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Zimmerman was sitting in his vehicle observing TM.
He was on the phone with the civilian police dispatcher.
Dispatcher: OK, he's just walking around the area...
Zimmerman: ...looking at all the houses.
Dispatcher: OK...
Zimmerman: Now he's just staring at me.
Dispatcher: OK--you said it's 1111 Retreat View? Or 111?
Zimmerman: That's the clubhouse...
Dispatcher: That's the clubhouse, do you know what the--he's near the clubhouse right now?
Zimmerman: Yeah, now he's coming towards me.

Zimmerman: Somethings wrong with him. Yup, he's coming to check me out, he's got something in his hands, I don't know what his deal is.
Dispatcher: Just let me know if he does anything ok
...
GZ:Shit he's running.
Dispatcher: He's running? Which way is he running?
Zimmerman: Down towards the other entrance to the neighborhood.
Dispatcher: Which entrance is that that he's heading towards?
Zimmerman: The back entrance...fucking [unintelligible]
Dispatcher: Are you following him?
Zimmerman: Yeah
Dispatcher: Ok, we don't need you to do that.
Zimmerman: Ok

The dispatcher had asked GZ to let him know if TM did anything
....TM started to run....
Followed by asking GZ which way TM went.
GZ in an effort to comply had got out of his car
and attempted keep TM in sight so he could let the dispatch know.
In the audio you can hear the sound of air over the mic of the phone as GZ was moving quickly.
The dispatch likely heard it as well when he asked GZ if he was following TM.
GZ said 'yeah' and the Dispatch said, 'Ok, we don't need you to do that'.
GZ said 'ok' and you can hear him slow down and stop indicated by the lessening and cessation the wind sound over the phone mic.

GZ at this point was at the 'T' looking down the walkway between the rows of townhouses... Just above the 'F' in the photo.
The Dispatcher asks: What address are you parked in front of?
Zimmerman: I don't know, it's a cut through so I don't know the address.
Dispatcher: Okay do you live in the area?
Zimmerman: Yeah, I...[unintelligible]
Dispatcher: What's your apartment number?
Zimmerman: It's a home it's 1950, oh crap I don't want to give it all out, I don't know where this kid is.

Saying GZ 'followed TM around the complex' is over-stating the case.
GZ had lost sight of TM and didn't know where TM was or where he had gone.
GZ remained on the phone with the dispatcher.
You can see GZ's position marked on the photo as the phone call ended.
He was on his was back to his truck when Martin reappears on the cut-through between the town-houses, confronts and assaults GZ.

Transcript of GZ/Dispatch call... https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/326700-full-transcript-zimmerman.html

Audio of GZ on phone with dispatcher... https://youtu.be/zj7qEcD8R-8

Portion where he gets out of vehicle... https://youtu.be/zj7qEcD8R-8?t=130

Saying Zimmerman’s actions initiated their encounter is exactly stating the facts. That’s all I’m saying. There was nothing wrong in that, nothing in doing that that justified Martin’s subsequent actions...In the same way, the McMichaels did nothing illegal or improper in following Arbery. All that will be relevant are the facts of what happened immediately preceding the shooting, which are not at all clear at this point, same as in the Zimmerman case.

Excellent material. Saying that Zimmerman followed Martin stems from taking his reconstructed telephone conversation with his supposed girlfriend as truthful. The manipulations of lawyer Crump and his associates and of the corrupt prosecution though make her an unreliable source for anything, even as to her identity as a witness at trial. In essence, Zimmerman was portrayed as following Martin in order to provide Martin with a justification for his ambush of and potentially lethal attack on Zimmerman.