George Zimmerman, Son of a Retired Judge, Has 3 Closed Arrests

[Are_grits_groceries]

Did George Zimmerman have help from his father, a retired judge, in clearing his name in three separate arrests?

That’s the question that’s being asked now that more information on Trayvon Martin’s 28-year-old killer is being revealed. Robert Zimmerman, a former Orange County magistrate judge, recently wrote a letter to The Orlando Sentinel defending his son, who’s been dragged through the mud for shooting the unarmed 17-year-old last month. In the letter, the senior Zimmerman asks people not to jump to conclusions and insists that his son didn’t follow the young boy home as he walked through their gated community.
<snip>
Now more info is being dug up on his “victimized” son through public records and revealing his checkered past.

According to a records search on George, he was previously arrested for domestic violence, resisting an officer without violence and most shockingly, resisting an officer with violence — a  felony charge that surely could have landed him in prison.

All three of those arrests, however, were mysteriously closed with no semblance of charges for the Florida resident. So how was someone with a violent past including that of battery against an officer able to carry a 9 mm handgun? Maybe that’s a question Robert Zimmerman should answer …
http://rollingout.com/culture/george-zimmerman-son-of-a-retired-judge-has-3-closed-arrests/

Well, why was he allowed to carry?

[HereSince1628]

1. The law...

It works for some of the people, some of the time. But it doesn't work for all the people all the time.

[Uncle Joe]

2. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, grits.

[Baitball Blogger]

3. Now his father is an ex-orange county magistrate?

I thought he was originally from Virginia?

That would make it more likely that political strings were pulled.

And it would also make Norm Wolfinger's move suspect.

[Fuddnik]

4. Pappy is retired military also.

A lot of bases in Virginia.

[Baitball Blogger]

11. Wow. This explains quite a bit.

[TheWraith]

19. There's an Orange County in Virginia. nt

[Baitball Blogger]

23. Thank you for that information.

[niyad]

5. this story gets more disgusting by the minute

[mbuch64]

6. Allowed to carry

He was allowed to carry because his daddy used his former position of authority to make sure his little boy
would have no felony record. Throw in the NRA, ALEC, and the tea party neanderthals in the Florida legislature and you have such a wonderful recipe for a good old fashioned lynching.

[billy_e]

18. Maybe he has never been convicted

There are always deals made for lesser sentences, maybe they happened when he was a minor, like Trayvon's Marijuana suspension?

[uppityperson]

22. You are comparing a kid's school suspension with a felony as an adult?

This link shows George Zimmerman had felony assault on police officer charge in ’05 & 2 domestic assaults.
http://rollingout.com/culture/george-zimmerman-son-of-a-retired-judge-has-3-closed-arrests/2/

Trayvon was suspended from school. Never arrested or charged.

Yes, Zimmerman was never convicted. Maybe having a retired judge as a father might have helped a little bit?

School suspension vs felony assault on a cop. Yup. Just the same. Oh, I hope you noticed that Zimmerman was born in '83, making him 21/22 yrs old at the time? Not a minor at all.

Oh, another question for you, from that article. " how was someone with a violent past including that of battery against an officer able to carry a 9 mm handgun?"

[spanone]

7. looks like daddy's law may have trumped everything...

[The Midway Rebel]

8. But wait....

According to some here there is no such thing as white male privelidge.

[40lbsHammer]

10. That would make sense if Zimmerman was white

[Ken Burch]

12. In this context, he effectively was.

I know the term "Hispanic" keeps getting thrown around, but Zimmerman's father was obviously at least considered an ally of white domination, and was under the protection(as was his son) of white privilege as such.

Perhaps it's in the gray area between white privilege and class privilege, but still, it's there.

[MrScorpio]

15. Damn Skippy. nt

[Ecumenist]

17. His father is white and that combined with the fact that he is a retired judge

says everything you need to know.

[CottonBear]

25. It's my understanding that Hispanic is an ethnic not a racial category.

For instance, many Cubans, Dominicans and Central Americans are Black Hispanics. It is my understanding that many Mexican immigrants to the USA are mixed race (European/Spanish and Native American.) My Cuban Spanish teachers in high school were European (Spanish) Cuban immigrants.

Is Zimmerman part black, Asian or Native American or are his mother and/or father Hispanics of European origin? I'm just curious.

BTW, I'm a white woman who was shot by white racists at while I was with my black (a native and citizen of the island of Grenada) male friend while exploring the Wild and Scenic Obed River conservation area in eastern Tennessee. We drove a short way down a gravel driveway by mistake (all of the county roads in the area were unmarked dirt and gravel roadways) and were greeted by two men who shouted "Hey, Nigger!" and then shot at us as we turned around drove away as quickly as possible. It was terrifying.

[Ken Burch]

27. You are right...there's no such thing as a Hispanic "race"

(and arguably, there isn't a single Hispanic culture, either...Afro-Cuban Hispanic culture is completely different from that of mestizos Hispanics in Mexico or Central America, and both of those are radically different than that of pure-blooded Spanish-descent Hispanics in Argentina.)

