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Justice

Zimmerman Family Member Claims Eric Holder Is Shielding New Black Panthers Because Holder Is Black

By Ian Millhiser on Apr 10, 2012 at 6:30 pm

In what may be the most ill-advised letter ever penned by a defender of someone accused of a racially motivated homicide, the conservative Daily Caller claims that an unidentified “family member” of Trayvon Martin’s shooter George Zimmerman sent a paranoid letter to Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday accusing him and much of the “black community” of racial bias:

I realize that you are no doubt aware of the events that took place on February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida. While the facts of the case have not been made public yet, many in the black community have formed what many are calling a “lynch mob” against George Zimmerman. The rhetoric from the black community has ranged from benign to incredibly violent. Among those that have interjected themselves include Congressmen (and women), the Congressional Black Caucus, The NAACP, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Spike Lee, President Barack Obama, and the most violent, the New Black Panthers. . . .

I am not writing this letter to discuss the intricacies of the case because, as you know, the investigation by the Florida Attorney General is not complete. 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 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? Many people that I know (and many that I don’t) believe that racism is the only reason that this group has not been rounded up yet. Again, we are not talking about racism on the side of George Zimmerman. There is no possible explanation for why this is not the case. The entire world has seen these threats and we can all only assume that your office has as well. . . . 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. There is no other explanation.

Let’s be absolutely clear. The New Black Panther Party is a repulsive, bigoted organization that’s classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Their actions are routinely indefensible, and their recent announcement that they are offering a $10,000 reward for the “CAPTURE AND CITIZENS ARREST FOR GEORGE ZIMMERMAN” cannot be squared with the rule of law — even though Florida officials have also been negligent in their own duty to investigate and prosecute a man who appears very likely to have killed an innocent teenager in cold blood.

But there is also a much more plausible explanation for the fact that the United States Department of Justice has not brought charges for this bounty on Zimmerman. It’s not at all clear that their actions violate a federal criminal law. Federal hate crimes statutes forbid the use of “dangerous weapon[s]” to “cause bodily injury” to someone because of their race, and they also forbid threats of force that hinder certain protected activities, such as voting or receiving federal financial assistance. But the New Black Panthers’ specific actions likely do not constitute a federal crime, no matter how deplorable they may be.

More importantly, however, there’s something bizarre and disturbing about this Zimmerman family member’s attempt to paint George as the victim of racial animus, given George Zimmerman’s likely role in a racially motivated homicide.

Alyssa

Should We Be Worried About ‘The Avengers’?

By Alyssa Rosenberg on Apr 10, 2012 at 6:07 pm

The dialogue looks great and quippy. Mark Ruffalo may prove to be the first plausible on-screen Hulk. We’ve got a fun look at Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill, though every time I see her on-screen I keep expecting the next scene to be set in MacLaren’s Pub:

But Peter Suderman notes something that’s got me anxious: The Avengers doesn’t have a rating or a run time yet, which means with a May 4 opening date, it’s not actually done (by contrast, The Dark Knight Rises, which isn’t out until late July, has its PG-13). Do we think there’s last-minute studio agita at work here?

NEWS FLASH

Annan: ‘It Has Become Clear’ That Assad Hasn’t Pulled Back Troops | Kofi Annan, the United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria told the U.N. Security Council today that he still has hopes for a cessation of violence in Syria by the April 12 deadline but that he was “gravely concerned at the course of events.” In a letter to the Security Council, Annan said that “in the last 5 days it has become clear” that President Bashar al-Assad has made no effort to abide by Annan’s peace plan he agreed to earlier this month. However, Annan insisted his peace initiative remains “very much alive,” in part because there is no viable alternative. “If you want to take (the plan) off the table, what will you replace it with?” he asked reporters in Turkey. Meanwhile, according to the AP, residents in the ravaged city of Homs “reported some of the heaviest shelling in months.”

NEWS FLASH

Newt Gingrich’s Check Bounces | Now that Rick Santorum has dropped out of the presidential race, Newt Gingrich is trying to position himself as the challenger to Mitt Romney — or as he said in an email to supporters today, “the last conservative standing.” But that may be difficult, given the former House speaker’s anemic fundraising and non-existent campaign organization. Case in point: A $500 check Gingrich wrote bounced. Gingrich’s campaign filed papers and the $500 filing fee to enter Utah’s primary, but the check didn’t go through, and the campaign has not returned calls from the state, the Salt Lake Tribune reports.

