyer says
Albany Times Union: Police: George Zimmerman involved in shooting with man who reported road rage incident in 2014
He was shot at. That was his “involvement.”
They are liars.
*A couple of these organizations have since changed their headline to something more responsible — but you can see the original headlines together with the hyperlinks here (which I am saving here in case it gets changed). For example, CNN’s headline now reads “George Zimmerman shot at by motorist, police say.” But their original story had the bullshit headline, and you can see a version of that here, attributed to CNN. NEWSWEEK has changed its headline too — but you can see the original spin in this tweet, and criticism of it in this Twitchy post. I believe I have all the above articles saved, so if another organization surreptitiously changes their headline, let me know and I will post the original.
The lesson, for the ten thousandth time, is that you cannot trust the media.
Ever.
White-Hispanic lives matter.
AZ Bob (34bb80) — 5/11/2015 @ 10:28 pmAll The News That’s Fit to Skew In Order To Further Our Far-Left Agenda
Icy (006dc3) — 5/11/2015 @ 10:41 pm“Another brush with the law”
Kevin M (25bbee) — 5/11/2015 @ 10:44 pmActually, I would say “never assume the headline tells you the whole story”.. and “Always check the details, read the whole story, and check MULTIPLE sources”
News reporting is a highly competitive business, and even legit organizations are often going to use the most eye-catching headline they think they can use. Obviously not-so-legit ones will often use headlines that aren’t even partly accurate.
The Internet (31b838) — 5/11/2015 @ 11:45 pmMust be new here. Welcome to Patterico. He’s the guy who has been keeping score on that topic since… 2004 I guess.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 5/12/2015 @ 12:08 amI’m not sure that this is quite so absurd after all. The shooter is claiming self-defense.
“Apperson’s lawyer, Martin NeJame, said his client has a concealed weapons permit and was acting in “self-defense” when he opened fire.
[Officer] Giller did not confirm whether Zimmerman was packing heat. But she confirmed Apperson was the man who claimed in September that Zimmerman threatened to kill him when they got into a road-rage dispute.”
Kevin M (25bbee) — 5/12/2015 @ 12:17 amI don’t know how newspapers operate nowadays, but in the old days the articles were written by reporters, and the headlines were supplied by subeditors, or “subbies”, who didn’t always bother to read the article carefully before composing the headline, sometimes resulting in some very bad mismatches between headline and article.
This is not just in political stories; I remember being struck once by a headline on a story about some completely uncontroversial event, that said the opposite of the article, presumably because the subeditor skimmed the article and missed a “not” or something.
But the first time I personally encountered this phenomenon was when Arab terrorists raided the nursery on a kibbutz and killed two babies, and then the army stormed it and killed five terrorists. The headline was “Seven Dead in Israeli Raid”.
Milhouse (bdebad) — 5/12/2015 @ 12:20 amGeorge Zimmerman’s life was truly f****d from the moment the Obama machine made him their target. Not sure how this plays out, but I am reminded of this Far Side cartoon.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 5/12/2015 @ 12:21 amWhat difference does that make? Before we take this “self-defence” claim seriously, we need to hear what it is that he claims Zimmerman did to him. Packing heat is not enough.
Milhouse (bdebad) — 5/12/2015 @ 12:24 amHe needs to move out of Florida, and change his name. If he’d been called Jorge Mesa in the first place he’d never have been charged and we’d never have heard of him.
Milhouse (bdebad) — 5/12/2015 @ 12:25 amPresident Kennedy Involved In Shooting. Presents No Defence To His Actions. Denies Nothing.
Craig Mc (3dc0bf) — 5/12/2015 @ 1:17 amTo bad he missed
trayvon (51a867) — 5/12/2015 @ 1:54 amAgreed, Milhouse.
mg (31009b) — 5/12/2015 @ 2:22 amGood one, Kevin M.
mg (31009b) — 5/12/2015 @ 2:23 amlmao first thing this a.m.
