>If Zimmerman had not chosen to leave his truck and follow Martin on foot the confrontation leading to the fight and shooting would never have occurred.
This may well be true. However someone following you is not grounds to beat them up.
>Zimmerman overstepped the bounds of his authority when he chose to disregard the advice of the police dispatcher and move to confront Martin
What authority are you talking about? As a private citizen, he had the right to go any public place he wanted, and that includes following someone if he likes. Also, the suggestions of a police dispatcher are nothing more than suggestions, not in any way legally binding.
According to what I’ve read, Zimmerman was on his way back to the truck when he was assaulted. Seems to me like he gave up on the pursuit.
>And choosing to close in on Martin made Zimmerman the aggressor in this situation. The fighting and use of a gun would never have occurred had Zimmerman decided to obey the law and just do his job as the neighborhood watch. The key word is WATCH. Not confront.
Bollocks. Under no circumstances is someone following you equivalent to initiating violence. You can spin whatever you nonsense you like, but the person who started the violence here is to blame. Period. There is at least one witness that backs up Zimmerman’s story, and they say that the kid started the violence.
And let me once again state the obvious- following someone is not violence.