In the latest of a string of young black males being gunned down by police or so-called "security" forces, 13-year-old Darius Simmons was shot and killed by John Henry Spooner, who accused Simmons of theft and then proceeded to shoot the unarmed and nonviolent youth in front of his horrified mother. Simmons is one of 30 black people killed this year alone by people working in law enforcement or legitimate or illegitimate "security" work. 16 of these killings have happened since Trayvon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman. Defenders of what can only be called an epidemic at this point suggest that the victims are usually engaged in illegal activity or are "bad" kids, but in almost none of these cases is anyone engaged in any activity that would even remotely warrant the death penalty they were given without due process. Many of them were good people who did nothing wrong.

Darius Simmons was by all accounts a good kid. The fun loving 6th grader was simply moving a garbage can in front of his home when his neighbor, 75 year old John Henry Spooner confronted him with a [9mm hand gun]* and accused him of stealing from his home. Darius, who was in school the time of the robbery, denied being involved with the theft. John Henry Spooner then proceed to shoot Darius in his chest, while he had his hands raise showing Spooner he was unarmed. His mom, who was watching in horror, ran to Darius to see if she could find a pulse, she couldn’t. Darius, 13 years old and unarmed, was murdered in cold blood in front of his mother.

According to Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan, he had breakfast with Spooner an hour before the shooting and Spooner told him he suspected Darius of the crime and was upset that the police hadn’t done anything about it. Spooner then told the Alderman, that there were other ways of dealing with these problems. That qualifies as premeditated murder of a 13 year old boy. To make matters worse, the family only lived next to Spooner for a month.

John Henry Spooner was arrested and charged with first-degree intentional homicide. A judge set cash bond of $300,000.

“Black youth are being stereotyped, targeted, and killed by law enforcement and now community vigilantes. This is bigger than the Castle Doctrine (Stand your ground law) , this is about our country’s continued refusal to acknowledge that we are still suffering from the sins of our forefathers. And the more we try to push the racial boogieman under the cover, the more it is going to bite us in the ass.” – Biko Baker

...

Spooner shot Simmons with a 9mm handgun five feet away from him in the chest, in front of his mother.

Darius was shot once in the chest with his hands raised. He ran to escape and collapsed at the corner, while Spooner attempted to shoot him in the back, and tried to fire a third shot.

After police arrived, Darius’s body remained on the sidewalk, while police questioned his mother, Patricia Larry, in a squad car for approximately two hours.

During the police investigation of the shooting, they searched Ms. Larry’s home again. Finding nothing, they then proceeded to arrest his older brother for having truancy tickets.

In contrast, Spooner’s family was allowed to go into the home and remove “items” despite it being the crime scene.

John Spooner was given a $300,000 bail, (only $30,000 would have to be posted for him to be free). This is uncommon when the charge is murder in the first degree.

This latest shooting certainly brings to mind the story of Emmett Till, the young boy who was wrongfully murdered in the 1950s and whose death served as an early catalyst of the civil rights movement. How many more kids like Darius Simmons and Trayvon Martin will have to die before we do something to change the laws and culture that not only allow these killings, but encourage them.

*Original post edited to include more up-to-date information about the weapon used in the shooting

If you ask the typical hyper-political gun owner (and I have … at Thanksgiving dinner), why it’s important to own a gun, they’ll bark about the Constitution. Yes, the Second Amendment: “The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms Shall Not Be Infringed!”

This of course is the slogan the National Rifle Association adopted in the 1970’s. It was then that owning a gun became an absolute right endowed by God and the Constitution. A blessing passed down by our forefathers to obliterate game and protect our property. The NRA was founded in 1870 and for its first hundred years it was for gun control and didn’t mention the Second Amendment as their cause.

Adam Winkler points out in his delicious book, “Gun Fight,” what we call the “wild west” had some of the strictest gun control laws we’ve seen as a nation. The shoot out at the OK Corral took place, after all, because Wyatt Earp was trying to disarm the outlaw Cowboys in accordance with a Tombstone ordinance. The KKK was among other things, a gun control organization. They were trying to keep guns out of the hands of newly freed slaves … but still gun control.

