Almalieque wrote:
Gbaji wrote:
Wait. So me asking why Martin ran from Zimmerman, which is key to understanding what kind of threat he thought Zimmerman was, and thus key to weighing the respective actions of the two involved is a "distraction"?
Yes, because the first action was not Martin running.
From Martin's perspective (which is the only one that matters if we're asking why he did that), it was the first action. He walked down the street. He saw a person sitting in a car. As he got closer he realized that the person in the car was looking at him and talking on a cell phone. Then Martin ran away from the person in the car. The question is: Why did he run?
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So, you can't accurately discuss WHY Martin ran unless you discuss everything leading up to that point.
But that's all that happened up to that point. This is what I've been trying to get you to understand all along. What Zimmerman thought about Martin was irrelevant to Martin's decision to run from Zimmerman. All that matters is what Martin was thinking at that point. And up to that point, all we know happened was that he walked by a car with a guy sitting in it, looking at him, and talking on his cell phone.
Assuming we all agree that Martin likely does not normally flee from every person sitting in a car talking on their cell phone that he sees, then there must have been some other reason why he did run
in this particular case. So what about this situation was special that made him feel he needed to run? Many have argued that Martin ran because he believed that Zimmerman represented some kind of criminal threat. He thought he was a rapist, or robber, or serial killer or something. But I have a problem with that because we have a recording of the entire period of time during which Martin was at first unaware of Zimmerman, then became aware of him, and then ran from him. Yet there's nothing on the audio to indicate that Zimmerman did or said anything which would make a reasonable person come to any of the above conclusions about Zimmerman representing a criminal threat to Martin.
I have therefore proposed the theory that Martin wasn't afraid of Zimmerman because he thought he represented a criminal threat, but because he represented a lawful one. If Martin was aware that his behavior while walking down the road could be perceived as suspicious, it's entirely reasonable for him to conclude that the guy looking at him and talking on his cell phone might be calling the cops. And that might be why he ran away. At least, that's my theory. If you have one you think is better, then by all means present it.
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The whole point of the discussion was to discuss if the shooting was justified. You argued that the shooting was justified, because ~> it was self defense because ~>Zimmerman was the victim ~> because Martin was not as innocent as the media is portraying him because ~> he ran from a parked car because ~> he thought Zimmerman was an extension of the law and was afraid of getting caught because ~> he was up to no good.
Wrong. I never said it was self defense because Martin was not as innocent as the media portrayed him. I said it was self defense because at the time he fired his weapon, he was flat on his back with Martin on top of him, pinning him down and punching him in the face. That's what makes it self defense.
The question of why Martin ran, and speculation about what he was doing when walking down that street that night are purely side issues. I only raise them in response to other people insisting that Martin did nothing at all to justify Zimmerman's actions. Specifically, that Zimmerman should not have gotten out of his car. I'm also trying to counter the oft-repeated claim that Zimmerman chased Martin in his car, or that Martin was afraid of Zimmerman because Zimmerman was chasing him.
The significance of Martin's decision to run is that
it happened before Zimmerman had done anything overtly aggressive towards Martin at all. Martin wasn't running from someone who was chasing him. He ran from a guy in a parked car. If we're to place any weight at all on what was going through the two men's heads that night, this is kind of a big question, right?
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So, the source of your argument was that Martin was up to no good, so I questioned it first.
Sigh. I've said this like 8 times now, but I'll repeat it again:
No part of any argument I've made rests on the assumption that Martin was up to no good. Period. End of story. WTF?
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Gbaji wrote:
Now, can you get on to telling me why you think Martin decided to run from Zimmerman?
As, I've said SEVERAL times, Martin ran because he was scared of Zimmerman. He became suspicious of him as either a cop, "an extension of the police", and/or a thug. He had an irrational fear and ran.
Which do you think it was though? Was he scared because he thought Zimmerman was a cop (or was calling the cops)? Or do you think he was scared of Zimmerman because he thought he was a thug (or some other form of criminal threat)?
I believe that he thought Zimmerman was calling the cops. I've given my reasons why I think this. If you think I'm wrong about that, then by all means explain why you think otherwise.
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I'm going to guess that your next question is "why was he specifically afraid"? Am I right?
Really? You have to guess? I could have sworn I very clearly asked you to be more specific several times already. You don't actually think this is some kind of "Gotcha! See. You followed up with exactly what I predicted you would!!!" think, right? Um... Earth to Alma. I already asked you for this. It's the entire point of what I've been talking about:
Did Martin run because he thought Zimmerman represented a criminal threat, or because he thought Zimmerman represented a lawful threat? It's only what I've been trying to get at for like 2 weeks now. Do you have an opinion? Or are you going to continue to tap dance around it?