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...conversely, if he had identified himself to Martin as a concerned citizen and initiated dialog in an effort to dispel each party's concern,"

How the **** can any of them possibly know that Zimmerman identifying himself would have changed anything at all?

How the **** can any of them possibly know that Zimmerman identifying himself would have changed anything at all?

They can't know, of course, which is readily apparent to any mildly intelligent person actually using their brain. But, if your task/agenda is to portray Zimmerman as a racist and murderer, this kind of rhetorical lie is all you have to work with, but it only works on dumb people.

You can’t go around monday morning quarterbacking what sort of manners would’ve stopped other people from committing crimes against you. That is, assuming Martin attacked Zimmerman. We don’t know if it was the other way around, but according to the burden of proof they have to prove it was Zimmerman, not Martin.

That being said, there’s a reason we have laws to tell us what constitutes instigation of violence. It’s never entirely clear-cut, but it does allow us to avoid the sort of elaborate and unending psychological, physiological, and analysis that the MSM and the internet’s been abusing lately. It boils down to the fact that Zimmerman can assert self-defense so long as Martin started the fight. And no matter how stupidly, unadvisedly, impractically he acted, Zimmerman cannot be blamed for the fight unless what he did was illegal.

He had to initiate physical contact, use directly threatening fighting words along the lines of “I’m gonna kill you!,” make threatening gestures possibly including brandishing his weapon, chase Martin down so as to make Martin reasonably fear for his immediate safety, etc. Simply “following” and “confronting” someone does not count. It’s perfectly legal to follow and/or confront people, assuming they don’t have a restraining order against you. Certainly leaving your truck is not illegal.

I don’t care how much Zimmerman precipitated conflict short of instigating violence against or somehow giving Martin legal recourse to defend himself with violence. The internet is plastered with people saying “Zimmerman started it,” but according to what we know they’re talking out their asses. I might not expect them to know better. Laymen may reasonably assume following someone at night and asking what they’re up to constitutes looking for trouble. They don’t know any better.

But the DA must know that it isn’t illegal merely to follow and confront people, and that doing so by itself cannot remove your right to self-defense. That’s why this is the biggest politically-motivated prosecution since Duke lacrosse.