The part of the Second Amendment omitted from the NRA’s slogan is: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State…” Yes, well regulated—it’s in the Constitution!

Now, to some, guns are as sacred as scripture. If you ask, again, this typical hyper-political gun owner why they need to stockpile assault rifles, you will get an answer much like Pat Flynn’s, a recent candidate for a Senate seat in Nebraska. "Really, we have our guns to protect ourselves against the government, number one," Flynn said in a debate right before the primary. "Hunting's number two. But protecting us against our government is number one." Remember Flynn was trying to land a job in the government (he didn’t win his party’s nomination, by the way).

The idea is that we have to be just as armed as our government in order to be safer or have more liberty (or something). The U.S. government has unmanned drones armed with supersonic laser-guided anti-armor Hellfire missiles, “bunker busters,” and nuclear weapons. Are far-right politicians saying we need civilians to have shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles “for protection?” Of course they’re not. They actually do want limits on ownership.

And if you ask the most vehement gun rights advocate why Everyman Gun Owner shouldn’t have nuclear weapons, I’d bet you’d get the same answer as to why we don’t want every country to have the capability: “Because they could get into the wrong hands.”

So weapons-grade plutonium should be limited. But the ever-handy semi-auto Glock pistol with a 30-round high-capacity magazine is an absolute right?

A recent gun buyback drive in Los Angeles resulted in someone turning in a rocket launcher. Comforting.

So we’re not actually talking about limited vs. unlimited. We are talking about degrees of weapon ownership.

Guns fall into the wrong hands all the time. More guns and fewer requirements for ownership doesn’t curb this. George Zimmerman was the wrong hands. Zimmerman, a Florida man now infamous for shooting an unarmed black teenager at close range after a 911 operator told him not to engage the alleged suspect and wait for police to arrive, is now being defended by said hyper-political gun owners. There’s no reason a Neighborhood Watch captain should be patrolling his block with a criminal record and a pistol. Zimmerman was a catastrophe realized. Even in the wake of new evidence about this case, the fact remains if Zimmerman didn’t have a gun, 16-year-old Trayvon Martin would be alive.

The United States is number one in the world in civilian gun ownership. And since we’re not last in gun violence (we’re the 14th highest in deaths—way higher in just injuries) it’s safe to assume that increasing the number of guns doesn’t decrease the number of gun deaths. Just like cutting taxes doesn’t increase revenue—making gun ownership unlimited doesn’t make us safer. It’s a lie. A fairy tale of the gun lobby. Completely unsupported by data or logic. A falsehood.

So unless you think all Americans should get Daisy Cutters this Christmas—you believe in regulations as to who gets a weapon, what kind and where they can have it.

Gun control laws are not tyranny—as the family of Trayvon Martin can testify to—a de-regulated militia is.

Fla. State Sen. Chris Smith wasn't happy with Governor Rick Scott's task force to review the state's 'Kill At Will'/'Stand Your Ground' law, which received national attention in the wake of the killing of teenager Trayvon Martin. So he created his own task force.

Scott's official state version of the task force was filled with legislators who voted in favor of the law in the first place and failed to include people affected by the law or who might seriously question it. Smith saw through the governor's ruse and created his own task force, which released a report on the law that is sharply critical of the law. Smith's task force was much broader than the governor's, including law enforcement, state prosecutors, public and private defense attorneys, and other legal experts

In the years since passage of the drastic revisions to Chapter 776 of the Florida Statute regarding the use of force in self-defense, Floridians have grappled with the tragic consequences of a arguably, ambiguous law which has shown demonstrable confusion within and among police departments, prosecuting offices and the courts. While commonly referred to as the ―Stand Your Ground‖ law, the statutes have not simply helped law abiding citizens protect themselves from attack, but instead, have often been used as cover for the perpetrators of crimes. Each day that goes by without legislative action places innocent lives at stake. While the focus on public safety and the previously well-established principles of self defense are paramount to the Task Force‘s review, the evaluation is also concerned with preventing operation of a system tantamount to lawlessness, where any person can, within a matter of seconds, render himself investigator, judge, jury and executioner, all in one. In a civilized society, governing institutions must provide all Floridians with grounds for confidence in the justice system.

