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Miami Herald

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer acquitted of homicide charges in the 2012 fatal shooting of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, is suing Martins family, prosecutors and others involved in the case he claims rested on false evidence, according to a copy of the suit sent to the media Wednesday.

Zimmerman is represented by Larry Klayman, a high-profile legal crusader tied to conservative causes and the founder of Judicial Watch before splitting with the activist group.

The suit in Polk County Circuit Court cites information in a documentary about the case that accuses the Martin family of engineering false testimony, and the director has scheduled a press conference this week in Coral Gables to coincide with a film screening there. The suit seeks $100 million in civil damages, alleging defamation, abuse of civil process and conspiracy. A copy of the suit was distributed to media Wednesday by the movies director, Joe Gilbert. The case does not yet appear on the online docket of the Polk court system.

The lead defendant in the suit is Sybrina Fulton, Martins mother who became a national figure in the wake of her sons death as a campaign surrogate for Hillary Clinton and a national advocate for social justice and reducing gun deaths. Shes running for the District 1 seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission being vacated by a term-limited Barbara Jordan in the Miami Gardens area.

Martin lived with Fulton, then a county employee, in Miami Gardens, and was visiting his father, Tracy Martin, in Sanford on Feb. 26, 2012, when he died in a gated community where his fathers fiancee lived. Martin was returning from a store with candy. Zimmerman, 28 at the time, reported Martin as suspicious to police in a recorded call after 7 p.m.

The details that followed remain in dispute, with Zimmerman claiming he was attacked by Martin and defended himself. Police and prosecutors described an unjustified shooting of a teenager in a hoodie with Skittles and a drink. A jury acquitted Zimmerman of all charges in 2013.

The lawsuit presses the Zimmerman version of events, with allegations of efforts by the Martin family to produce a false narrative through dishonest accounts from witnesses. The suit also names prosecutors in the Zimmerman case, alleging false prosecution, as well as book publisher Harper Collins over the October release of Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People. The book is by Ben Crump, who represented the Martin family. Crump is also named in the suit, which states all defendants have worked in concert to deprive Zimmerman of his constitutional and other legal rights.

Crump, Klayman and a campaign representative for Fulton did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

Originally posted here:
George Zimmerman sues family of Trayvon Martin, publisher ...

It's a story that's been told time and time again: Tech companies are just not diverse enough.

Tech companies supply some of the most financially beneficial jobs on the market. According to Tarika Barrett of Girls Who Code, technical jobs pay twice the average salary. By 2020, there could be 1 million unfilled tech jobs.

"And these are the jobs that can lift entire families up into the middle class," Barrett said.

Diversity in the tech industry is crucial for technical progress. CNBC's Jon Fortt described it like this: "Women, people of color, often have different experiences. And with that can come diversity of thought, and it's shown that diversity of thought can really aid organizations." According to a report from the Boston Consulting Group, companies with more diverse leadership teams report higher innovation revenues.

But tech companies are still lagging when it comes to diversity and inclusion.

In 2014,a year after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death ofTrayvon Martin and the subsequent founding of the Black Lives Matter movement,some Big Tech companies started reporting their workplace demographics and promised to increase diversity.

According to the available data from 10 major U.S. tech companies gathered between 2014 and 2019, the percentage of women in these workforces increased less than 2%. The reports that specified gender and race said most of these women were White. The gender data doesn't consider transgender or gender nonconforming employees, and only one of the 10 companies reported nonbinary employee demographics.

The percentage of Black employees increased less than 3% during the same period. The number of Hispanic employees increased about 1% and the number of Indigenous employees decreased about .01%. The diversity data shows that Asian employees made up about 30% of tech workforces in 2019.

CNBC explored why it's challenging for Big Tech to diversify and what experts say should be done to solve the problem. Watch CNBC's deep-dive into the lack of diversity in U.S. tech companies.

See the article here:
Tech companies have made big promises, and small gains, for diversity and inclusion - CNBC

Sybrina Fulton, social justice activist and mother of slain teenager Trayvon Martin, ran for office in Miami-Dade County, Florida and lost by just a small handful of votes.

According to The Miami Herald, Fulton lost the seat to Mayor Oliver Gilbert by 331 votes out of a total 34,000 votes cast in other words, by less than 1%.

RELATED: An Open Letter To Sybrina Fulton

After conceding to her opponent, Fulton tweeted a message of gratitude to her supporters.

"This pic is where my journey begin, I thank God for an awesome experience," Fulton said in a statement Thursday. "Id like to say THANK YOU to my wonderful family & friends, my team, donors, supporters & especially everyone of you who voted for me. Plz know, positive change will come in due time."

Fulton was running for a seat on the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners, where she would have had a say in all county matters, from allocation of resources to local policy. She was drawn to activism and politics after the 2012 fatal shooting of her 17-year-old son, Trayvon Martin, by vigilante George Zimmerman.

"Since 2012, I have advocated tirelessly to empower our communities and make them safer, Fulton said in an Instagram post announcing her candidacy last year. But the work is not done. I am proud to announce that I will run to represent District 1 on the county commission.

