George Zimmerman's father is a retired Judge

[Raine1967]

I was not aware of this. Has anyone else wondered if this might play into his not getting arrested?

"The portrayal of George Zimmerman in the media, as well as the series of events that led to the tragic shooting, are false and extremely misleading," his father, a retired magistrate judge, wrote in a letter published in the Orlando Sentinel. "Unfortunately, some individuals and organizations have used this tragedy to further their own causes and agendas."

"George is a Spanish-speaking minority with many black family members and friends," Robert Zimmerman wrote. "He would be the last to discriminate for any reason whatsoever."

From the reports that I have read -- he lived with his parents in Sanford. He has also withdrawn from attending Seminole state college.

Editing to add: His father being a judge in the same town might indicate that he knew police enforcement officials in the city.

[hifiguy]

1. Hmmm. This gets stranger and stranger

with every passing day. To say the least, this is an eyebrow-raiser.

[CatWoman]

4. and his mother was a court interpreter

[elleng]

55. And we all know how much clout 'court interpreters' have, right?

[Eddie Haskell]

61. In a small town

Just being one of their own is clout.

[JI7]

2. no, i think what happened was the cops just took Zimmerman at his word

because Trayvon was Black so they ddin't really care and/or assumed he was guilty.

i'm not sure it was an active cover up from the start. but now they were exposed for not doing the job they should have they kept trying to cover it up to save their own asses .

[Life Long Dem]

9. Maybe not, but they later added a bloody nose to the police reports for a reason.

They needed to help out Zimmerman's defense case. Where is this help for Trayvon? Like talking to the girlfriend since she was on the phone at the same time.

[Baitball Blogger]

14. In this county if the police knew his father was a judge or ex-judge,

they would have backed off because political connections are everything.

[mackattack]

23. Yep

From my experience its a political game

[Baitball Blogger]

36. Which is all the more reason why this investigation needs to go

beyond the police department.

[TheOther95Percent]

64. That behavior is common to a lot of counties.

Political or law enforcement connections and/or money do help. Anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves.

There's a bit of kerfuffle over this in the county next to mine.

http://www.longislandpress.com/2012/03/01/3-ex-nassau-police-officials-face-corruption-charges/

[Baitball Blogger]

65. If it's that common, why can't we put an end to it?

[pnwmom]

41. If it wasn't a coverup, why did they only test Trayvon for drugs and alcohol

and not the thug who admitted to killing him?

[JI7]

45. it has become a coverup as people started asking questions

[nadinbrzezinski]

52. Social connections matter.

A judge you say?

[CatWoman]

3. good catch, Raine

[WolverineDG]

5. Hold on to your cards, folks,

But I think we have a winner!

[FarCenter]

6. His father was also retired from the military

In Manassas, Va., where Zimmerman lived in the 1980s and 1990s with his parents and two siblings, neighbors tended to define the family based on their spiritual profile. "Very Catholic ... very religious," their neighbor Jim Rudzenski recalled Thursday. The children attended All Saints Catholic School through the eighth grade before going to Osbourn High School. George became an altar server and evening receptionist at All Saints Catholic Church.

Strict upbringing

The father, Robert Zimmerman, is a retired military man. He could be strict. And the children's grandmother, who lived with the family, also kept a watchful eye, said Kay Hall, who lived across the street from the Zimmermans for about 20 years. George and his siblings "didn't play with the neighborhood kids," Rudzenski said. "They had to stay home and play." It was always "Yes, ma'am," "No, ma'am," Hall said.

Zimmerman's life was not without difficulties. In 2001, when he was 17 or 18, he was the victim of a minor criminal assault, said Manassas police Sgt. Eddie Rivera. The city's computer records do not provide details.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2017819414.html

[Avalux]

19. Who the fuck cares if the family was very catholic and he had a strict upbringing???

And he was a receptionist at a church?? I guess because of all that, shooting Trayvon was completely justified.

[yardwork]

24. George Zimmerman was the "victim of a minor criminal assault?" I am skeptical.

George Zimmerman has a history of attacking people and then claiming that he was the victim. He claimed this his former girlfriend came after him with a baseball bat, when she was the one who was beat up and George assaulted a police officer attempting to arrest him.

Now he's shot and killed a young person and - surprise! - Zimmerman claims again that he is the victim.

Looks like he's used to daddy getting him out of trouble.

