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also was nightime (dark out)----- seems to be some "entitlement rage" going on where people feel they have an inalienable RIGHT to walk around other peoples property without being questioned. There is at least a chance that Zim's suspisions could have been dispelled.
Running when observed is an element of "suspicious behavior" & if you do run, & get away, its smarter NOT to go back. (but then you pretty much hafta run every time you see that person again).
He wasn't walking around other peoples' property, he was walking back to the house he was staying. And I haven't seen a single report to suggest that he was in someone else's yard. But that's a pretty capable of use of gbaji's usual tactic, kudos.
Martin was clearly aware that Zimmerman was watching him, and we know he was afraid. Then Zimmerman (a sizable man) gets out of his car and follows Martin on foot. When Martin does run, Zimmerman chases. That's a very, very clear threat. And we shouldn't be assuming that the gun was concealed any more than we should be assuming Martin saw it. How do we know Zimmerman didn't leave the vehicle with his gun in hand?
And according to Zimmerman's story, he never went back. He hid, and then jumped Zimmerman when he turned his back. Rational, if he believed the only safe way to escape was to scare Zimmerman off. And the story is that he hid him from behind with a pipe or something. In that case, his intention was probably to knock him out and then run.
I'm still very, very firmly on the "criminal negligence makes him the aggressor" side of things because, even if he didn't realize it, Zimmerman was behaving extremely irrationally.
And, for the love of god, stop putting in so many line breaks for no reason.