Arch Duke Ferdinand’s involvement in a shooting led to World War One.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 5/12/2015 @ 3:09 amThe USS Maine’s involvement with explosions in Havana led to the Spanish American War.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 5/12/2015 @ 3:12 amFort Sumter’s involvement with canon fire touched off the Civil War.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 5/12/2015 @ 3:15 amCrispus Attucks, who was black, involved in a shooting that led to the Revolution.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 5/12/2015 @ 3:16 amDamn Fort Sumter and Crispus Attucks for instigating the birth of this guilty nation of white people, right Trayvon?
papertiger (c2d6da) — 5/12/2015 @ 3:20 amGeorge Zimmerman isn’t exactly a great guy; he is, to use the common euphemism, “known to the police.” That doesn’t mean that he wasn’t engaged in legal self-defense when Trayvon Martin attacked him, it just means that he isn’t exactly a poster boy for conservatives.
The left will use every “incident” in which he is involved to try to cast doubt on the result of his trial; we shouldn’t let hem get away with that. But that does not mean he’s a wise fellow.
The realistic Dana (f6a568) — 5/12/2015 @ 3:22 amThe world according to the AP.
Sam Houston offers no apology for Mexican presidential visit that ends in cannon fire.
President Lincoln offers no apology for theater raid that ends in gunfire.
FDR offers no apology for authorizing USN Pearl Harbor port stop that ends in bombing.
Jackie Kennedy offers no apology for Dallas invasion that ends with shooting.
Steve57 (e468ba) — 5/12/2015 @ 4:15 amGiven the media colonoscopy I don’t see how I could have gotten off much better.
Steve57 (e468ba) — 5/12/2015 @ 4:22 amJews were involved in the Holocaust. Film at 10!
Kevin Stroup (676c9d) — 5/12/2015 @ 5:25 am@20, it reminds me of a joke.
A Jewish guy rescues a kid who fell into the lion enclosure. During the course of which he punches a lion in the nose.
The LA Times sends out a reporter. Who elicits personal information. Like he rides motorcycles, and belongs to a club that goes on Sunday rides in the mountains.
So the next day the LA Times publishes an article.
ISRAELI MOTORCYCLE GANG MEMBER BEATS UP AFRICAN IMMIGRANT; STEALS HIS LUNCH
Steve57 (e468ba) — 5/12/2015 @ 5:40 amI don’t fully understand where you’re going with that Dana. If Zimmermna is currently in posession of a Carry Permit, even after killing Trayvon, he most assuridly passes muster with the cops. And he most assuridly is “known to police” just as I am for my carry permit.
Hoagie (58a3ec) — 5/12/2015 @ 5:41 amOnly as a victim of repeated false accusations. What has he actually done that was wrong?
Um, why not? Other than maybe not being the smartest person in the world, and having an unfortunate taste in women, what is wrong with him?
Milhouse (bdebad) — 5/12/2015 @ 6:10 amToo many foul balls.
ropelight (df2bf4) — 5/12/2015 @ 6:11 amI don’t know what that means.
Milhouse (bdebad) — 5/12/2015 @ 6:12 amIt means the benefit of the doubt wears exceedingly thin as the number of incidents accumulates.
ropelight (df2bf4) — 5/12/2015 @ 6:18 amFox was the same way.
Georganne (e37667) — 5/12/2015 @ 6:27 amhttps://patterico.com/2015/05/11/nyt-tony-rodhams-ties-invite-scrutiny-for-hillary-and-bill-clinton/#comment-1762621
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/12/2015 @ 6:31 amAs I’d noted last evening, CBS News on the radio ended their “Zimmerman involved in another shooting” story with, “Zimmerman – who is white – was uninjured.”
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/12/2015 @ 6:35 amthis isn’t even really news it’s just tabloid crap
the propaganda sluts can’t even tell the difference anymore
happyfeet (831175) — 5/12/2015 @ 6:40 amWhat doubt? Where’s even the slightest indication that he has done anything wrong? Is there some limit on the number of times someone may be the victim of crime?!
Milhouse (bdebad) — 5/12/2015 @ 6:44 amPropaganda always masquerades as news.
ropelight (df2bf4) — 5/12/2015 @ 6:45 am#34, Milhouse, What doubt? The doubt that attaches to claims of innocence when repeated accusations of a similar nature exceed all rational expectation.
ropelight (df2bf4) — 5/12/2015 @ 7:06 amToday I’m noticing that every news article about this uses pictures of Zimmerman from when he was arrested a couple of years ago. He’s wearing blue jail clothes and usually is holding his arms in a position that implies handcuffs (though his wrists can’t be seen).
