I was just wondering whether you would recognize the part that Martin's judgement might have played. Had Martin assumed that Zimmerman was justified in his inquiry and had Martin assumed that Zimmerman might be armed, then Martin would perhaps be alive. Zimmerman would not have had to do anything differently.
We've all heard of "suicide by cop". Perhaps we need to recognize "suicide by armed citizen".
“I was just wondering whether you would recognize the part that Martin’s judgement might have played”
Like I said elsewhere, Martin was a thug. He wanted to put a beatdown on Zimmerman for the perceived affront of “dissing” him. Zimmerman had every right to shoot him, especially if Martin was really verbally threatening to kill him. Zimmerman’s gun probably saved his life. I also think it’s a travesty that he’s been charged unless there’s some pretty damning evidence not known to the public yet. Still the troublesome protected minority has to be appeased lest they riot and create more havoc.
Zimmerman should have stayed in his truck or left the gun in there. Granted he might be dead now if he had left without it. From the girlfriend’s original account, since changed I think, when Martin confronted Zimmerman and asked him,”Why are you following me?”, Zimmerman came back with an equally confrontational, “What are you doing here?”. Martin’s question was reasonable, Zimmerman’s response was not. If he had identified himself as a member of the neighborhood watch and said he didn’t recognize Martin and wondered what he was doing in the complex it might have gone differently. It also might not have since it’s pretty clear Martin was a thug and his gangbanger machismo demanded retribution against Zimmerman for “dissing” him. At any rate Martin stopped being reasonable and became a perpetrator when he slugged Zimmerman.