The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Miami-Dade Schools Could Have Saved Travyon Martin’s Life by Arresting Him

Posted on | July 15, 2013 | 139 Comments

Leniency is not always mercy when dealing with juvenile delinquents, and I say this on the basis of my own experience of having been a teenage dopehead in the ’70s. My hoodlum buddies got away with a lot of stuff, but we also caught a time or two, and Sheriff Earl Lee was not the kind of man a dopehead hoodlum could take lightly.

Anyway, I hadn’t followed every detail of the Trayvon Martin story, which meant I missed one of the biggest untold aspects of the story: How a see-no-evil policy by Miami-Dade Schools resulted in Trayvon getting off lightly — suspended from school for criminal acts that should have gotten him arrested.

The Last Refuge has been trying to call attention to this story for months, but of course, the mainstream media wouldn’t touch it because it looked like a story about demonizing the dead kid. (Mark Steyn had some harsh comments about the beatification of St. Trayvon, if you’re interested.) But I never noticed this angle until Pamela Geller blogged it Sunday and, the more I read about it, the more I realized that this isn’t so much about Trayvon being a hoodlum. No, this is a story about bureaucrats trying to game the system, and pretend that there was less crime in the Miami-Dade schools than there actually was. The villain in this story isn’t a racist, just a disgraced cop:

The February 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martion might never have happened if school officials in Miami-Dade County had not instituted an unofficial policy of treating crimes as school disciplinary infractions. Revelations that emerged from an internal affairs investigation explain why Martin was not arrested when caught at school with stolen jewerly in October 2011 or with marijuana in February 2012. Instead, the teenager was suspended from school, the last time just days before he was shot dead by George Zimmerman.
Trayvon Martin was not from Sanford, the town north of Orlando where he was shot in 2012 and where a jury acquitted Zimmerman of murder charges Saturday. Martin was from Miami Gardens, more than 200 miles away, and had come to Sanford to stay with his father’s girlfriend Brandy Green at her home in the townhouse community where Zimmerman was in charge of the neighborhood watch. Trayvon was staying with Green after he had been suspended for the second time in six months from Krop High School in Miami-Dade County, where both his father, Tracy Martin, and mother, Sybrina Fulton, lived.
Both of Trayvon’s suspensions during his junior year at Krop High involved crimes that could have led to his prosecution as a juvenile offender. However, Chief Charles Hurley of the Miami-Dade School Police Department (MDSPD) in 2010 had implemented a policy that reduced the number of criiminal reports, manipulating statistics to create the appearance of a reduction in crime within the school system. Less than two weeks before Martin’s death, the school system commended Chief Hurley for “decreasing school-related juvenile delinquency by an impressive 60 percent for the last six months of 2011.” What was actually happening was that crimes were not being reported as crimes, but instead treated as disciplinary infractions. . . .

Read the whole thing at The American Spectator. Leniency is not always mercy, and going to jail is better than getting shot.

UPDATE: The Last Refuge today published a recap of their excellent work in chronicling the Miami-Dade School Police cover-up.

What is interesting is that the Miami Herald, which first broke the story in March 2012, has failed to follow up on Frances Robles’ original report, and we naturally suspect political correctness as the explanation. Maybe you could talk to Frances Robles on Twitter.

She’s now with the New York Times.

 


Category: Crime

Comments

139 Responses to “Miami-Dade Schools Could Have Saved Travyon Martin’s Life by Arresting Him”

  1. andycanuck
    July 15th, 2013 @ 6:59 pm

    And NRO’s brilliant pop-under ad system too.

  2. andycanuck
    July 15th, 2013 @ 7:02 pm

    I think this is the blog article you’re referencing, K-Bob; if not, then here’s another for you to bookmark:

    http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/05/24/update-26-part-2-trayvon-martin-shooting-a-year-of-drug-use-culminates-in-predictable-violence/

  3. Finrod Felagund
    July 15th, 2013 @ 7:07 pm

    Yeah, I bloody hate those ads. With my virtual desktop it also ends up changing desktops on me which is seriously annoying.

