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What I'm arguing is that Zimmerman is not blameless with respect to what happened. Because of his decisions to carry a pistol on his neighborhood watch patrol, to follow Martin, to NOT 'hang back' and let the police arrive and do their jobs, it became necessary for him to take a life.
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If Zimmerman is being truthful about that night then...
1) He wasn't on "patrol". He was on his way to the grocery store and was carrying a pistol, which he is legally allowed to do.
2) He thought he was hanging back and merely observing where Martin was heading. The history of that neighborhood leading up to the shooting was full of home invasions and vandalism; usually perpetrated by people who matched Martin's profile and disappeared long before the police arrived.
And to brush on another post: Martin didn't live in the housing complex. He was staying with his father temporarily after being suspended from school for possession of drug paraphernalia. So he most likely wasn't a familiar face in the neighborhood.