Feds to investigate fatal shooting of Fla. teen

by Mike Schneider

ORLANDO, Fla. — The federal Justice Department says it has begun an investigation into the fatal shooting death of an unarmed black teen in Florida by a neighborhood watch captain.

The agency said in a statement late Monday that it will perform an independent review of the evidence and take appropriate action.

Police have described the man who fired the shot, 28-year-old George Zimmerman, as white; his family says he is Hispanic and not racist.

Zimmerman claims he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last month in self-defense during a confrontation in a gated community in Sanford.

College students around Florida rallied Monday to demand the Zimmerman's arrest, though authorities say they may be hamstrung by a state law that allows people to defend themselves with deadly force.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/19/justice-department-probe-fla-teen-shooting-death/print/

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Students want Fla. watch leader who shot teen arrested

by Mike Schneider - Associated Press

Monday, March 19, 2012

ORLANDO, Fla. — College students around Florida rallied Monday to demand the arrest of a white neighborhood watch captain who shot an unarmed black teen last month, though authorities may be hamstrung by a state law that allows people to defend themselves with deadly force.

Students held rallies on the campus of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee and outside the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center, where prosecutors are reviewing the case to determine if charges should be filed. The students demanded the arrest of 28-year-old George Zimmerman, who authorities say shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last month during a confrontation in a gated community in Sanford.

Zimmerman spotted Martin as he was patrolling his neighborhood on a rainy evening last month and called 911 to report a suspicious person. Against the advice of the 911 dispatcher, Zimmerman then followed Martin, who was walking home from a convenience store with a bag of Skittles in his pocket.

Zimmerman's father has said his son is Hispanic and is not racist. Zimmerman has claimed self-defense.

“I don't think a man who exited his vehicle after the 911 dispatcher told him to stay inside the car can claim self-defense,” Carl McPhail, a 28-year-old Barry University law school student, said at the Sanford rally.

The 70 protesters at the Sanford rally chanted “What if it was your son?” and held posters saying, “This is not a race issue.” Many carried Skittles.

Martin's parents and other advocates have said the shooter would have been arrested had he been black.

“You would think that Sanford is still in the 1800s claiming that this man can call self-defense for shooting an unarmed boy,” said restaurant owner Linda Tillman, who also was at the Sanford rally.

The case has garnered national attention, and civil rights activist Al Sharpton and radio host Michael Baisden planned to lead another rally Thursday in Sanford.

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, Florida Democrat, has asked that the U.S. Department of Justice to review the case, and White House spokesman Jay Carney said Monday during a briefing that officials there were aware of what happened.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Trayvon Martin's family,” Carney said. “But obviously we're not going to wade into a local law enforcement matter.”

But prosecutors may not be able to charge Zimmerman because of changes to state law in 2005. Under the old law, people could use deadly force in self-defense only if they had tried to run away or otherwise avoid the danger.

The changes removed that duty to retreat and gave Floridians, as the law is written, the right “to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force,” if they felt threatened. The changes also meant people could not be prosecuted in such instances.

Prosecutors can have a hard time making a case if there is no one else around to contradict a person who claims self-defense, said David Hill, a criminal defense attorney in Orlando. Thus far, Sanford police have said there is no evidence to contradict Zimmerman's claims.

“If there is nobody around and you pull a gun, you just say, ‘Hey, I reasonably believed I was under imminent attack. Hey, sorry. Too bad. But you can't prosecute me,'” Hill said, somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

Gun control advocates said the case is emblematic of permissive gun laws in Florida, which was among the first states to allow residents to carry concealed weapons. Florida was the first state to pass a “Stand Your Ground” law, which has been dubbed a “Shoot First” law by gun control advocates. Currently, about half of all U.S. states have similar laws, said Brian Malte, legislative director of the Brady Campaign, which describes itself as the nation's largest organization dedicated to the prevention of gun violence.

“It's coming to dangerous fruition,” Malte said. “There are more states like Florida.”

Martin's death on Feb. 26 has stirred national outrage and protests, partly prompting the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and the FBI to open an investigation into the case.

ABC News was there exclusively as the 16-year-old girl told Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump about the last terrifying moments of the doe-eyed teenager's life.

"He said this man was watching him, so he put his hoodie on. He said he lost the man," Martin's friend said. "I asked Trayvon to run, and he said he was going to walk fast. I told him to run but he said he was not going to run."

Eventually he would run, said the girl, thinking that he'd managed to escape. But suddenly the strange man was back, cornering Martin.

"Trayvon said 'what are you following me for,' and the man said 'what are you doing here.' Next thing I hear is somebody pushing, and somebody pushed Trayvon because the head set just fell. I called him again and he didn't answer the phone."

The line went dead. Besides screams heard on 911 calls that night as Martin and Zimmerman scuffled, those were the last words he said.

Trayvon's phone logs, also obtained exclusively by ABC News, show the conversation occurred five minutes before police first arrived on scene. The young woman's parents asked that we not use her name, and that only an attorney could ask her questions.