  4. Rosa Benet
    July 15th, 2013 @ 7:22 pm

    Miami-Dade School Police Department Police Chief Charles Hurley ……..With that investigation, Hurley opened a can of worms that led to his removal from office.

    http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2013/07/15/failing-trayvon-the-miami-dade-school-police-department-scandal-begins-to-gain-traction/

  5. Bob Belvedere
    July 15th, 2013 @ 7:27 pm

    Don’t forget the tar and feathers [I’m trying to corner the market on the latter].

  6. Bob Belvedere
    July 15th, 2013 @ 7:29 pm

    We’ve had them up here in New England for quite a while now, RS.

  7. waltzingmtilda
    July 15th, 2013 @ 8:07 pm

    Just wanted to stop by and say thanks for featuring CTH’s work on this…very much appreciated!

  8. Richard McEnroe
    July 15th, 2013 @ 8:11 pm

    You be raciss’

  9. On The Spread Of The Thug Culture And Depraved Indifference | The Camp Of The Saints
    July 15th, 2013 @ 8:21 pm

    […] the young man up to the reality that if you live like a criminal chances are you will die like one [see Stacy's second post here].  Or it might have woken-up his happily slumbering parents from their self-induced comas of […]

  10. Bodapaty
    July 15th, 2013 @ 8:29 pm

    Miami-Dade Schools Could Have Saved Travyon Martin’s Life by Arresting Him http://t.co/bVLiU51a4A

  11. jakee308
    July 15th, 2013 @ 9:14 pm

    Testing. I posted a comment earlier today and had to log in for it to post but somehow, it never showed up.

    Or was it deleted?

    I dunno.

  12. joethefatman
    July 15th, 2013 @ 9:15 pm

    Tar is RAAAAACIST! lol

  13. sokeijarhead
    July 15th, 2013 @ 9:34 pm

    Miami-Dade Schools Could Have Saved Travyon Martin’s Life by Arresting Him : The Other McCain http://t.co/TMoWIlgHp4

  14. ShantihJay
    July 15th, 2013 @ 9:38 pm

    If our legal system offloads thugs into the lives of innocent citizens, is it any surprise blood is shed? http://t.co/5o7Y9C3fFH

  15. Proof
    July 15th, 2013 @ 10:53 pm

    No problem! Rush has crashed his share of websites by simply mentioning them on the air.

  16. Cube
    July 16th, 2013 @ 12:25 am

    Are you mocking black English? YOU CAN’T SAY THAT11!!11!!11

    But I see Holder wants to have a conversation about race again.

  17. DesignsonTruth
    July 16th, 2013 @ 12:39 am

    Miami-Dade Schools Could Have Saved Travyon Martin’s Life by Arresting Him http://t.co/igWkQMBu78

  18. K-Bob
    July 16th, 2013 @ 1:31 am

    That was one of Doug’s links. There’s more at Doug’s site.

    I got bit by Disqus throwing away my link. That’s happened to me a few times over the past two years. Even so, Disqus has been better behaved of late.

  19. K-Bob
    July 16th, 2013 @ 1:33 am

    I have a cheap wooden desktop, full of clutter, hard-to-find pens, and old receipts. I wouldn’t notice if it changed.

  20. K-Bob
    July 16th, 2013 @ 1:36 am

    That explains all the bald chickens, ducks, geese, and ptarmigan in your area then.

    (I threw in that last one just so I could spell ptarmigan.)

  21. K-Bob
    July 16th, 2013 @ 1:40 am

    Maybe it means you have a lottery to bring in one of each skin color group, and punish them collectively for the sins of the one.

    (Wow! I was just wisecracking, but that sounds exactly like something Van Jones would come up with.)