The task force unanimously approved the following recommendations:

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One of the techniques the propagandists at Fox News have mastered over the years marking their toxic rise in the media landscape has been to hold its competitors to standards that Fox itself has no intention of ever meeting. There's nothing Fox talkers love to attack other networks for more than their supposed journalistic sins -- while Fox itself has proven itself time and again as a relentless font of false "facts" and disinformation.

A recent example was the piece by the New York Times' David Carr castigating NBC for failing to correct a misleading audio edit on the air, even though the network did fire the producer responsible.

After broadcasting an audio clip on the “Today” show about George Zimmerman last month that hit the trifecta of being misleading, incendiary and dead-bang wrong, NBC News management took serious action: it fired the producer in charge and issued a statement apologizing for making it appear as if Mr. Zimmerman had made overtly racist statements.

The only thing NBC didn’t do was correct the report on the “Today” show.

What got everyone's panties in a knot? It was an edit that made Zimmerman appear worse than the full recording:

Here is how NBC edited the clip of Mr. Zimmerman, who is now charged with second-degree murder in the Trayvon Martin case:

“This guy looks like he’s up to no good. ... he looks black.”

Here is what Mr. Zimmerman actually said:

“This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.” The dispatcher then asks, “O.K., and this guy — is he white, black or Hispanic?” Mr. Zimmerman pauses and replies, “He looks black.”

The clip was first broadcast on March 22, but no one noticed until it was rebroadcast on March 27. Later, when word of the misleading edit got out, everyone from Sean Hannity to Jon Stewart reacted with disbelief, with good reason.

Got that? It was Fox News -- and Sean Hannity in particular -- who complained loudly about it. And indeed, the Carr piece is accompanied by a "Fox News Watch" graphic from a segment attacking NBC for the edit.

Which is funny, because we remember when it was Fox News doing the deceptive-editing schtick,. They didn't just do it once -- they did it repeatedly:

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The Tampa City Council on Thursday said they would ask Florida Gov. Rick Scott to ban firearms outside the Republican National Convention later this year.

The council has already issued a citywide ban on items like pieces of wood, switchblades, slingshots, containers of bodily fluids and even squirt guns. A so-called "Clean Zone" around the convention area would prohibit string longer than six inches, glass containers, light bulbs, portable shields and gas masks. A smaller protest area would prevent demonstrators from having camping gear, bottles, cans and umbrellas. The Secret Service has said that only law enforcement will be able to carry firearms inside of the convention center.

But Tampa now needs Scott's help because state law prevents local governments from regulating guns. City officials believe that Scott has the executive power to temporarily suspend that law.

"We believe it is necessary and prudent to take this reasonable step to prevent a potential tragedy," council member Lisa Montelione wrote in a draft of the letter to the governor.

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn has said that the state law makes the city "look silly."

"The absurdity of banning squirt guns but not being able to do anything about real guns is patently obvious," Buckhorn explained last week. "Given the nature and the potential dynamic of this event, I think it would make sense that you would not want firearms introduced into that environment by people other than law enforcement."

The mayor suggested that Tampa could "become fodder for the late-night comics because of something that has nothing to do with us and nothing to do with our ability to control the situation, and it's elevated by Trayvon Martin, obviously."

Legal experts told the Tampa Bay Times that in the emotionally-charged protest environment, another tragedy could take place that was covered by Florida's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law that allows gun owners to use deadly force in public places without a duty to retreat.