Fulton was endorsed by a number of high-level Democrats, including Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

See original here:
Trayvon Martins Mother Loses Election By 331 Votes - BET

Regarding writer Kendrick Marshalls opinion piece on Aug. 16, I wholeheartedly agree with him that equal treatment of all, regardless of skin color, is what we require of our police.

Will he acknowledge that the phrase Black lives matter comes with some serious radical political baggage?

Black lives matter was coined by a radical political movement involved in much more than just a protest about George Floyds death.

A BLM organizer in Chicago, Ariel Atkins, asserted a right to loot Chicago stores as reparations.

The BLM founders are proud Marxists, and the BLM website calls for disrupting the nuclear family, opposing heteronormative thinking and defunding the police.

These political positions provoke intense and well-justified criticism. Marshalls failure to acknowledge that fatally weakens his op-ed.

Marshall is at liberty to be wrong on fact, law and logic.

If Black Lives Matter is an appropriate street mural, why not Indian Lives Matter or Unborn Babies Lives Matter, or any number of other heart-felt sentiments from all corners of public opinion?

The city government would be bombarded with requests to paint streets, and any denials would come with the threat of lawsuits to justify why the politically charged phrase Black Lives Matter gets unquestioning deference.

Dale McIntyre, Bartlesville

Editor's note: One of the three Black Lives Matter organization founders gave an interview in 2015 saying she and another founder were "trained Marxists." The organization formed in response to the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman, though the phrase often refers to a larger movement.

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Letter to the Editor: Black Lives Matter comes with radical, political baggage - Tulsa World

Love Philly? Sign up for the free Billy Penn email newsletter to get everything you need to know about Philadelphia, every day.

Police are investigating after Bucks County business owners received extortion letters that claim to be from Black Lives Matter Philly.

The local BLM chapter immediately clarified they had nothing to do with the notes. Received by at least two Newtown, Pa., businesses, the letters threaten violence or arson if proprietors dont make donations to the activist organization.

Black Lives Matter is calling you out, the letters read, according to screenshots provided to Billy Penn. We want you to donate money to us, anything over 500.00 is good. Threats follow, saying that that if funds are not donated [sic], We will burn your bussiness to the ground and put you out of bussiness for good.

Shops and restaurants in the suburban town have been receiving them since Aug. 8, and as recently as Aug. 13, according to the Newtown Township Police Department.

Its so obvious its not us, said Devren Washington, an organizer with Black Lives Matter Philly. But slowly but surely, a lot of people from outside Philadelphia started messaging us, yelling at us.

Washington said hes seen notes like this before during his three years with the group, but its happened more often this summer, after the movement that brought out tens of thousands to protest racism and police brutality following the killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

BLM Philly is one of a few dozen local chapters affiliated with the national organization by the same name, which was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martins killer George Zimmerman. Phillys chapter was started in 2015.

It would happen morewhen theres a campaign happening, or us demanding something, Washington said. Thats part of the backlash that can be expected at that point.

As the letter circulated in suburban Facebook groups, BLM Philly tried to clear things up.

The letters are attempting to extort donations from these businesses under the threat of arson or other kinds of violence, reads a Monday post on its FB profile. Obviously we didnt write or send these letters.

The group has so far gotten a dozen or so messages about the fake letters, Washington said. Some informed the organization the notes were circulating and asked if they were real. Other recipients, assuming they were real, lashed out.

Let me tell you something you pieces of shit, one of the messages read. You all are racist i dare DARE you to come to my town and start some shit.

The owner of La Stalla Restaurant confirmed to Billy Penn that he received one of the letters, but declined to comment further.

Newtown Township Police also declined to comment, but the department website confirms an ongoing investigation:

Newtown Police responded to a report of two suspicious letters delivered by the U.S. postal service to two separate local businesses in Newtown Township. Both incidents were seeking the donation of funds to a cause listed on the letter and threatened harm to the establishment for failure to comply. Both incidents are being investigated by the Newtown Township Police and the Postal authorities in cooperation with the District Attorneys office.

So who sent the notes? Washingtons not sure although he thinks its a local chapter of some white nationalist group.

This letter is the first time Washington can remember a threat purporting to be from BLM has been sent via U.S. mail.

In June, a note emblazoned with the Black Lives Matter logo circulated in Upper Darby calling white men, women and children the enemy, saying the sender will not stop until ALL white people are sent to re-education camps.

Other individual instances of fraudulent fliers have previously been distributed in South Philly, stuck in rice and left on peoples doorsteps, Washington said.

For me, its to be expected, he said. On the list of things that scare me the most, its pretty low on the spectrum.

He is worried about the backlash, however. Its the justification for a lot of hate, which turns into violence, Washington said. I could easily see that for Black people in Newtown, things could get bad for them. Thats what I worry about.

If any city businesses receive such a letter, the Philadelphia Police Department said they should file a police report. But on behalf of BLM Philly, Washington doesnt necessarily recommend that.

What those investigations turn out to be are opportunities for [police] to investigate [Black Lives Matter] itself, he said. Its not something we would advocate for communities to do.

Originally posted here:
Fake extortion notes claiming to be from Black Lives Matter Philly circulate in Bucks County - Billy Penn