Steven Den Beste (99cfa1) — 5/12/2015 @ 8:12 amHow much of the homogeneity of the reports is due to them being supplied/sourced by AP ?
Alastor (2e7f9f) — 5/12/2015 @ 8:50 amI think the media initially reported the story this way because that’s how the police reported it. The contrasting claims by the two men — including the claim that Apperson shot at Zimmerman — were made by their attorneys.
DRJ (e80d46) — 5/12/2015 @ 9:18 amRopelight at 36
People know Zimmerman. The media knows Zimmerman. So anything he does that confirms The Narrative will make the news, and people will accuse him of anger problems knowing that they will be believed more readily.
Also, this is almost certainly a sequel to last year’s Road Rage The Incident.
But it seems to me that it’s the other man “involved” in this who has the anger issues this time.
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2015/05/11/george-zimmerman-involved-in-shooting-incident-in-central-florida/
A couple hours before that news conference, Apperson was agitated with reporters who surrounded him while he smoked a cigarette outside.
“Tell us what happened today,” asked one reporter.
“Hey! You touch me?” asked Apperson.
“Now is your chance to tell your side of the story,” said another reporter.
Apperson’s response, “This is your opportunity to get of my face right now! No comment.”
kishnevi (870883) — 5/12/2015 @ 10:03 amWhy should any doubt attach, when in each instance there was no reason at all to suppose he’d done even the slightest thing wrong? Zero to the power of a lot is still zero.
And it’s not as if all these accusations are independent of each other. They have all happened precisely because he is famous and hated by so many.
Milhouse (bdebad) — 5/12/2015 @ 10:04 amThey have all happened precisely because he is famous and hated by so many.
You’re categorically certain that Zimmerman is entirely blameless for the ongoing string of altercations?
Or do you blindly give him the benefit of the doubt because he was so egregiously mistreated by the national media and railroaded by the criminal justice system in the Trayvon Martin case?
ropelight (df2bf4) — 5/12/2015 @ 10:29 amThey just keep harassing that poor Cuban fellow. It’s been years now.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 5/12/2015 @ 10:31 amANDREW BORDEN, WIFE SARAH INVOLVED IN FATAL AXE ATTACK
COLTS INVOLVED IN DELIBERATELY-UNDERINFLATED FOOTBALLS SCANDAL
JULIUS CAESAR INVOLVED IN STABBING DEATH
BOB “HOGAN’S HEROES” CRANE INVOLVED IN BLUDGEONING MURDER
HOFFA INVOLVED IN MYSTERIOUS DISAPPERANCE
PATTERICO INVOLVED IN VEXATIOUS LITIGATION
JESUS, TWO THIEVES INVOLVED IN GOLGOTHA EXECUTIONS
Mitch (341ca0) — 5/12/2015 @ 12:11 pmI misspelled disappearance. The second A disappeared!
Mitch (341ca0) — 5/12/2015 @ 12:12 pmI think the media simply cannot get past the idea that Zimmerman is still “allowed” to carry a gun.
elissa (bca30e) — 5/12/2015 @ 12:28 pmABC:
Elissa – there are 2 reasons for that – 1) they believe the narrative that they created of the white Hispanic murderer, and 2) the MFM hates the 2nd Amendment.
JD (3b5483) — 5/12/2015 @ 12:33 pmJD–Yep.
elissa (bca30e) — 5/12/2015 @ 12:36 pmNot absolutely certain, how could I be without being there, but I see no reason not to assume it. I see no more reason to think Zimmerman is a bad guy than to think the same about you, or Patterico, or anyone else. The line you’re pushing seems to me rather like saying that if someone’s been mugged three times, maybe the muggers have a point.
Milhouse (bdebad) — 5/12/2015 @ 1:03 pmRopelight….this busines with the Lake Mary guy, Apperson, is so strange. I think Allahpundit captured some of my “r/that happened” skepticism about Apperson’s first complaint in September. I thought it plausible, I guess, that Z was hot-headed enough to take irritating driving personally, or to be paranoid about someone pointing at him, enough to verbal warn him off, The “workplace visit” was worrisome, but I presume Zimmermans explanation was investigated and checked out (he said ge chad an appointment in the same medical complex) but in hindsight I’m starting to think it much more likely Aperrson is the crazee fellow who has some kind of fixation on Zimmerman.
