Once again that is speculative that Martin was the one who attacked Zimmerman but even with that you seem to be leaning very heavily on Zimmerman's right to be out in public while discounting Martin's right to. Both have a right to be in public both have a right to defend themselves. It is not clear who started the altercation. The indisputable fact is that Zimmerman chose to follow Martin on foot. Without that there is no chance of a fight happening.
Actually by law, you don't have the right to defend yourself by any means necessary. There's an idea of reasonable force. Shooting someone who punches you is not reasonable force. There's no indication that the level of assault (even if Trayvon initiated it) put Zimmerman in mortal danger. Trayvon was unarmed, has a significantly lesser physical stature and has no history of black belt martial arts training. Simply put he was likely not capable of more than simple brawling. You don't bring out a gun in a fist fight.
One more thought regarding those who are emphasizing Zimmerman's side of the story. Yes Zimmerman has a right to be out in public, follow and even verbally confront Martin, that said though consider you are in Martin's shoes. If you were just out walking to and from the store how would you feel if you noticed someone was following you in a car and then on foot? Someone who you don't know and who isn't a cop. Would you not feel threatened and aggravated?
She didn't but that doesn't change the fact that is her belief and the job of the police was to record her testimony as she relayed it.
I never said he didn't have the right I said that precipitated the incident. And yes I can pin that as the defining incident. It is highly unlikely they encounter each other if ZImmerman stays in his car and lets the police handle things.
Using that logic, it's highly unlikely that they encounter each other if Martin had not gone to the store. You're making something out of nothing.
Arrest the man already. Let the jury determine his fate. Unfortunately Martin will only have evidence to plead his case but that's all you can really do at this point.
Wrong. Martin had a right be out in public, but he did not have a right to attack Zimmerman unless Zimmerman attacked him first. If Zimmerman did attack Martin first then I hope he is found guilty of murder. However, do you agree that if Treyvon attacked Zimmerman first then Zimmerman had both a legal and moral right to defend himself by any means neccesary?
Do you have to wait until you receive debilitating injuries before you may defend yourself? No, that would be stupid. In this case, assuming it is true that Zimmerman was on his back and the other fellow was on his chest pounding his head into the concrete, had Zimmerman waited until the occipital lobe of his skull cracked from the beating, it is likely that he would have received some very long term and debilitating injuries. It is also likely that he would have been in a condition that he could no longer defend himself. Obviously the self defense has to occur before the self is rendered incapable of defending.
If Martin attacked him Zimmermann had the right of self defense. But he didn't have the right of lethal self defense unless his life was in danger. I would also disagree that he had a moral right to use lethal force.
You might feel threatened and aggravated but it does not give you the right to attack him and try to kill him by slamming his head on the concrete sidewalk. You never know, that person just might be apart of a neighborhood watch.
When a 6'3" man is slamming your head against a concrete sidewalk unprovoked you should have the right to use what ever means neccesary to make him stop. Zimmerman was clearly not a physical match for Martin.
If Zimmerman didn't have a gun, he probably wouldn't have chased after him. And what about Martin's right to self defense? All he knows is that some stranger is slowly stalking him in a truck and when he tries to runaway, the guy gets out and chases after him. Why doesn't Martin have the right to defend himself from a weirdo who is chasing after him? I'm curious btw, what do clutchfans consider suspicious behaviour in your neighborhoods? If I see a person I don't know walking down the sidewalk at night, I don't assume they're up to no good. Frankly, how is a person on foot supposed to rob a house and get away? Also, how am I supposed to know every single person who lives on my block, let alone my neighborhood? What has always made me nervous at night is slow driving cars. Usually, I assume it's somebody trying to find a friends house and not being sure which is the right one, but there have been times where it felt like I was being followed and when I pulled into my driveway, the car that was behind me stops and waits for more than a minute at the stop sign in front of my house. I'll wait them out and then they go, or sometimes I'll get tired of waiting and get out and when they see that I'm a 6 foot man, they go. My neighbor wasn't so lucky. She didn't realize she was being followed a few Christmases back and when she got out of her car to unload the presents she bought, she got mugged by a guy who jumped out of the car following her. Also, my mother, a year or two ago, was walking to the store one day when she didn't notice a slow moving car pulling up behind her. A guy leaned out of the passenger window and grabbed her purse. My mom didn't let go so the driver hit the gas and they dragged her a few feet before the guy let go of the purse. In my experience, slow moving cars are way more suspicious than somebody walking.
If Martin was actually repeatedly slamming his head into the concrete, Zimmerman would already be dead if not far more seriously injured then just bleeding from the back of his head. And again, how is chasing somebody not provocation? BTW, neighborhood watch cars are supposed to be marked.
Next we're gonna hear that Martin was Ivan Drago to Zimmerman's Apollo, only this time he was lucky enough to have a gun.
Treyvon has the same right to defend himself Zimmerman but nothing points to the possibility that Zimmerman attacked him. In 1998 I woke up at about 3am with a young man in my house. I chased him out and after I called the police I found out that I was his 3rd victim that night. He was on foot. About 6 years ago a young man exposed him self to my daughter in my neighborhood as she was walking home from school. So yes I am observant of new people in my neighborhood and I have called the police to have someone checked. One of the purposes of a neighborhood watch is to look for suspicious behavior. Who knows what prompted Zimmerman to think Treyvon was suspicious but he had every right to follow Treyvon so the police could question him. Bad things happen in our neighborhoods every day which is why there is neighborhood watch programs. If all Zimmerman was doing was following Treyvon, then Treyvon had absolutely zero right to attack Zimmerman.
Chasing or following. There is a difference. If I'm following you, you have absolutely zero right to attack me. You do however have a right to get off the phone with your girlfriend and call the police to have me checked out. And Zimmerman had lacerations on the back of his head. He was receiving head trama. That is not debatable.
An altercation will always be the result of such behavior. It's only human nature. Nobody likes to be followed especially when there isn't a reason for it besides being a certain race and wearing a hoodie. I really need to toss my Rockets/Texans hoodies.
Call the cops if you think someone is exhibiting suspicious behavior. You absolutely do not have any legal right what so ever to attack someone just because you think they are following you.