And I'm really, really horrified to hear about what happened to you and your friend in Tennessee. I hope you have fully recovered physically(though obviously you'll never be quite the same psychologically, and neither will your friend). Were the psychos who shot you ever prosecuted, or was it one of those "man has the right t'defend his property, dadgum it!" kind of things with the local law enforcement types?

[CottonBear]

38. Thanks for your concern. Thankfully, they only scared the heck out of us and we never saw them again

nor do I ever wish to see them again. My friend, who had been a soldier and had been in combat situations was just as scared as I was. I was really embarassed that such thing could have happened. (BTW , I'm a native of NC who grew up in east TN) It was so scary. My friend, who has since returned to his home country, had lived here for a number of years while attending university and working in his profession. He was used to how a black man in the South could be treated and/or perceived but this was an unexpected and unfortunate experience. Some people do not want to see a black man with a white woman. (My friend was driving the car.) We never looked back as we left (very fast) and we had no desire to ever return to that area.

[MADem]

36. Yes. Hispanics can be of any race--white, black, asian, native peoples, you name it.

This attempt to brand "Hispanic" as a race will not be met favorably by Hispanics, I can assure you. It is an ethnicity, a cultural connection, not a racial category. There are Hispanics named Richardson, and Hispanics named Fujimori. The Hispanic umbrella encompasses all races.

Zimmerman's father is Caucasian-American. His mother's racial makeup is unknown, but she is Peruvian, ergo, Hispanic as far as her ethnic background goes.

[CottonBear]

39. OK, thanks for the info. I like the term " cultural connection."

I had forgotten about the South American-Japanese politician/president who was born in a Spanish speaking country.

[Ken Burch]

42. OH, yeah...that would be Alberto Fujimori

Who, when tried for corruption after leaving office, used as a defense the argument that he was a Japanese national the whole time he was in office...which, if it were in fact the case, would actually have made him ineligible for office...or at least I think it would have.

[Solomon]

9. Not only three closed arrests, but a fourth no arrest.

[CottonBear]

26. What is a "closed" arrest? Does it mean he was not charged? n/t

[WillyT]

13. K & R !!!

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

14. my goodness

daddy is a retired judge??? How the hell did I miss that, and OF COURSE that is why the police blew this off.

[TBF]

30. Retired magistrate judge from another state -

I doubt he had much to do with the Trayvon case (although it could have influenced Z's priors - especially in the case of knowing to get competent counsel etc)

But I do think that there is something fishy about this whole story and/or coverup. Like others I keep wondering if Z is some kind of informant. It seems like there's got to be more that hasn't come out yet.

[librechik]

16. here's another guess pure speculation

perhaps he was allowed to carry because he was a police informant. However, I'm more convinced it was Daddy.

[Tx4obama]

20. K&R n/t

[Canuckistanian]

21. OMG, he's Uday Hussein

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uday_Hussein

Well, not quite. But certainly the Sanford, FLA version.

[spicegal]

24. His father was a magistrate. That certainly helps why he wasn't charged and arrested.

This kind of stuff goes on all the time, preferential treatment for those with connections. They thought no one would notice. They thought this injustice could simply be swept under the carpet.

[onenote]

29. I've seen it reported that his father was a retired Virginia judge

Is there any verification of the report that he served as a judge in Florida as well?

[Hubert Flottz]

28. "Well, why was he allowed to carry?"

Probably because he never was tried and convicted. The legal system probably would have put the dude away or at least prohibited him from having a firearm. The system probably failed to work right, due to outside interference of some type. We have a republican magistrate here who is under investigation right now, because she dismissed several criminal charges for friends and even for people she had come and work on her private property. If the felon never comes to trial and is found guilty of a felony he can go buy a gun.

The law that Jeb Bush helped pass in Florida should be struck down. Should be called the, 'Jeb Bush Vigilante Law'.

[AtheistCrusader]

31. “Solon used to say that speech was the image of actions; - that laws were like cobwebs"

"for that if any trifling or powerless thing fell into them, they held it fast; while if it were something weightier, it broke through them and was off”

-Diogenes Laertius

[marshall gaines]

32. well

well... i'm not surprised.

[Ganja Ninja]

33. "At no time did George follow or confront Mr. Martin." - Robert Zimmerman

We can hear the man following him on the 911 call. He fucking admits it to the operator.

[Major Hogwash]

34. Wow.

I think his own dad just convicted him.

[dmoyer]

35. K & R!

thanks for the info

[Arby]

37. Rollingout.com retraction

sates:

"Note: It has been brought to our attention that George Zimmerman has been arrested one time, not three, and that the charges against him were dropped after he completed a pre-trial diversion program. The additional two charges stem from the same incident on the same date."

Not that I believe it exonerates Zimmerman, I just want to keep things factual...

- Peace

[Quixote1818]

40. K and R

[Volaris]

41. 'Cause the NRA said he could?