George Zimmerman friend: "In many ways George has lost his life too"

George Zimmerman’s longtime friend Joe Oliver and his attorney Craig Sonner have hit the airwaves in an attempt to defend the shooter of young Trayvon Martin.

Both Oliver and Sonner appear today on ABC’s Good Morning America to talk about their conversations with Zimmerman. Oliver said Zimmerman thought “he was doing the right thing” and “has virtually lost his life now.” He added that Zimmerman was “very, very sorry because in many ways, George has lost his life too.”

To that statement I would say that while George Zimmerman may feel he has "virtually" lost his life, Trayvon Martin ACTUALLY lost his life.

Yesterday, Oliver was asked about the moment on the 911 tapes when some believe that, just prior to killing Trayvon Martin, Zimmerman used a racial slur. Oliver suggested that Zimmerman did not use a racial slur but said “goons." Oliver says the word "goon" is a term of endearment in high schools today. I submit that George Zimmerman is NOT a high school student. He is a 28 year old man.



Here are a few more things you should know about George Martin and this shooting.

President Obama's statement on Trayvon Martin killing

President Obama spoke today about the killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, FL:

"When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids," Obama said in the Rose Garden. "I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this. And that everybody pull together."

"My main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," Obama said. "All of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves."

"Obviously, this is a tragedy. I can only imagine what these parents are going through," Obama said. "All of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how something like this has happened."

Trayvon Martin, a middle-class black teen with no history of trouble, was shot and killed in Sanford, Fla., a community just north of Orlando. His alleged assailant, George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain and criminal justice student, apparently killed him on Feb. 26 as the 17-year-old walked home from a convenience store near his suburban neighborhood to his father's house a few blocks away.

Before the shooting, Zimmerman, who has a weapons permit, told a police dispatcher there was "a real suspicious guy" who looked "like he was up to no good or on drugs or something" and looked to have "something in his waistband." Although he was directly told not to follow Martin, Zimmerman chased Martin on foot and eventually shot him. Martin was unarmed, carrying only a bag of Skittles and an iced tea he had just purchased.

Geraldo Rivera: "I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was"

Seriously? From the video:

BRIAN KILMEADE KILMEADE (co-host): Let’s talk about the Trayvon Martin case and what’s going on in Florida right now.

GERALDO RIVERA: I believe that George Zimmerman, the overzealous neighborhood watch captain should be investigated to the fullest extent of the law and if he is criminally liable, he should be prosecuted. But I am urging the parents of black and Latino youngsters particularly to not let their children go out wearing hoodies. I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was.

JULIET HUDDY (guest-host): What do you mean?

RIVERA: When you, when you see a kid walking — Juliet — when you see a kid walking down the street, particularly a dark skinned kid like my son Cruz, who I constantly yelled at when he was going out wearing a damn hoodie or those pants around his ankles. Take that hood off, people look at you and they — what do they think? What’s the instant identification, what’s the instant association?

At the 2:47 mark Geraldo says "unless it's raining, or you're at a track meet - leave the hoodie home." Has anyone told Geraldo IT WAS RAINING when Trayvon was shot???

Shut up, Geraldo. Shut up.