Bloody Zimmerman Appears in Color Photo

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I am a gun owner. I believe in the 2nd Amendment and in the fundamental ideas behind the Castle Doctrine. Laws allowing for self defense do not include the right to play armed guard or policeman. While I applaud  Zimmerman's courage (or stupidity, your choice) his moral compass took him to place he had no right to be. Zimmerman took one aspect of the self defense law (call it the zone of defense around a person) and used it as license to hunt another human. In effect he presented himself to Martin as a threat; Martin reacted to this threat. This was a situation which fed upon it self: both men believing they were defending themselves from the other. The difference is that Zimmerman did represent himself as a threat, and Martin chose to stand his ground and fight. Sounds like the Castle Doctrine, doesn't it? Self defense cannot mean that you can harass or intimidate other people. It does not allow you chase down a possible criminal or to threaten or confront anyone EXCEPT AS A RESPONSE TO AN IMMEDIATE THREAT of violence. Stand Your Ground also means get away if you can WITHOUT harming anyone else if it is possible. I am not a cop; I will defend myself and others if necessary but I do not have the right to go out and CREATE a deadly situation. The defensive zone around a person is finite; exceed that zone and you are no longer defensive. Any action undertaken by me under that condition is no longer protected by law. Clearly Zimmerman exceeded the scope of the law. This created a situation that carried itself to a very tragic conclusion. Martin had the right to be where he was. He was a victim of profiling by Zimmerman. This tragedy illustrates that we still have a long way to go before the ghosts of prejudice are laid to rest. How many of us have NOT seen a ______ (pick your favorite race or creed) person and thought "What is that criminal up to?".  It is just that easy to fall into dangerous patterns of thought; just that easy to profile a person and thereby dehumanize them. We see the results of this kind of thinking every night on television news.

The police dispatcher told him to stay in his car that cruisers where minutes away. He ignored the police. I can't get part that.

If a person carrying a deadly weapon, knowingly and intentionally places themselves in a situation where they will likely have to use it, they are guilty of murder.  As a white man, I can't put on a KKK robe, walk into a black neighborhood with a loaded weapon, and then claim self-defense when dozens come out to kick my ass.