[lolly]

32. Sounds like he may have some serious paranoia/mental illness issues

Maybe his strict, religious family wasn't able to face the problem and deal with it, and instead kept denying the problem and covering up for George instead of getting him help.

[pnwmom]

43. Or maybe he was teetering on the brink of paranoia, and his strict family pushed him over.

[lolly]

56. Yeah

Even your garden-variety racist doesn't sit around the condo all day waiting for people to feel threatened by.

Judging from the (sketchy) info we have on his multiple calls and his bizarre obsessions, that's starting to look like what might be going on here.

[jwirr]

49. Or like many parents daddy cannot see beyond the surface of his childs problems with the

obsession over being a policeman. As to one minority being prejudice against another - that is a fools dream. Prejudice exists in every race and religion. Prejudice is nothing more than the idea that one group is better than another.

[fascisthunter]

29. usually defects claim to be uber religious and supportive of the military

without question... what they are is a bunch of cowards hiding behind something sacred when we know both have been corrupted and co-opted. Most people see through them all.

[Dont call me Shirley]

35. That's georgie's problem, he was an altar boy

[DisgustipatedinCA]

7. ok, so he doesn't discriminate. Does Dad think killing for sport is a better defense?

Good luck, judge.

[sendero]

8. There you go.

... it had to be something like that.

[HipChick]

10. OP - He was actually here on the Virginia Supreme Court, and believe he retired here in VA

and then moved to FL...not sure he or his wife served in Sandford

[Raine1967]

69. I will look into that.

The article says he was a magistrate judge. Was his father a judge in 2 states at different times?

[onenote]

11. What was reported here in the DC area was that his father was a magistrate in Virginia

and retired to Florida. Not clear that his father was "a judge in the same town". None of this, of course, has been verified from what I can tell.

[Rex]

12. Oh?

.

[Baitball Blogger]

13. That's what I was looking for!

The political connection! Where was he a judge?

Judges in this county have been land owners and have pushed the envelope on the law on matters that involved comprehensive plan amendments. They bank on their reputations. Nobody questions them. Once someone is a judge you wouldn't believe the kind of benefits it affords them and their children.

Link, link please!

[Egalitariat]

15. I thought he was white?!?

[CatWoman]

16. Hi mother is spanish - his father is white

[yardwork]

22. George Zimmerman's mother is Peruvian, not Spanish. I read.

[CatWoman]

25. my bad

correct

[yardwork]

27. No problem. I don't really have any proof, anyway. Just something I read.

[CatWoman]

30. I read the same

but couldn't remember which country she came from when I wrote that post.

[MADem]

47. Hispanic is an ethnicity, not a race. nt

[HipChick]

17. He was kicked out of school, he didn't withdraw

[Ichingcarpenter]

18. The guy that burned down my condo and he

was the son of the police chief.

He destroyed 6 condos and got 5 years probation
was caught with a firearm and had a record.

I know small town crap.

thankfully this is national news.

If I hadn't awaken and alerted my neighbors at 3 in morning they would have all died.

I posted this story years ago when it happened on DU
with photos.

[Raine1967]

68. Exactly. I hear you.

I know small town too.

Connections make a lot of difference.

[steve2470]

20. info from WDBO website on the father:

Zimmerman said his father was a magistrate for Virginia Supreme Court and mother was a deputy court clerk. He stated that he had the utmost respect for law enforcement and aspired to be an officer someday.

http://www.wdbo.com/news/news/rallies-continue-support-17-year-old-trayvon-marti/nLXJ7/

[Nay]

34. The guy is 28 -- so if he wants to be a cop so bad, how come he's not one already? Methinks he

couldn't pass the psych, or maybe the physical. Instead, he becomes a cop wannabe, one of the most dangerous types of guys around.

Does anyone know what Zimmerman does for a living? He's 28--he's gotta have a job somewhere.

[yardwork]

21. Thank you. I've been wondering about this. I read that he was a lawyer. Didn't know he became judge.

[monmouth]

26. The college threw him out, he did NOT withdraw....n/t

[yardwork]

28. 13 years of college down the drain.

[CatWoman]

31. LOL

Reminds me of Bluto from Animal House

[Ikonoklast]

40. Bluto later became a Senator, remember.

Which didn't surprise me one bit.

[CatWoman]

42. !!!

