That's over-simplified.
Zimmerman reported a suspicious person by calling 9-1-1. He was not the only person who called 9-1-1 at that time, and people forget that. There was a rash of home intrusions and other issues since last fall, hence why the neighborhood watch was started.
Trayvon was on the phone with his girlfriend. He was innocent. But from the standpoint of others, he was scoping out houses. It's textbook neighborhood watch. People also forget that 46 calls by Zimmerman were barely 10% of the calls since last fall. His record on information was the best in the neighborhood, helped stop a prior crime, and trusted by law enforcement as a result.
However, textbook neighborhood watch says do not arm yourself. It's a liability. It's one thing to be armed in your home, even car in Florida. But if you are observing, let alone following someone -- which is not exactly textbook neighborhood watch -- armed, it's generally not a good idea. It's legal in Florida to be armed almost anywhere (not schools, including universities, various state and federal locations), but never recommended for the watch.
Zimmerman gave information as the dispatcher asked him. The media has done a great job of drumming up a hate-crime that wasn't there. As Trayvon walked away, Zimmerman followed him. When Zimmerman informed the dispatcher he was following the dispatcher said they didn't need him to follow. He agreed. He agreed to meet an officer.
Trayvon was already talking to his girlfriend, who told him to just run. Zimmerman told the dispatcher to have the officer meet him elsewhere, as the suspicious person would easily leave the neighborhood by the time the officer arrived. That was stupid. But Zimmerman is not law enforcement, and not even that experienced either. Imagine a rookie cop, without the authority, thinking you are doing the right thing, and it's exactly wrong.
Trayvon then decided to turn and yell at Zimmerman, asking him why he was following him. Zimmerman then asked what Travyon was doing there. The rest is murky. But some things are clear. Travyon's girlfriend was on the call longer than she admitted. Several witnesses were confused about who was who because Trayvon towered over Zimmerman's height, and wasn't that much different in weight (Zimmerman is not 250lbs., and Trayvon is not 140lbs.). Several thought Trayvon was the larger adult because of it.
It was Florida. It was night. It was a Florida rain, not a midwest rain. No one knows anything for sure. Witnesses are a real issue.
Most legal experts agree, Zimmerman is guilty of at least manslaughter. He took on the liability when he followed Trayvon. And when the dispatcher advised him, he agreed, then changed his mind. He had several opportunities to avoid the situation, and he did not. As such, he took on the liability. Stand-your-ground doesn't cover you for such, but prosecutors are very hesitant unless they have solid evidence in Florida.
The question is if Zimmerman still fired when he was not under threat. The ballistic evidence may show he was not. In fact, given that he has been charged with 2nd degree murder now, it's very likely they do have the ballistic evidence. If that's the case, it's not because the Sanford Police were sloppy, in fact, it would be the opposite. Both the state and DoJ will very likely come back and show that was not the case, other than a few details here and there that were not racially motivated remotely like the media has inferred.
Zimmerman was freed because he was not charged, and he was not charged because a prosecutor -- at the time -- did not think they had a case, before all of the evidence was reviewed. This is due process in Florida, and many other states. Many of the laws are written to protect due process, and Florida has very strict guidelines on when someone can be charged, gun or not, death or not. Only if someone is a risk to the public or a flight risk do they hold them, or select, other cases.
Understand no one in Florida will bow to political pressure. They chose the prosecutor in this case for that very reason. She is thorough. She will take on cases others will not. She dismissed the grand jury and then came back with 2nd degree murder. She ain't playing. She's moving forward. Maybe Zimmerman will try to plea for manslaughter, and maybe the family will agree to it.
But this was not first degree murder. It was not a hate crime. The media trumped up all sorts of total bullshit, and it's so bad, people still believe it. The facts about Zimmerman, the neighborhood and many aspects of Sanford are completely made up in the media, especially given Sanford's history and demographics that pre-date the central Florida boom and what people think of Orlando. Several Florida papers (You guys have Google News, right? Use it!) have been exposing these differences you won't see in the national media, and many of these are not right-leaning papers either. Even the Miami Herald got after NBC's race baiting, hard, and was caught red-handed on several networks the same day (they knew what they were doing).
Zimmerman fucked up. He knows it. He didn't do it out of race or to "get high." He was just another home owner that others looked to in their neighborhood with a growing crime problem with rampant unemployment and a major increase in crimes. A young man is dead because he was overzealous to "catch a person possibly staking their next crime." It's sad that it took the results of the confrontation, however it went down, for him to realize it. The fact that -- even assuming he was 100% honest -- it came to him shooting someone, and showed it was the wrong thing to do. Had he just listened, no one would have died, or been hurt.
So the question now is, how much liability is he in for? Manslaughter is easy, enough that Zimmerman might agree to it. Most legislators of the law agree. You have most Republicans and NRA members in the state even calling for it. That says something. But murder is far from easy to prove. The fact that Zimmerman had a gun matters little, especially in Florida. The question is if Zimmerman's life was in danger or not.
According to the prosecutor, he was not. And she don't play. We'll see if it ends in a plea, or goes to trial.