  22. KonaSky
    July 16th, 2013 @ 2:23 am

    Could’ve the Miami-Dade School System Save #Trayvon’s Life by Arresting Him?
    http://t.co/y9vceloL5J
    #GeorgeZimmerman http://t.co/8XP3pepbxz

  23. Da Tech Guy On DaRadio Blog » Blog Archive » Trayvon Martin death by Political Correctness?
    July 16th, 2013 @ 5:31 am

    […] run by some­one like Sher­iff Earl Lee the scourge of Stacy McCain’s crowd dur­ing his self con­fessed dope­head days? Imag­ine if the police were less wor­ried about appear­ances then in teach­ing the young that […]

  24. Eugene Robinson: Hey, We Need To Talk About Why People Are Scared Of Young Black Men » Pirate's Cove
    July 16th, 2013 @ 9:16 am

    […] Bob at The Camp Of The Saints notes a few posts by R.S. McCain on the thug culture, and […]

  25. TxAv8r
    July 16th, 2013 @ 5:58 pm

    @StephenKopan @tracieeeeee @rsmccain May have been discussing Stacy’s article in AmSpec. http://t.co/fGZKTschAL

  26. RMNixonDeceased
    July 17th, 2013 @ 2:32 am

    “Thank God for bloggers or investigative reporting would be completely dead.” — Christy Waters http://t.co/GgZW2nC5DD

  27. RMNixonDeceased
    July 17th, 2013 @ 2:35 am

    “Remember that the feds have been making noises about racial quotas for school discipline.” — robcrawford2 http://t.co/WOvuOCQtdL

  28. RMNixonDeceased
    July 17th, 2013 @ 2:35 am

    “So…let me get this straight. We have “zero tolerance” policies wherein an Eagle Scout and…” — Modern Comments http://t.co/0megOm1o8r

  29. rmnixondeceased
    July 17th, 2013 @ 2:39 am

    I’ve got both …

  30. RMNixonDeceased
    July 17th, 2013 @ 2:39 am

    “Eventually the only proper investigations will be done by citizens with torches and pitchforks…” — Finrod Felagund http://t.co/Bsrqa6SIQR

  31. rmnixondeceased
    July 17th, 2013 @ 2:42 am

    I would gladly volunteer to stand guard for them. It’s not that long a drive from St. Pete.

  32. RMNixonDeceased
    July 17th, 2013 @ 2:42 am

    “I would gladly volunteer to stand guard for them. It’s not that long a drive from St. Pete.” — rmnixondeceased http://t.co/cAdmToPtVA

  33. RMNixonDeceased
    July 17th, 2013 @ 2:42 am

    “There is an old adage: Give a person enough rope to…

    Post Zimmerman Trial commentary! ” — Evi L. Bloggerlady http://t.co/uOmUwrBYBP

  34. rmnixondeceased
    July 17th, 2013 @ 2:45 am

    Of course, all the St. Trayvon worshipers will demand we discorporate immediately …

  35. RMNixonDeceased
    July 17th, 2013 @ 2:45 am

    “Of course, all the St. Trayvon worshipers will demand we discorporate immediately …” — rmnixondeceased http://t.co/w3j6Z9kG1e

  36. Boobs, Speculation, and the Continuing Trial of George Zimmerman | The Necropolitan Sentinel
    July 18th, 2013 @ 4:29 pm

    […] refer criminal offenses in schools to the department, in order to make it appear his policies were reducing school crime. The demoted lead investigator had actually recommended bringing a manslaughter charge against […]

  37. FMJRA 2.0: As Falls Wichita… : The Other McCain
    July 20th, 2013 @ 4:40 pm

    […] Miami-Dade Schools Could Have Saved Trayvon Martin’s Life by Arresting Him […]

  38. Zimmerman Not Guilty - Page 9
    July 20th, 2013 @ 8:14 pm

    […] this link: Miami-Dade Schools Could Have Saved Travyon Martin?s Life by Arresting Him : The Other McCain I know nothing about this writer but it only took one search to find […]

  39. … Taking Down the Dei – ification of “Saint Trayvon” … « Lake Erie Conservative
    July 21st, 2013 @ 5:11 pm

    […] [h/t–theOtherMcCain , the ConservativeTreeHouse] (thanks , Rob , for the repost) […]