I am assuming that it was Zimmerman because Zimmerman told the operator he wasn’t going to let him get away, then he exited his vehicle. He didn’t exit the vehicle to continue to observe. He didn’t need to exit the vehicle, if continued observation was the objective.
But he did need to exit the vehicle to establish contact with the target.
There is zero information showing that Martin initiated contact, zero. You do know what zero means, don’t you?
The KISS principle, where Zimmerman exited the vehicle, after telling the operator that he was going to stop Martin from getting away and zero testimony, or evidence, that Martin attacked first, would indicate Zimmerman (even if only tapping on the shoulder) or yelling at Martin to stop, initiated aggressive contact.
That is what I figured. I will not assume that until some evidence is put forth the show he did attack. I do like that the government has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.
You are parsing words. Initiating contact is not illegal, as long as it is not physical contact.
The question has always been: who first attacked the other physically. Zimmerman says it was Martin. The police say the physical evidence is consistent with Zimmerman's story.
Martin's family and supporters basically say that Martin could not have attacked Zimmerman because Martin was black and 17, or they claim that someone following you and asking why you are in a place is grounds to attack them.
If Zimmerman was the first to physically attack Martin, then Zimmerman would have a difficult time with a self defense claim. We simply have no evidence that he did that. We only have conjecture.