Trayvon Martin

A 17 year old boy, Trayvon Martin, was shot and killed in cold blood near his father and his fiance's house a few weeks ago. I heard about it on the Internet shortly after it happened but the story has finally taken off in the mainstream media.

What makes the story interesting is that the man who admitted to murdering Trayvon claimed he did it in self-defense and in Florida, due to an inept and willfully negligent police force, that's enough to avoid a trial. Yes, you can admit that you shot and killed an unarmed child walking around the neighborhood after being directed by police to stay away from him, and as long as you pull some shit about it being "self-defense" the incredibly inept police officers won't arrest you.

Some say this is because of a law passed around the time I left Florida that says you can defend yourself and if someone dies then so be it. The thing is, all states, to my knowledge, have laws to that effect. Florida's law just codifies what is often unstated.

The truth is that the murderer got off because the police are morons.

That shouldn't surprise anyone who lives in Florida. The state gives out more tickets per capita than any other, only in part because of the immense number of morons on it's roadways. (Note that it's worse than it sounds since parking is cheap and abundant: the vast majority of those tickets are moving violations.)

I called 9/11 once in my life to report that my home was on fire. I said it was a small fire on the carpet that was growing rapidly. They asked if I was out of the house. (a) No, how would I be calling you? and (b) Who gives a fuck just send some firefighters! But that wasn't the worst of it. For some reason the dispatcher decided to first send a cop with a small extinguisher and then not tell the firemen to show up ready to put out a fire. They didn't have their bunker gear on or their hoses ready. I'd estimate that another 25% of my house went up in flames because they didn't show up ready to go. If I knew then what I know now I would have just tried to put out the fire myself with a garden hose.

The irony is that Florida's focus on handing out tons of tickets and spending as little money as possible on fire and police services is probably what caused George Zimmerman, the murderer to start his "night watch" to protect his community. The cops didn't do their jobs so he would do it for them. Now the tables have turned, he is the criminal, and he is getting away because they continue to not do their job.