[X_Digger]

33. There's that other shoe. Been waiting for that to drop. n/t

[obxhead]

37. LOL, Seminole State made that decision for him

and kicked him out.

[Solomon]

38. I can just imagine what kind of judge daddy was to

Last edited Fri Mar 23, 2012, 07:47 PM - Edit history (1)

black people.

[MADem]

46. If he was a magistrate, he'd be doing a lot of traffic court and things like that, yes?

Which would put him in contact with a lot of rank-n-file police officers.

I can imagine that a cop who had to go before him would be cutting his kid some slack; and maybe he and the police might well be developing "associations" over the years.

Hard to know without details, I am speculating, mind you, but I am thinking that this coziness isn't good.

[steve2470]

48. info on Virginia's magistrates:

http://www.courts.state.va.us/courtadmin/aoc/djs/programs/mag/about.html

In many instances, a citizen's first contact with Virginia’s Judicial System comes through the office of the Magistrate. A principal function of the magistrate is to provide an independent, unbiased review of complaints of criminal conduct brought to the office by law enforcement or the general public. Magistrate duties include issuing various types of processes such as arrest warrants, summonses, bonds, search warrants, subpoenas, and certain civil warrants. Magistrates also conduct bail hearings in instances in which an individual is arrested on a warrant charging him or her with a criminal offense. Magistrates provide services on an around-the-clock basis, conducting hearings in person or through the use of videoconferencing systems.

The magistrate system for the Commonwealth is divided into eight regions, and each magistrate is authorized to exercise his or her powers throughout the magisterial region for which he or she is appointed. Each region is comprised of between three and five judicial districts. There are magistrate offices located throughout Virginia, including at least one in each of Virginia’s 32 judicial districts.

[Solomon]

51. whooee boy. Him belly full I tell you.

[X_Digger]

58. Thanks for the info! n/t

[MADem]

60. I know they do traffic court in MA--I beat the rap in front of one! nt

[Justice wanted]

39. I knew they where covering his ass for a reason like that. Second of all I know MANY latino's who

who ARE very Prejudice against Blacks and I work with a Latina WHo was Cuban and looked down her nose at Mexican saying "THEY are not TRUE Latinos". This woman was also a Republican and kiss the butt of my former employers.

[MADem]

44. I did not know that, but now that I do, I can't help but wonder if that played a role. nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

50. Perhaps in the same circuit?

Suddenly it makes "sense."

[elleng]

53. 'Retired magistrate judge' means LITTLE, in the circumstances, imo,

and should NOT be blown out of proportion.

I seriously doubt that the father has much clout, in this respect.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=81337

[Eddie Haskell]

62. It means a lot.

It's a club no matter where you're from.

[elleng]

54. Haven't seen anything that says he was a judge 'in the same town,'

and I doubt it.
Florida is strict, doesn't allow attorneys admitted elsewhere to practice in Florida, Zimmermans lived in Virginia earlier, father apparently retired MILITARY.
My father, admitted in New York, was unable even to work as a 'paralegal' in Florida. Florida protects its own.

[marlakay]

57. Well that speaks volumes nt

[Major Hogwash]

59. Wow.

And after hearing today about the domestic violence issues he has had in the past, he should never have been given a concealed weapons permit.

No wonder the police didn't arrest him.

[yardwork]

70. He may not have a concealed weapon permit

Is there any evidence that he has a permit? He said he did, but Zimmerman lies. It's a felony to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. I'm sure the police looked into this /sarcasm.

[Herlong]

63. I just don't get it!

His father, retired judge. His mother, interpreter right. Him, vigilante. So what. Why die for a bag of skittles? Help me out here!

[Blue_Tires]

66. yeah, that father's statement is as laughable as it is clichéd

I'd respond that you don't have to even be a racist to racially profile someone, but I'm sure he'd already know that

[MelungeonWoman]

67. That explains everything.

n/t

[abynorml]

71. As Well as his father being a retired magistrate judge..

....I believe his mother works in the court system, too. How come nobody in the media is mentioning these facts?

[celfon]

72. Zimmerman BIG WHITE Daddy?

[link:

&list=UU5rubw5AL_FvhY5Jcrz3caQ&index=1&feature=plcp|

&list=UU5rubw5AL_FvhY5Jcrz3caQ&index=1&feature=plcp

May be it is not his father that's the BIG WHITE DADDY that got his butt special treatment is it this one.