#Trayvon: 2 months after shooting, MSM finally gives a more complete background on Zimmerman

Read this. It’s a lengthy and detailed account about the life of George Zimmerman prior to the tragic killing of Trayvon Martin, and once you read it, you’ll get the same impression of Β Zimmerman that I and many others have gotten over the last couple of months in spite of the mainstream media’s desperate campaign to make him out to be a cold-blooded racist who set out to “murder” a black teenager: A quiet but enthusiastic and ambitious man concerned about his family and his neighborhood after a series of break-ins, not a nosy busybody/racist who wanted to snoop around in everyone’s business, specifically black people’s business because of some alleged “ingrained hatred” for them.

The story details his early life, his family make-up – which is decidedly mixed, and talks about the reason Zimmerman began arming himself in the first place: Not due to crime, but instead a dangerous neighborhood dog who at one point cornered his wife and had also scared his mother-in-law’s dog. It also mentions how Zimmerman opened up an Allstate insurance satellite office in 2004 in partnership with … a black man.

Not only is the background of George Zimmerman key to determining who he is and why it is likely heΒ took the actions he did that late February night, but it’s extremely important to note the criminal history of the Retreat at Twin Lakes neighborhood where the incident took place. Reuters provides context:

By the summer of 2011, Twin Lakes was experiencing a rash of burglaries and break-ins. Previously a family-friendly, first-time homeowner community, it was devastated by the recession that hit the Florida housing market, and transient renters began to occupy some of the 263 town houses in the complex. Vandalism and occasional drug activity were reported, and home values plunged. One resident who bought his home in 2006 for $250,000 said it was worth $80,000 today.

At least eight burglaries were reported within Twin Lakes in the 14 months prior to the Trayvon Martin shooting, according to the Sanford Police Department. Yet in a series of interviews, Twin Lakes residents said dozens of reports of attempted break-ins and would-be burglars casing homes had created an atmosphere of growing fear in the neighborhood.

In several of the incidents, witnesses identified the suspects to police as young black men. Twin Lakes is about 50 percent white, with an African-American and Hispanic population of about 20 percent each, roughly similar to the surrounding city of Sanford, according to U.S. Census data.

One morning in July 2011, a black teenager walked up to Zimmerman’s front porch and stole a bicycle, neighbors told Reuters. A police report was taken, though the bicycle was not recovered.

But it was the August incursion into the home of Olivia Bertalan that really troubled the neighborhood, particularly Zimmerman. Shellie was home most days, taking online courses towards certification as a registered nurse.

On August 3, Bertalan was at home with her infant son while her husband, Michael, was at work. She watched from a downstairs window, she said, as two black men repeatedly rang her doorbell and then entered through a sliding door at the back of the house. She ran upstairs, locked herself inside the boy’s bedroom, and called a police dispatcher, whispering frantically.

“I said, ‘What am I supposed to do? I hear them coming up the stairs!'” she told Reuters. Bertalan tried to coo her crying child into silence and armed herself with a pair of rusty scissors.

Police arrived just as the burglars – who had been trying to disconnect the couple’s television – fled out a back door. Shellie Zimmerman saw a black male teen running through her backyard and reported it to police.

Here’s another key excerpt from the article:

A criminal justice student who aspired to become a judge, Zimmerman also concerned himself with the safety of his neighbors after a series of break-ins committed by young African-American men.

Though civil rights demonstrators have argued Zimmerman should not have prejudged Martin, one black neighbor of the Zimmermans said recent history should be taken into account.

“Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. I’m black, OK?” the woman said, declining to be identified because she anticipated backlash due to her race. She leaned in to look a reporter directly in the eyes. “There were black boys robbing houses in this neighborhood,” she said. “That’s why George was suspicious of Trayvon Martin.”

Hello? This is what many of us who have actually read between the lines on this story and dug for details most in the national mainstream media have ignored or misrepresented have been saying for weeks! There was a crime wave in Zimmerman’s neighboorhood and he was doing the neighborhood watch thing by looking out for his family and fellow residents. Nothing more and nothing less. I strongly believe he did not intend to catch up with Trayvon Martin that night when he got out of his SUV – that he merely meant to keep up with Martin’s whereabouts until police arrived so he could tell them where Martin was. My theory is that he was on his way back to his SUV, as implied by the 911 dispatcher than he needed to do, and Martin confronted him – and that’s when the physical encounter ensued.

If more details of this case come to light when it plays out in court – details that paint a far different picture than the one I see – I’ll admit I’m wrong. However, if what we know about this case so far is the extent of it, and I’m right about not only Zimmerman’s character but also his intent that night when he spotted Trayvon Martin walking in the neighborhood, I will NOT hold my breath awaiting apologies from any of the lynch mobbers in the mainstream media (ABC and NBC, for starters), opinion media (like columnists Charles Blow and commentators Keith Boykin and Roland S. Martin), and the race hustlers (like Sharpton and Jackson), all of who have a vested interest in stirring the pot and sensationalizing the hell out of this tragic story based on a pre-determined (and false) narrative – at the expense of a man’s day to day life, character, Β and that of his family and friends.

Yes, Trayvon Martin, a teenager, is dead and that is unfortunate and heartbreaking. My heart goes out to his mother and father, and other family and friends. I hold absolutely nothing against them in wanting to seek answers and justice. But must the tragedy of h is deathΒ be compounded with another tragedyΒ in what I see as the unjustified character assassination of George Zimmerman?

Assuming I’m right about what happened that night, the mainstream media will have a lot to answer for for the toxic, violent atmosphere they’ve been largely responsible forΒ generating andΒ fostering in the aftermath of the killing of Trayvon Martin. I’d like to think they’re slowly but surely learning their lessons as they dig and more information comes to light about George Zimmerman and the neighborhood in which he lived, but I’m not stupid. Once this case eventually fades out of the limelight another one will come along and they’ll do exactly as they did in this one, all in the name of Β -once again – shaping narratives createdΒ to 1) soothe the liberal white guilt complex which permeates every fiber of our society, 2) turn it into a “Republican vs Democrat” issue (with Republicans being the evil raaacists, natch), and 3)broaden viewer/readership, sell advertising, earn the respect of colleagues and ultimately win journalism awards.

The beat will, unfortunately, go on.

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