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Comedian Lee Camp on ALEC

In the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting—which many linked to Florida's "Kill At Will" or "Stand Your Ground" law—a number of corporations have pulled their support for the American Legislative Exchange Council, the pro-corporate, right-wing organization responsible for pushing the law in two dozen states. ALEC responded by backing off of issues such as guns and voter identification laws and refocusing its efforts on economic issues. This strategy shift may not actually be that big of a deal, though, as they heavily focused on economic issues in the past and, instead, it may help undercut opposition to ALEC as grassroots opponents have focused on the organization because of those social issues. ALEC has done the most damage in the past, however, on economic issues and the decline in opposition to the group could boost their chances at further success.

In the Public Interest released a memo Thursday detailing successes that ALEC has already had in this area.

Last month Citizens for Tax Justice released a report, “Corporate Tax Dodging in the Fifty States, 2008 – 2010.” The report identified sixty-eight large corporations that paid no state income taxes in at least one of those three years despite booking billions in profits in those years. Of those sixty-eight corporations, thirty-three have a history of supporting ALEC either as members or financial contributors.

Over the last four years state governments have had to close budget gaps totaling more than a half trillion dollars, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. More than 600,000 jobs have been cut in the public sector as a result, and programs that keep our economy moving and ensure a better future like transportation, public safety, education and environmental protection have been cut. During that time, these corporations have made profits and rather than pay taxes have put their money to work in an organization dedicated to advancing their own power. ALEC advocacy in state capitols is dedicated to protecting corporate interests, including lower taxation, fewer protections for consumers and the environment, and privatizing public services.

The corporations that definitely had ALEC ties were identified as:

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Richard Land is arguably the most powerful member of the Southern Baptist Convention. For twenty-three years, he has headed up the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. While presidents of the SBC serve for one year and rotate out, Land's position has been the one that defines official church positions on issues of public policy. Richard Land has a nasty habit of making controversial and racist statements in public that directly impact church policy, the relationship the SBC has with African-Americans, and yes, even public policy.

Which is why it didn't surprise me to hear about his latest rant, this time around the Trayvon Martin case:

Land says he stands by his assertion that President Barack Obama "poured gasoline on the racialist fires" when he addressed Martin's slaying and that Obama, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton have used the case "to try to gin up the black vote for an African American president who is in deep, deep, deep trouble for re-election."

Land, who is white, said in an interview he has no regrets about his remarks. He said he understands why the case has touched a nerve among black leaders, but he also defended the idea that people are justified in seeing young black men as threatening: A black man is "statistically more likely to do you harm than a white man."

"Is it tragic that people react that way? Yes. Is it unfair? Yes? But it is understandable," he said.

In classic right wing fashion, Mr. Land, a former Bush appointee, just politicized that which was not political, but deeply personal to President Obama. When he said his own son would look just like Trayvon Martin, that was not a political statement. It was a statement about who President Obama is. Despite the right wing's desperate effort to politicize that remark, it just wasn't political. Barack Obama is undeniably black.

His remarks about statistical likelihood of a black man doing more harm than a white man are even more disturbing than his effort to "other" the President and make this tragedy some kind of statement about crime, especially in a state where incarceration of black men in private prisons is a profit center. Land presumed Trayvon Martin guilty on a statistical probability that's not based in any kind of justice. It would have been more accurate for him to say that if one is black and male, there's a statistical likelihood they'll be convicted of doing harm, whether or not they actually did it.

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Culture war escalated into a shooting war in Sanford. Florida's NRA/ALEC-written "stand your ground" law was passed as an expansion of the right of self-defense, but that's not what it does. This is no accident; it was deliberate business strategy. By empowering armed bullies to seek trouble and shoot at it, the gun lobby creates more fear to drive more gun sales and carry permit applications, both of which are at record highs in the state. Trayvon Martin is actually not the most egregious case of homicide gone unpunished in Florida because of this law.

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Most defense attorneys tell their clients to be quiet and let them do the talking. But George Zimmerman's lawyers are an odd lot, and don't seem to really be managing the public relations aspect of their client's legal affairs very well.