By Alex Seitz-Wald on Apr 10, 2012 at 5:42 pm

Justice

Where Is George Zimmerman? Zimmerman Attorneys Withdraw, Say He’s Left Florida And They’ve Lost Contact

By Judd Legum on Apr 10, 2012 at 5:39 pm

In a shocking turn of events, George Zimmerman’s two attorney’s — Craig Sonner and Hal Uhrig — announced they were withdrawing from the case. They said they have lost track of Zimmerman and have not been able to contact him for several days.

At various times during the press conference, both attorneys said they did not know where Zimmerman is currently.

Uhrig told the press that, if people are trying to find Zimmerman, they should “stop looking in Florida” and “look much farther way.” This directly contradicts what Craig Sonner said on March 23 when he assured a reporter from WFTV that “he’s absolutely in the state, he’s local.”

Watch a compilation:

Has George Zimmerman been on the move over the last two weeks?

Trayvon Martin’s family attorney expressed concern that Zimmerman may flee: “Trayvon’s family was always concerned that Zimmerman doesn’t try to skirt his legal responsibilities and become a flight risk.”

NEWS FLASH

Greenville Joins List Of Municipalities Opposing Discriminatory Amendment One | Last night, the Greenville City Council passed a resolution opposing North Carolina’s Amendment One with a 5-1 vote. Greenville is the first municipality from Eastern North Carolina to rebuff the measure, which bans same-sex marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships, but it joins numerous other cities, universities, faith communities, and organizations speaking out against codifying discrimination. Voters head to the polls in just four weeks.

NEWS FLASH

Federal Housing Regulator Finally Shows Some Openness To Reducing Loan Amounts For Troubled Homeowners | Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Edward DeMarco has faced a wave of criticism for his staunch opposition to allowing government backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — which the FHFA oversees — to reduce loan amounts for troubled homeowners. DeMarco has been claiming, contrary to the view of many economists, that reducing loan principal would hurt Fannie and Freddie’s bottom lines. Today, however, he finally signaled some openness to allowing Fannie and Freddie to reduce loan amounts, citing a preliminary analysis that incorporates new financial incentives for principal reduction that were introduced by the Treasury Department.

Related Posts

Health

Republican Congressman Scolded And Mocked By Senior Citizens For Embrace Of Ryan Budget

By Adam Peck on Apr 10, 2012 at 5:00 pm

Representative Dan Benishek (R-MI)

Rep. Dan Benishek’s (R-MI) embrace of the Republican Party’s platform ran into stiff opposition at a town hall meeting in Saulte Sainte Marie, Michigan when at least a dozen constituents, many of them senior citizens, pushed back against Benishek’s claims on Medicare, Social Security, oil subsides and health care reform.

Benishek couldn’t even get through his opening remarks before attendees began criticizing his support for Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) proposed budget that would increase the cost of health care for seniors by providing “premium support” vouchers to eligible senior citizens.

“If you have a better idea as how to keep Medicare sustainable over the long term, I’d be happy to hear it,” offered Benishek.

He may have regretted those words after the event, because for half an hour, Benishek fielded several suggestions on how to increase funding for Medicare, ranging from ending oil subsidies to increasing taxes on the wealthiest two percent, suggestions that Benishek summarily dismissed.

Benishek also displayed a shocking lack of self-awareness about his level of knowledge of some key facts. “There are no government subsidies for oil,” he told one woman who suggested ending the very real subsidies given to oil corporations to help defray the cost of Medicare. Watch a portion of the town hall:

At one point, the discussion turned to health care reform. Benishek, who served as a medical doctor before he was elected to Congress in 2010, was thrust onto the national stage after his predecessor Bart Stupak cast the deciding vote in favor of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. He told the audience that the United States has the best health care system in the world, before he was literally laughed at by several attendees.

“We have the highest life spans in the world,” argued Benishek. Several women in the audience quickly pointed out that in fact, many countries with universal health care place higher than the United States in terms of life expectancy, including Canada, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. The United States ranks 50th, just behind South Korea and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“I don’t believe that’s true,” said Benishek. “How can you not know that, you’re a medical doctor?” one woman replied.

