Many years ago, I pulled into a 7/11 at a beach city in So Cal. Had my wife in front, my little girl in a car seat in the back. Went in, made my purchase, then came out to my car. I opened the door, sat in the seat, when suddenly the back door opened and a young Hispanic male opened the back door and jumped into my car.
Adrenaline hit me. I jumped out of the car and started screaming at the guy. As I ran around to pull him out, he got out and started running. I chased him a half of block, and he headed into a dark alley... I continued to pursue him. He stopped about fifty feet away in the alley, turned around, and grabbed put his hand in his pocket... staring at me. I stopped, stared back... then common sense came back to me. I slowly walked back to the parking lot.
OK... so I was smart enough to make a scene and chase him away from my family... but in retrospect, stupid to continue the pursuit. Thank God I refrained from running down the alley... the hunter would have become the hunted.
What legal right would I have had if I pursued him, and one of us had gotten hurt or killed? Would my action to continue the pursuit have been justified, even after the threat from his action to my family was removed? Would he be able to claim a threat from my actions and his response would justify self defense?
In the Zimmerman case, Zimmerman was a wanna-be cop, overzealous and always suspicious. Over 40 previous 911 calls. Perhaps he was justified in his concern about this individual. His 911 call was made, and he was TOLD to not follow... yet he did. And no doubt the kid knew he was being pursued, but not knowing by whom or for what reason. So, at some point, for whatever reason, the hunted became the hunter.
So who is to blame???? Zimmerman should have ceased a pursuit and waited for backup as was instructed.
Should the kid have jumped Zimmerman? No, and maybe he did, maybe he didn’t.
Reverse the situation... you are walking down the street, dressed in business attire, talking on a cell and carrying a bag, and you are pursued by someone dressed in a hoodie for no reason... they follow you, you fear your safety, you hide, and at a chance to jump out and surprise/defend yourself... would you? Or would you stop and ask him why he is following you?
Wait before we render a verdict on this. When is it justified for the hunted to become the hunter?
“Zimmerman was a wanna-be cop, overzealous and always suspicious. Over 40 previous 911 calls.”
Inflammatory remarks like this don’t help. The community appointed him to lead the Neighborhood Watch. If there is proof he was overzealous please provide it. Always suspicious? Again, do you have proof? He was head of the Neighborhood watch in a neighborhood with multiple crimes during the year. That would certainly put me on high alert if it was the case in my neighborhood. As Neighborhood Watch in a high crime area, give me evidence how many 911 calls weren’t justified. I live in Las Vegas. I lived in a nice gated community right next to condos that were made Section 8. I literally had on average at least 1 police helicopter per week circling over my house and at least 2 stores in the shopping plaza I was next to kept their doors locked till they saw who was there. Now how many 911 calls do you think the police got in a year from that area? I was very happy to have a big German Shepherd and a gun. I also found evidence a least one person jumped the wall into my backyard after the house behind me was turned into Section 8, plus after a fight in the street I had phone in hand to call just before it broke up, and that wasn’t the first time their activity had me thinking I might need to. So I can understand if Zimmerman maybe felt a little paranoid with the increase in crime.
Have you visited the Sanborn Fl official web site and read the Zimmerman related documentation?
“Zimmerman should have ceased a pursuit and waited for backup as was instructed.’ First off he was not “instructed” but advised “you don’t have to do that” (911 tape).
Second: he was in his neighborhood and entitled to walk where he chose just like Trayvon.
Third: We don’t know what happened and series of jury will decide.
Fourth: Your intruder was allowed to opportunity to continue with his depredations because you did not have a gun or were too weak to take him...I would be in the same boat.
Fifth: I beleive you can sell your story to some liberal Hollywood story teller.
Your story is the opposite of the Zimmerman story in that you were chasing but didn’t have a gun. Zimmerman was chasing and between the two had the only gun. The kid was always the hunted - IMHO.
Sounds as though Zimmerman got himself a Rambo complex. But as I’ve said before on this thread - we shall see. We don’t know all the facts yet.