Whether and to what extent Zimmerman was injured is irrelevant.

[RedSpartan]

At the end of the day, it's very simple...

Zimmerman caused the situation in which Treyvon was killed.

He was told not to follow Treyvon. Yet he did. And, to that end, Treyvon told his girlfriend he was concerned about some weird guy stalking him through the neighborhood. These two elements came to a head one way or another. There was a scuffle. Who was getting the better of it when the gun was fired? Who was yelling for help?

It doesn't matter.

Zimmerman was either the aggressor when the gun went off, or Treyvon was. If it was the former, then in my opinion Zimmerman is no better than a murderer. If it was the latter, then Treyvon was, most ironically, "standing his ground" against an armed stranger who had followed and confronted him without cause - - and wouldn't we all hope that we would try to do the same, to defend ourselves?

Either way, as I see it, Zimmerman has no ground to stand on, pun intended. Arguments over details are just a distraction from the big picture - - Treyvon was killed by Zimmerman due to a situation Zimmerman created. In other words, Zimmerman wasn't standing his ground in a confrontation. He created the confrontation and it was Treyvon who, in fact, was standing his ground and defending himself.

That's my two cents, which I hope makes sense.

[cindyperry2010]

1. I agree

whether he was hurt really has no bearing on the fact that he stalked and shot an unarmed 17 year old boy doing nothing than going home with skittles and tea. why did he alert on this kid to begin with?

[jwirr]

9. And your last question pertains to civil rights hate crimes. Did he alert on this child just because

he was black. First he was the stalker who murdered an innocent boy and second he did it because the child was black? There is the whole story.

[niyad]

2. zimmerman was clearly looking for trouble that night

[Aerows]

3. That sums it up for me, niyad

You are absolutely right. Zimmerman was looking for trouble.

[Kaleva]

4. Rec'd

[Ganja Ninja]

5. I agree.

Zimmerman is suppose to be the adult in this situation. Trayvon was a minor. Zimmerman did not heed the warnings from the police to back off. His actions and not Trayvon's were the sole cause of this incident. He followed and confronted Trayvon and he had no authority of any kind. Zimmerman's judgement was poor to put it generously. His intent was aggressive from the minute he strapped on his gun and went out on "patrol" that night.

[Kaleva]

6. Zimmerman was like a drunk driver

A guy who leaves the bar, drives off and kills someone. While the intent to kill most likely wasn't there, his actions directly lead to the death of an innocent.

[Ganja Ninja]

11. That's not really a good analogy.

I know you're not saying he was but Zimmerman wasn't drunk as far as anyone knows. A drunk while responsible for his actions is not in complete control of his faculties. And unlike a gun, a car isn't meant to kill. Zimmerman strapped on his gun with the intent of using it if necessary. Then he went out and created the circumstances. He may not have intended to kill when he left his house but at some point he formed the intent and pulled the trigger.

[Kaleva]

13. The analogy may not be very good...

but I dare say that the vast majority of drunk drivers who end up killing someone have driven drunk before many times. Despite the knowledge that doing so turns their vehicle into a potential lethal weapon. Zimmerman patrolled the streets of his neighborhood for years with a gun without incident. He was within his rights to do what he had been doing but he should have had the knowledge that having a gun with him and confronting people may lead to disastrous results.

[jwirr]

7. In a nutshell. That really is all that counts. Who was the agressive one?

[BanzaiBonnie]

8. I thought of that too.

Trayvon was the one who felt threatened and he had a right to stand his ground too.

I still don't believe Zimmerman's account.

[Hangingon]

10. While he may have been told,

what is the authority of a 911 operator? Will it stand up in court?

[Ganja Ninja]

12. That's irrelevant.

What's important is Zimmerman's lack of authority. Whether someone told him to back off or not he had no authority of any kind to follow and confront anyone. The fact that he acknowledges the 911 operator and then ignores him/her shows how aggressive he was on that night, armed and aggressive.

[denverbill]

14. I agree and I think too many people are worried about the wrong things.

IMO, Zimmerman wasn't some malignant human hunter who hated black people. He was a stupid cop wannabe with a prejudice against blacks. He saw a black kid and suspected he was up to no good. If that was the end of the story, no big deal. Instead after following the kid in his car, he jumped out and started chasing him on foot.

What happened after that is in question. My GUESS is that Trayvon ran and hid to see if Zimmerman was chasing him. When Zimmerman ran after him and he disappeared, Zimmerman got nervous and started back to his car. Trayvon then stepped out and confronted him as his girlfriend heard. My guess again is that Trayvon probably pushed or punched him at this point and they got into a scuffle. One witness said Zimmerman was on the bottom, and I tend to believe that. Trayvon was pissed cause the guy was following and chasing him, Zimmerman was scared because he didn't expect to get that close and get confronted, so he was probably backing away. Once he was in a fight, it might have even been Zimmerman crying for help because he couldn't reach his gun. Eventually he did get to it and shot him.

I think that scenario fits best with the available evidence and testimony and makes the most sense to me. The people worrying about who attacked who, who was on top, who cried for help, how badly Zimmerman was/wasn't hurt I think are missing the main point and may confuse the issue. No matter how the fight progressed, Zimmerman was the one who provoked it by tailing and then chasing Trayvon.