Martin's father Tracey Martin and mother Sybrina Fulton listened to the call along with ABC News, ashen-faced.

"He knew he was being followed and tried to get away from the guy, and the guy still caught up with him," Tracey Martin said. "And that's the most disturbing part. He thought he had got away from the guy and the guy back-tracked for him."

The teen was killed by Zimmerman while walking back to his father's fiancés home after stepping out to buy Skittles and some iced tea during the NBA All-Star Game. After weeks of relentless pressure, the Sanford Police have decided to release emergency and non-emergency calls placed during the incident.

"These a**holes always get away," Zimmerman says in a call to a non-emergency number.

Dispatcher: "Are you following him?"

Zimmerman: "Yeah."

Dispatcher: "We don't need you to do that."

An altercation soon ensued. A few moments later a torrent of 911 calls flooded in and Martin was killed by a single bullet. Zimmerman claimed self-defense and has yet to be arrested, stoking outrage and claims of prejudice against the police department.

"When George Zimmerman is arrested, tried and convicted I will get a little rest," Tracey Martin said.

According to a statement by the Justice Department, "The department will conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence and take appropriate action and the conclusion of the investigation … The government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person acted intentionally and with the specific intent to do something which the law forbids. Negligence, recklessness, mistakes and accidents are not prosecutable under the federal criminal civil rights laws."

Nearly half a million people have signed an online petition on change.org urging law enforcement officials to step in and arrest Zimmerman. Protest have played out in the Florida town all week with a large gathering expected Thursday.

Zimmerman blatantly violated major principles of the Neighborhood Watch manual, ABC News has learned. The manual from the Neighborhood Watch program states: "It should be emphasized to members that they do not possess police powers. And they shall not carry weapons or pursue vehicles."

According to Chris Tutko, the director of the National Neighborhood Watch program, there are about 22,000 registered watch groups nationwide, and Zimmerman was not part of a registered group, another fact the police were not aware of at the time of the incident.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayvon-martin-death-friend-phone-teen-death-recounts/story?id=15959017

(CNN) -- A 2010 video of an airport screener patting down a 3-year-old boy in a wheelchair has become the latest Rorschach test of the public's attitude towards the TSA, pitting agency defenders against those who say the video shows the child being treated like a terrorist.

Posted on YouTube Saturday night by the child's father, the video had nearly 100,000 hits by Monday evening.

Matt Dubiel, the father of Rocco Dubiel, videotaped the incident in the spring of 2010 at Chicago Midway International. He posted the video after rediscovering it last week, saying he became enraged anew when reviewing it, he said.

"There is another human being putting their hands on my child. That is not acceptable," he said. "If he was putting his hands on my child at McDonald's or anyplace else, we would immediately have him arrested and call the police."

The Transportation Security Administration noted the agency has changed its procedures since 2010 and said pat downs of children 12 and younger are unlikely, although still possible, under the new protocols.

Under the new TSA policy that took effect in September, screeners can work with parents to resolve alarms at the checkpoint. Among other options, screeners can have the children go through metal detectors or body scanners multiple times or can swab their hands to test for traces of explosives.

"The new modified screening measures have greatly reduced, though not eliminated, pat downs of children," TSA spokesman Greg Soule said. "While recognizing that terrorists are willing to manipulate societal norms to evade detection, our officers continue to work with parents to ensure a respectful screening process for the entire family at the checkpoint."

Children in wheelchairs continue to present special challenges, since the metal chairs trigger alarms in metal detectors and scanners. That increases the likelihood of alternate screening methods being used, including limited pat downs, to find the small amounts of explosives that experts say could bring down a plane.

Dubiel said he faults the TSA; not the individual screener. The screener tried to calm his son, he said.

But "I think the whole exercise was intrusive and disrespectful to a human being, and a 3-year-old human being," he told CNN.

The videotape shows the screener lifting the young boy's shirt to briefly swab his back, apparently straying from normal TSA protocols. Typically, screeners would only swab a person's hands and articles of clothing or items they are carrying.

Dubiel said the screening occurred when his family was departing for a trip to Disney World.

"I tape recorded it because I wanted to let the gentleman know that was examining my son that there was a camera on him, and anything that he was going to do, that he needed to be comfortable doing on camera. And if he wasn't, he needed to stay away from it."

Dubiel said he was told he could not stand next to his son during the search.

"I was told I couldn't comfort or hug my son. I couldn't hug him. I couldn't hold his hand," he said.

"And I tried to make the best out of it. But as I'm standing there as a parent doing this, I'm thinking about, should I do something more; should I not?"

Dubiel said he disapproved of the pat down, but did not immediately object because he feared the consequences.

"My fear was, if I made a bigger deal out of it, then I could be detained, or we could miss our flight, or we could miss our vacation. All of these things are dancing around in my head," he said.

Dubiel said he forgot about the videotape, but stumbled upon it Saturday.

"As we watched it, I felt like I was in the moment again," he said. "I was overcome with the same emotion I felt -- anger and sadness and frustration.

"The more I thought about it, the more I thought I'm going to share this," Dubiel said. "I wanted to share with other parents and let them see firsthand what happened."

