I don’t have the exact words in front of me, but from memory I recall the dispatcher saying ‘you don’t need to do that’ when Zimmerman affirmed he was following Martin. There was no order. The idea that he was ordered to stay in his car by the dispatcher is as far as I know a media trope. After the dispatcher told him he did not have to follow Martin, Zimmerman replied ‘ok’.. that can be clearly heard by my memory. Or should I revisit the transcript because this drumbeat about being ‘ordered by a dispatcher’ to remain in his vehicle is repeated over and over again in the press and I just didn’t see that in the transcript.
Also there is no evidence that I am aware of that shows that Zimmerman followed Martin after the dispatcher request. It is all supposition, because there are no witnesses of who approached who.
I don’t think the dispatcher ever told him to remain in his vehicle. When he was told he didn’t need to follow him, Zimmerman was already out of the vehicle. At that point he said “OK” and was headed back to his vehicle.
” um, we don’t need you to do that” I think were the exact words.
From the 911 transcript and maps f the neighbrhood, it appears that Zimmerman wasn’t in his truck when the dispatcher said they didn’t need him to follow the suspect. He was at the other end of the street from the truck.