After weeks of silence and weird surrogates appearing on his behalf, George Zimmerman has made himself a website asking for donations. He has done this because he's upset about other people collecting donations in his name.

I am the real George Zimmerman,
    On Sunday February 26th, I was involved in a life altering event which led me to become the subject of intense media coverage. As a result of the incident and subsequent media coverage, I have been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer, my family and ultimately, my entire life. This website's sole purpose is to ensure my supporters they are receiving my full attention without any intermediaries.

    It has come to my attention that some persons and/or entities have been collecting funds, thinly veiled as my “Defense Fund” or "Legal Fund". I cannot attest to the validity of these other websites as I have not received any funds collected, intended to support my family and I through this trying, tragic time.
    I have created a Paypal account solely linked on this website as I would like to provide an avenue to thank my supporters personally and ensure that any funds provided are used only for living expenses and legal defense, in lieu of my forced inability to maintain employment. I will also personally, maintain accountability of all funds received. I reassure you, every donation is appreciated.
Sincerely,
    George Zimmerman

I love this tag line at the bottom of the page, don't you? Also the big American flag sends a message. Of sorts.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke.

It seems ill-advised to me to put up a website that looks like a patriot or militia site with a quote they're fond of asking for donations, one day after Fox News reports that white supremacists are now 'patrolling' Sanford, to say nothing of the bad taste it displays. But there it is, waiting for the donations to pour in.

That's not even the worst part. The Daily Caller has a report on a furious letter sent to Eric Holder by an unnamed relative of George Zimmerman.

The family member believes the reason Holder hasn’t made those arrests is because he, like the members of the New Black Panther Party, is black.

“I am writing you to ask you why, when the law of the land is crystal clear, is your office not arresting the New Black Panthers for hate crimes?” the family member wrote to Holder.

“The Zimmerman family is in hiding because of the threats that have been made against us, yet the DOJ has maintained an eerie silence on this matter. These threats are very public. If you haven’t been paying attention just do a Google search and you will find plenty. Since when can a group of people in the United States put a bounty on someone’s head, circulate Wanted posters publicly, and still be walking the streets?”

[...]

“I would surmise that, based on your own definition of a hate crime, you have chosen not to arrest these individuals based solely on your race,” the family member wrote to Holder, insisting too that the was “NO racial component” to the “tragedy” that occurred on the late February night when Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin.

Wow. I'm not defending threats made on this family. The right course of action is not paying vigilante justice with vigilante justice. But to put the accusation that Eric Holder is not prosecuting those making the threats because he's black? Yeah, I guess I wouldn't want my identity revealed either, given how that reads.

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It certainly appears that he did, as Lawrence O'Donnell uncovers in this segment.

Robert Zimmerman, retired Virginia Supreme Court magistrate and father of George Zimmerman, has been making the rounds for media interviews with Fox News exclusively. He's cloaked in shadow, of course, so he isn't identified. In those interviews, he was asked whether the police knew he was a retired magistrate and whether that might have had an impact on their decision to let George Zimmerman go free that night without taking his clothes or keeping his gun, or doing any of the usual investigation that police do when they find a dead kid laying on his stomach with his hands underneath him.

Zimmerman's answer to the question was a denial and not a denial. He said, "No one knew that I was a retired magistrate judge. I didn't mention it to the police. I didn't mention it to the state attorney's office."

How interesting that he would specifically say he didn't mention it, without any denial that he spoke to them. Do you think that the police might have known who George Zimmerman was before they showed up that night, simply because he had called them 48 times in the past two months? Do you think it's possible, maybe even probable, that George Zimmerman had bragged about having a daddy who was a retired magistrate judge, or that he might have mentioned it that night when his daddy came to the police station to talk to the state attorney and police but didn't mention that he was a retired judge?

It seems to me, as it did Lawrence O'Donnell, that Zimmerman's statement that he didn't "mention it" to the police or city attorney implies that he was speaking to them. That night. And whether he mentioned it or not, I'd say it's more probable than not that they knew who Zimmerman was, and who his daddy was.