I can’t really articulate it,what exactly it was about the way he moved his head, but in that video of Apperson being prickly with reporters and blowing smoke at the camera, I got more than the sense of him being hostile or irritable enough to have traffic battles (and granted, a swarm of pushy reporters is a natural thing or find a botheration.) Something about the way he’d moved his had, and the spidey sense made an announcement; “nut” was the involuntary impression.
Is he a nut? Is it possible he spotted Z and decided now was his moment? Red flag He had two loaded weapons in his Infiniti. Zimmerman reported pursuit , at least per his lawyers related account, denies brandishing. Presumably there is at least some video could corroborate Z… He was pulling into a retail center when Apperson was noticed. Apperson has not said himself, or through his lawyer, whether or not he was follwingZimmerman, why he might have done so, or what set off the incident.
I guess I’ll find out if my intuition has any factual basis. For now I think it is a real possibility Apperson has wanted Zimmermans hide since before the very first confrontation. If Zimmerman blew into town for Mother’s Day and decided to look up Appersn and give him a hard time, I’ll be surprised, I hope there is video available ot punch holes in he story of the more culpable person.
SarahW (6f3980) — 5/12/2015 @ 2:02 pmReally, all Z’s problems can be summed up as a small number of people going after him because he’s notorious, plus a series of nutty girlfriends, going back to even before the Martin episode, which probably means he’s attracted to nutty women and has a radar for them, and is likely to continue having these problems. Neither is a character fault in him, though his taste in women is unfortunate.
Milhouse (bdebad) — 5/12/2015 @ 2:16 pmFrom now on he should be really careful out there on the road, lest something like this ends up happening.
Dave (in MA) (037445) — 5/12/2015 @ 2:21 pmSarah,
It goes without saying that Z has good reason to be armed, but even he only had the one gun. This other guy keeps showing up and I can’t see why Zimmerman would be borrowing more trouble.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 5/12/2015 @ 3:05 pmIf I were put under the same selective media microscope I’d come out worse then George Zimmerman.
And I’m an Eagle Scout who retired after 20 good years in the Navy.
But you could claw through the detritus of my past and concoct an entirely different picture. And it would all be fact based. If you left out a lot of facts.
Steve57 (e468ba) — 5/12/2015 @ 3:48 pmThe media is praying foe a pogrom on white hispanics.
mg (31009b) — 5/12/2015 @ 4:33 pmfor
mg (31009b) — 5/12/2015 @ 4:34 pmAh, AP made the list and were likely the start of that: the same people who say, “Pamela Geller says she has no regrets about Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest that ended in 2 deaths”.
Christoph Dollis (3cd138) — 5/12/2015 @ 4:41 pmthe media lied about him from day one, I even did a blog post about it, NBC edited his 9/11
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/12/2015 @ 4:59 pmcall, the Times conpressed the number of calls out from 8 years to one, ABC edited the police station tape, none of these scenarios have proven true,
that small group being Sharpton’s legal and publicity arm, the Justice Department’s community relations department, which organized a 2 minute day riot against him, and the President,
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/12/2015 @ 5:06 pmhere’s just a little corner of the narrative
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/12/2015 @ 5:11 pmand the band plays on:
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2015/05/12/j-christian-adams-on-fox-some-doj-lawyers-in-division-probing-baltimore-pd-worked-for-anti-police-orgs/#comments
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/12/2015 @ 5:16 pmZimmerman should go all out and wire up a 360^ dash cam, plus a “Frozen-lip-synch” cab cam. otherwise competing narratives will be a recurrent feature in his life.
SarahW (6f3980) — 5/12/2015 @ 5:22 pmHe is innocent until proven guilty.
