Ta-Nehisi Coates’ blog at The Atlantic turned me on to the New York Times‘s report on George Zimmerman describing the Trayvon Martin shooting. Here’s the parts where Zimmerman reports on what Martin allegedly said:
He said the dispatcher told him not to follow Mr. Martin so he was returning to his vehicle when “the suspect emerged from the darkness and said ‘You got a problem?'”
Mr. Zimmerman said he responded, “No,” but said that Mr. Martin told him, “You do now.””…Next, Mr. Zimmerman wrote, “I felt the suspect reach for my now exposed firearm and say, ‘Your gonna die tonight,” while calling him an obscene name. “I upholstered my firearm in fear for my life as he had assured he was going to kill me and fired one shot into his torso.”
Mr. Zimmerman then wrote that Mr. Martin sat up and said, “You got me.”
I’m going to put on my books editor hat for a second here and agree with the people who are saying that this account sounds like bad writing from someone who has watched way too many awful crime movies. This is part of a wealth of information that Zimmerman’s legal team has put online, and combined, it’s a pretty full portrait of Zimmerman’s account.
“I’m gonna off you with my heater, see?”
I do like that he took the time to upholster his gun before using it. Don’t want to commit homicide with a threadbare gun.
Could he hear by the slight difference in pronunciation that Trayvon used the incorrect form of “you’re”, or was he just assuming a black teen wouldn’t know proper grammar? thatsracist.gif
LOL, it’s easy to ascribe actions and put words into a dead man’s mouth when you are the only survivor of the incident.
So he wasn’t caught off guard and attacked from behind? Because that’s what I’ve been told over and over was his story. Why does he keep changing it?
By his account, Trayvon Martin sounds like Michael Myers or something. I mean who sits up after being shot point blank in the chest with a 9mm pistol and then goes into a bad 1940’s gangster imitation?