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In reply to the discussion: What kind of person would think that Zimmerman had the right to... [View all]John2
(2,730 posts)that he had the right to use "Deadly Force", because he exhausted all other means to escape the attacker. He has to prove he was not the initial aggressor also and had no fault in the provocation.
That is the tricky part and why I say Zimmerman is guilty regardless of Martin's actions. Zimmerman caused the entire event by falsely accusing Martin of doing something wrong which triggered the entire event. Martin was minding his own business and not involved in any suspicious or criminal activity. Zimmerman also initially pursued Martin, which caused Martin to react to him. So Zimmerman is not without entire fault.
Furthermore there is no evidence Zimmerman used all means to escape before using deadly force. There is no evidence he fought back because there is no bruises on Zimmerman's hands. The only injuries are on his face and head, which indicates maybe Martin gave Zimmerman those wounds in an attempt to defend himself trying to escape.
So it is very hard to believe this grown man did nothing while this child was beating him half to death without throwing punches himself. So he thought his only alternative was using a gun and it was already loaded and ready to fire at that. That indicates to me he went looking for martin with a loaded gun ready to fire. Even if he thought Martin had a gun, he knew the situation was dangerous prior to pursuing Martin. So you can't say, Zimmerman has no fault.