Tanny O'Haley (c674c7) — 5/12/2015 @ 6:14 pmSon #1 just got back from mountain climbing in Alaska. He said if he had heard about the mess in Baltimore he would have been tempted to stay. the police are getting discouraged.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 5/12/2015 @ 7:31 pmHow can a guy with Apperson’s body of work still have concealed carry?
steveg (fed1c9) — 5/12/2015 @ 7:41 pmgood questions,
http://legalinsurrection.com/2015/05/george-zimmerman-attempted-shooting-new-facts-released/#comments
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/12/2015 @ 8:02 pm“PATTERICO INVOLVED IN VEXATIOUS LITIGATION”
– Mitch
Thread winner
Leviticus (339e84) — 5/12/2015 @ 10:11 pm“If I were put under the same selective media microscope I’d come out worse then George Zimmerman.”
– Steve57
Aww, don’t be so hard on yourself. You’d probably come out better.
Leviticus (339e84) — 5/12/2015 @ 10:16 pmLeviticus, don’t be so sure.
Maybe I’m exactly how hard I am on myself as I need to be.
Steve57 (e468ba) — 5/12/2015 @ 10:32 pmNews reports indicate Matt Apperson was stalking George Zimmerman and had previously accused GZ of “waving a gun at him” during a road rage incident in September of 2014. However, Apperson’s neighbors describe the 35 year old as “irrational and unstable.” Additionally, while talking to a phone canvasser he is reported to have threatened to shoot a tresspasser with his .357 Magnum.
Eye witnesses (interviewed on Ch. 10 TV) say Apperson was chasing GZ on a busy road, brandishing his gun, and yelling out his car window. GZ was attempting to escape from Apperson’s determined assault, made a U-turn, which Apperson duplicated then doggedly continued his pursuit. When Apperson was able to pull alongside he shot at GZ’s head.
ropelight (40eef2) — 5/14/2015 @ 7:53 amApperson has been charged with multiple felonies: aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and firing a deadly missile into an occupied conveyance. Then released on bail.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/15/us/george-zimmerman-truck-shot/index.html
Kevin M (25bbee) — 5/16/2015 @ 4:54 pmFrom Legal Insurrection and according to that Lake Mary PD press release:
elissa (da9894) — 5/16/2015 @ 5:16 pm“Apperson could be facing 60 years prison time on the “10-20-Life” aspects alone.:”
Good. People need to leave Zimmerman alone and let him reconstruct his life. Volunteering is a mug’s game in this era of victim rights run riot.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 5/16/2015 @ 5:39 pmThey let him out on bail though. How much could it have been? Tells me they expect these counts will be pled down.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 5/16/2015 @ 6:56 pmTrying to kill George Zimmerman is now a misdemeanor, Kevin.
Steve57 (820638) — 5/16/2015 @ 7:08 pmI heard he in fact wasn’t bailed. I’m thinking he has decompensated? I did not try this my self, but several outlets noted that a redacted portion of the arrest report was visible if the doc was copy/ pasted and the missing portion highlighted.
SarahW (6f3980) — 5/16/2015 @ 7:35 pmAccording to CNN:
A bit more detail from NBC:
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/george-zimmerman-shooting-matthew-apperson-charged-n360006
elissa (ba544e) — 5/16/2015 @ 8:00 pmYep, bailed at a relatively low bail. No GPS, but apparently that was by request of Zimmerman – not sure but apparently his own location might have to be revealed for that.
Anyway, I did try copy-pasting the PDF of the arrest report, and the relevant redactions above, about his mental illness and recent (psychiatric) hospitalization are indeed revealed.
http://www.wftv.com/documents/2015/may/15/pdf-matthew-appersons-arrest-report-warning-graphi/
So obviously the previous encounters my lovely liberal friends insist are a sign of Zimmerman’s hothead, ustable, bad-person nature, are seen in a brighter light – Apperson has probably been trailing/bothering Zimmerman and making up stories about Zimmerman acting up, when its always been more like the opposite.
SarahW (6f3980) — 5/18/2015 @ 1:24 pmThose words do indeed appear in the alleged scribd doc of the arrest report. Whether they were inserted by someone and then posted online is the question. We’ve seen enough document forgeries online for me to reserve comment until I know for sure.
carlitos (c24ed5) — 5/18/2015 @ 1:48 pmZimmerman should be charged for his role in this. It is right to let a jury hear this, it is the way the process works.
JD (a0c457) — 5/18/2015 @ 2:01 pm