In hindsight, he said, he regrets that he didn't stop the pat down.

"There hasn't been one instance in the United States of a 3-year-old carrying explosives onto an airplane or doing ill will to anyone," he said.

Like some other TSA controversies, this one resulted in heated commentary on the many Internet sites that featured the video.

"Totally unacceptable," wrote one YouTube commentator. "I look at the abject terror in this tiny child's eyes, and I know who caused it. I know who the terrorist is - it's the creep in the blue shirt."

"I don't think a man can be called a creep ... for doing what his job requires him to do, especially since he could be easily fired for not following the rules," another viewer responded.

The TSA, meanwhile, said a new TSA Cares hotline now serves as a resource for passengers with disabilities, medical conditions or other circumstances or their loved ones who want to prepare for the screening process prior to flying.

TSA recommends that passengers call approximately 72 hours ahead of travel so that TSA Cares has the opportunity to coordinate checkpoint support with a TSA Customer Service Manager located at the airport when necessary.

Travelers can contact the TSA, using Talk To TSA -- a web-based tool that allows passengers to reach out to an airport customer service manager directly. They can also reach the TSA Contact Center at 1-866-289-9673 or via e-mail at TSA-ContactCenter@dhs.gov, with questions, suggestions or to file complaints.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/20/travel/airport-toddler-video/?hpt=us_c2

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N. Idaho white supremacist runs for sheriff

A white supremacist in northern Idaho is running for sheriff of Bonner County, saying his views on race will not influence his approach to the office.

Shaun Patrick Winkler, 33, is running against incumbent Sheriff Daryl Wheeler and Ponderay police Officer Tim Fry for the Republican nomination on May 15, according to the Bonner County Daily Bee.

The winner of the primary contest will face independent candidate Rocky Jordan in November.

“Whether people will believe me or not, it will be entirely up to their own discretion,” the Bee quoted Winkler as saying.

He said he was motivated to run because of the increasing federal reach into Bonner County, the newspaper reported. He also said he doesn't think enough is being done to curb drugs and sex offenders.

“I don't look at myself as a vigilante; I look at myself as a concerned citizen,” Winkler told the Bee.

Armstrong to bring community policing back to Memphis

Teddy bears are hung on telephone poles on nearly every other block in one South Neighborhood. They quietly tell a story about crime in the area.

Armstrong says violent crime may be down, but not everyone sees or feels it in their neighborhood.

"I've had people say to me ‘Director Armstrong, when is the last time you drove through my community? How in the world can you drive through my community and tell me that crime is down 10 percent? What does that mean,'" he said. "(It's a) very valid point."

Armstrong is bringing back community policing to fight crime and try to restore neighborhoods plagued with blight, shootings, drugs and gangs, and he's starting in South Memphis.

Using I-240 and I -55 as boundaries on the east and west, Carolina Avenue and South Parkway on the north and south, Armstrong has reassigned roughly 60 Co-Act officers to the renewed community policing effort called COPS.

Armstrong says Co-Act didn't work, some of the stations weren't even manned, and officers couldn't be used outside the neighborhoods they were assigned to.

"We're going to draw a line in the sand, and we're basically going to say enough is enough," he said. "The days that you could stand on corners and freely sell drugs is over. The days where elderly people have to be held captive in their own homes, the days when parents are afraid to walk their kids home from school or allow them to play in the front yard - it's over."

The first component of community policing is getting criminals off the streets.

The next step requires officers to build relationships in the community.

On the day I was out with Armstrong, people in the neighborhood said they were eager to help.

The folks who run the M&R Grocery and Deli are trying to do their part.

They've opened a business on Trigg Avenue and are encouraged that the police director wants to help turn the neighborhood around.

The new community policing effort is now in effect and only time can tell if it works.

Armstrong said the department used data from its Blue Crush initiative to determine where to start.

He said data continues to show juveniles between 14 and 24 are driving crime statistics, as both suspects and victims.

On Action News Five at 6 a.m. Tuesday, we'll introduce you to some South Memphis home and business owners trying to turn around their neighborhood.

http://www.wmctv.com/story/17196097/armstrong-to-bring-community-policing-back-to-memphis

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Baltimore police launch daily newscast

Each episode will stream live and talk about significant arrests and acts of violence

(Video on site)

BALTIMORE — City police officials said they believe the Baltimore Police Department is the first in the nation to launch a daily newscast.

BPD-TV will stream live from Baltimore City police headquarters weekdays at 12:30 p.m., and each episode will be archived on the Baltimore Police Department's website. "We're going to talk about significant arrests. We're going to talk about robberies, acts of violence that may have occurred in your community, (and we'll air) suspect descriptions from the night before," police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

The newscast comes as part of a new, virtual front line in Baltimore City's policing strategy. The idea of the new newscast is to interact with the public in any way possible. Police officials said delivering police news online is the next logical step in their multimedia push.

http://www.policeone.com/community-policing/articles/5270493-Video-Baltimore-police-launch-daily-newscast/

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