You don't know who initiated the confrontation. Zimmerman has every right to watch and observe someone. I'm NOT aware of Zimmerman breaking any law by observing Martin and/or following him.
As a rowdy young male, I can say that having been in/or witnessed friends getting into over 100 street fights, there maybe a very rare occassion where the person taking the first swing missed and in every single occassion it was because they were so drunk they could barely stand.
Typically in these street fight it was the male who felt they were domninant male who took the first swing, because they felt they could win. Typically you don't start a fight with someone who is going to kick your butt. A supermajority of these involved males who played football as that philosophy of being the more aggressive and dominating your opponent is taught.
Since Martin had been suspended from school in the past that may be an indication of behavioral issues.
When you put all these factors together and based upon what we know, its looking more and more like Zimmerman's story is accurate. There could be many other facts that haven't been released that would change my opinion.
I try to keep an open mind and look at all the facts before forming an opinion. Its surprising how many ( I'm NOT referring to Ducky here) who form their opinions and then look for reasons to justify their beliefs. Just because Zimmerman had a gun and Martin had skittles and ended up dead, doesn't mean that Zimmerman is guilty.
Questions for you, and others.
While we don't know all the facts of the case, at what age would you consider a person to be responsible for their own actions? Trayvon recently turned 17 (Feb. 5 was his birthday) before he was shot (Feb. 26) by Zimmerman. Granted, it is hard to judge the age of a person wearing a hoodie on a rainy night, but if he is considered to be a minor in the eyes of the law, and Zimmerman the adult, who had the mental capacity to make the better judgements that night? I don't know of many 16-17 year olds that make the most rational decisions, even if they are well-behaved kids. And as you said, Martin was suspended for behavioral issues, isn't this an indicator that he wasn't as rational as some of his peers are?
You say that Zimmerman's side of the story is looking
more accurate, but do these factors play any role in your belief in it?
I don't know what I would have done if I were in Zimmerman's shoes that night, chances are I wouldn't be out volunteering to be the lone neighborhood watch guy (safety in numbers) carrying a loaded gun around with me. I also doubt I would approach/follow someone that I thought to be suspicious.
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As for the intent of Maxine's reasons for posting this topic, it is deplorable that anyone would call for violence as a reaction towards another act of violence. However, this isn't unique to just the black community. I don't know of anyone on here that would advocate for such actions (as evidenced by everyone saying it was wrong in regards to what was said). But to use this thinking that silence from members of the community means that they are consenting to the actions of the few, when will Maxine (as a member of the anti-Obama crowd) say that Ted Nugent's rant against Obama and democrats (he said we should be beheaded) was wrong (since Boehner hasn't spoken out aggressively against this, is it safe to assume he's for the beheading of democrats)? Or is the rhetoric of Nugent different than the rhetoric of The New Black Panthers?
