[1FreeAmerican]

I don’t think Zimmerman was trying for a citizen arrest - he was on the phone with the police and was trying to see where Martin went and was attacked from behind IIRC. His gun did not come out until he was being beaten up.

These dudes went out with guns drawn. I’m feeling this is the difference. I do not know if they were in communication with LEO but they could have just continued following him.

We are not getting very much info here - like conversations or audio - so hard to determine the shooters mindset. We know the victim was a crimminal with a rap sheet and he was clearly casing that house, got noticed , and started the “jogging” thing.

Hoping for more info from LEO - and of course Freepers with the little tidbits that come through their postings.

[Red in Blue PA]

Guns were not “drawn”.

If they were why wasn’t the perp shot at 20 feet away when he was running to attack them? Nor 10? Or 5 feet?

Nope. He was only shot after he attacked and was grappling for control of the gun. At that point, he was no longer “unarmed”.

[a fool in paradise]

>>These dudes went out with guns drawn.

You can’t holster a shotgun.

BTW Eric Holder did not see 2 militant Black Panthers armed with rifles to be considered threatening or intimidating to voters on election day at a civic polling center.

[Impala64ssa]

I don’t think Zimmerman was trying for a citizen arrest - he was on the phone with the police and was trying to see where Martin went and was attacked from behind IIRC.
Also, I recall Martin's girlfriend, the one who testified she couldn't read script, which I blame our wonderful public schools more than her intellectual capacity, said that Martin told her he thought Zimmerman was out to molest him and his kid brother. IF that was the case, Martin should've ran back to his father's house bar the doors and call 911, then if Zimmerman persued him into the house, Martin certainly would've been justified doing what he had to do to protect his brother and himself.

[A Navy Vet]

"I don’t think Zimmerman was trying for a citizen arrest - he was on the phone with the police and was trying to see where Martin went and was attacked from behind IIRC. His gun did not come out until he was being beaten up."

Correct. He was simply on a neighborhood approved watch and followed protocol by calling the police about Martin scoping out a number of homes. The police told Zimmerman to stop following Martin, and he did so. He was walking back to his car when the Skittles thug jumped him from behind. While getting his head bashed in on the sidewalk (we all saw the wounds), it was a clear case of justifiable self-defense homicide. That's why Zimmerman was acquitted.