The confrontational town hall meeting almost didn’t even happen, after a member of the public, armed with a camera, refused to stop recording. A representative from the Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored the event, threatened to shut down the entire proceedings.

Security

Former Bush Official Calls Torture Program ‘Radical,’ ‘Untenable And Extreme’

By Ben Armbruster on Apr 10, 2012 at 4:45 pm

Philip Zelikow

Last week, the State Department released a February 2006 memo from then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s top aide, Philip D. Zelikow, opposing the Justice Department’s authorization of “enhanced interrogation techniques” (i.e. torture) by CIA officers questioning terrorist suspects. Zelikow concluded in the memo that the techniques DOJ authorized should be considered “‘cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment’ within the meaning of Artical 16″ of the Convention Against Torture.

Zelikow — who has previously spoken out publicly against President Bush’s torture program — will publish a “damning article” in the upcoming issue of the Houston Law Journal, Salon reports (emphasis added):

Based on published histories and his firsthand observations, and adapted from a lecture delivered in November, the article calls the administration’s rationale for its use of torture — which he nonetheless insists only on calling “extreme interrogation” and “coercive methods” — “radical,” “an amazing contention,” “untenable and extreme,” “unsustainable,” “an unprecedented program of coolly calculated dehumanizing abuse and physical torment,” and, finally, simply a “mistake.” He concludes: “This was a collective failure of American public leadership, in which a number of officials and members of Congress (and staffers) of both parties played a part, endorsing a CIA program of physical coercion without any precedent in U.S. history.” In fact, “The only defense against criminal prosecution would be that officials acted in good faith reliance on the advice of their government lawyers.”

While Zelikow calls on the White House to be more forthcoming and transparent about its own counter-terrorism methods, he praises President Obama for abandoning Bush’s torture polices Noting the Obama administration’s success in combatting terrorism and al-Qaeda in general, Zelikow concludes that “[t]here is no evident correlations between intelligence success and the available of extreme interrogation methods.”

Election

Thanks For All The Memories: A Look Back At Santorum’s Run

By Alex Seitz-Wald on Apr 10, 2012 at 4:42 pm

Since Rick Santorum dropped out of the presidential race today, ThinkProgress wanted to take a look back at some of the more memorable moments from his failed bid:

– Santorum warned “Satan” is systematically attacking the U.S. with “rock concerts” and “sensuality.”

– Claimed that the Netherlands euthanizes 10 percent of its citizens.

– Argued the California universities don’t teach American history — they do, it’s a graduation requirement.

– Santorum compared marriage equality to a napkin, not a paper towel; water, not beer; tea, not basketball; a tree, not a car.

– “Friends don’t let friends use pink [bowling] balls.”

– Called Obama a “snob” for urging kids to get educated.

– Made his top issue “Enforcing Laws Against Illegal Pornography.”

– Said Obamacare would kill his special needs daughter.

–Thinks global warming is a “hoax.”

– Claimed high gas prices traveled through time to cause the recession.

– Thinks insurers should discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions.

– Took to waving around a shale rock during speeches as a visual aid for his energy policy.

– “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better” with taxpayer money (which he, of course, later qualified as “blah” people).

– He said women aren’t capable of serving in combat because there would be “emotions that are involved.”

– “I refer to global warming as not climate science, but political science.”

– He told a mother her gay son is engaging in unhealthy activity that the government should not “promote.”

- “I’m for income inequality.”

– Santorum promised to significantly reduce federal funding for food stamps, arguing that the nation’s increasing obesity rates render the program unnecessary.

– Told a sick kid not to complain about high drug costs because people blow tons of money on iPads.

– He opposes contraception, explaining that it’s a “license to do things.”

– Santorum found “it almost remarkable for a black man” to be pro-choice, saying Obama should oppose abortion because of his race.

– He told a rape victim to “make the best out of a bad situation”

– In 1994, Santorum said single moms are just “breeding more criminals.”

– He told Peurto Ricans to learn English.

– Called for selling off public lands to private sector.

Meanwhile, presumed nominee Mitt Romney moves onto the general election, likely with the help of Santorum, it’s worth remembering what Santorum has said about the former Massachusetts governor.

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