It's not ignorance.

Zimmerman followed a "suspicious" kid. Zimmerman was adviced to not pursue further. Zimmerman left his vehicle to pursue/find Martin. Zimmerman had a weapon, Martin did not. Martin fought Zimmerman. Zimmerman killed Martin.

Those are facts. And the facts say that Zimmerman should be convicted of Manslaughter.

mdana is one person, not two. Use lawyer instead of lawyers. Also, not sure why you used a question mark.

But you are iron man so all is forgiven.

He was not required not to follow. Having the gun doesn't matter unless it was pulled out. And like you said, Martin fought Zimmerman. So seems like Self-Defense to me, as that was the first illegal thing I am hearing from you.

One of the realities of this entire situation is that a young black man in a hoodie still elicited an inordinate amount of fear in Zimmerman before any interaction had taken place. He stereotyped the situation into something it wasn't, and everything escalated from there.

I don't believe the above to be racist, rather stereotypical, the distinction is important. I also believe that depending on the area, the vast majority of white america harbors similar stereotypes. There is still this fearful reaction to a black male in certain circumstances, much of which has to do with the violent culture black America has cloaked itself in during our lifetimes.

I think the next great step in combating racism has to come directly from black America. The violence has to stop, and there is a huge leadership void which needs filled. It's not worth getting into the socioeconomic impacts on all of this, they deserve their own topic entirely.

I didn't say he was required not to follow. He did. Which leads you to believe he was following and pursuing for a reason. Getting "beat up" does not give you the right to MURDER SOMEONE.

Are you people all fucking insane?

It's not ignorance.

Zimmerman followed a "suspicious" kid. Zimmerman was adviced to not pursue further. Zimmerman left his vehicle to pursue/find Martin. Zimmerman had a weapon, Martin did not. Martin fought Zimmerman. Zimmerman killed Martin.

Those are facts. And the facts say that Zimmerman should be convicted of Manslaughter.

The one thing to ask is would Zimmermann had feared for his life if he was getting beat up by a white kid instead of a black kid? To be honest, I don't know. He clearly thought Martin was some thug. One would have fear of a thug beating them to death. But if it was just some white dude....even if he was beating him down, Zimmermann perhaps would have just feared to get beat up rather than to die.

of course, this means nothing in terms fo the legal case cause you couldn't prove or disprove any of that.

At the end of the day though, I still think the gun is the biggest issue. To me, Zimermann felt he had the right to use the deadly force of the gun. And to me, I don't think he did. Was Martin that strong (or Zimermann that weak) that the ONLY possible thing for Zimermann to do in that situation was shoot him? I don't think so. Using the gun should have been the last possible option. To me, Zimermman overreacted and used the gun.

In the court of law, it is hard to prove any of this because there's really little evidence. All we have is the testimony of the killer. If most murder cases had evidence like this case, there would be A LOT more people out there getting away free after killing someone.

So I get the legal decision. But it still doesn't make Zimermman right or inncoent in any way to me.

Based on Zimmerman's story, which there is no evidence to disbelieve:

- Zimmerman stopped following Martin when told to by the operator
- Martin initiates the confrontation
- Martin initiates the violence
- Zimmerman was on the bottom, getting his head smashed in, screaming for help which never came
- Zimmerman, scared and under attack, believed that Martin saw and was reaching for his gun
- Zimmerman fearing for his life shoots Martin
- Zimmerman tries to resuscitate Martin

Based on Florida law, if the above is true, then no, he should not be convicted of Manslaughter.

Does anyone find it comedic (in a dark way) that the gun made Zimmerman fear for his life because he felt Martin was gonna use it on him and therefore then used it on Martin?

If Zimmerman never had the gun on him, there's a strong chance he's LESS in danger and wouldn't have feared for his life. The gun created danger.

So then he did continue pursuing.

Question:

If Martin had shot Zimmerman, and claimed that while fighting Zimmerman reached for his gun so Martin HAD to take it and shoot him, would Martin have been found guilty?

100% yes. Without a doubt.

Question:

If Martin had shot Zimmerman, and claimed that while fighting Zimmerman reached for his gun so Martin HAD to take it and shoot him, would Martin have been found guilty?

100% yes. Without a doubt.

cause if it was the other way around, the black dude would have been in jail before the media even heard about it.

I am not sure if mdana and eagle are lawyers, as both brought up great points, which is why I added the question mark.