It’s funny that you say that. Zimmerman’s main complaint about Martin was that he was walking slowly. We now know he was on the phone, so that could have caused him to slow his pace so that he could hear his GF talking. Maybe that’s why it took him longer to get home than google says it should have. Fuck who knows? If his actions don’t make sense to you, it’s only because you’re trying too hard to find a glimmer of truth in Zimmerman’s paranoia.
You’re also assuming that Zimmerman wasn’t pursuing Martin from his truck while he was on the phone with 911. If he was following Martin’s tracks, it doesn’t matter if that call was 2 minutes long. He could have driven along Twin Trees in the direction Martin was headed, got out the car to go on foot, cut through to the backyard walkway, and head off Martin at the pass. This would explain how Martin got “cornered”; if Zimmerman came towards him from the other direction and tried to keep him from getting past. It would also explain what could have set off the pushing. Martin tries to get around the bigger man, who pushes him, causing his headset to fall off…fight ensues…boy gets shot.
That strikes me as more plausible than Martin hiding and then ambushing the man following him. I’m not saying it’s impossible or even implausible that Martin hid, especially if the boy saw Zimmerman following him in his truck. But it seems unlikely to me.
Zimmerman’s first statement of why he was suspicious was “he’s just staring… looking at all the houses”. That’s suspicious behavior by any reasonable standard. The length of the call and the fact that Martin walked all of 700 feet in more than 4 minutes supports that statement.
Are you kidding me? I’m not the one suggesting Martin was walking very slowly so that he could hear his GF talking. That’s one of the more ridiculous things I’ve heard. Walking at a normal pace doesn’t interfere with hearing. Besides, even if that is the case, walking very slowly talking on a phone in the rain is unusual behavior.
Excuse me for not searching for every way to place the blame on Zimmerman.
The fact of the matter is, we know for certain that Martin had more than adequate time to leisurely walk home while Zimmerman was on the phone. The fact that he didn’t is evidence that he wasn’t acting normally.
They do make sense if you realize that M didn’t know Z was no longer in a vehicle. If M is trying to evade a vehicle, it doesn’t make sense for him to continue in one direction.
To get to “his” house, M would have to cross the street again. If Z were still in his truck, he could beat M to where M would have come out of the apartments and back into the open again.
Hiding from a vehicle, it makes sense to stay inside the row of buildings rather than to come out and proceed into the street again.
Have you never been 17 and in love? It’s been awhile for me, but I can easy see myself walking slowly rain or not while talking to my girl. If you find that unusual I have to wonder when the last time you had a date.
exactly, just like we are all playing amateur everything in examing the whole thing. Only I’m not concluding anything in particular, i’m posing questions. If it happenedmlike x, wouldn’t y have happened? The point being that CSI exists for a very important reason: examining all the details of the crime scene helps fill in the gaps and confirm or disprove the things that the suspect and witnesses say, and there are things that can be looked at to add or subtract from the story zimmerman and other witnesses are telling.
This is factually incorrect. Martin’s home was on the path, and he could have reached it without crossing the street again.
Either way, how is that anything close to the way a rational person acts? To begin with, the thing that apparently Martin should be so terrified of is a man sitting in a truck, looking at him, and talking on the phone. This fact should terrify him enough for him to run, hide, and avoid all roads. But apparently not enough to call the police, knock on a door for help, or scream. It makes zero sense whatsoever.
(1) Martin doesn’t appear to be on the phone when Martin calls the cops. Zimmerman mentions details such as him having a button on his shirt, but says nothing about a cell phone.
(2) I’ve been 17 and had a girlfriend. Can’t say I ever got the urge to walk slowly through the rain talking on a cell-phone.
(3) Even if Martin had a perfect legitimate reason for him to be walking slowly through the rain staring at houses, that doesn’t mean it isn’t outwardly suspicious.
Well putting the Gene Kelly defense aside for the moment, walking slowly through a neighborhood in the rain at night looking at houses is suspicious. Not shoot first and ask questions later suspicious, but suspicious. The last time I saw this done the kid started opening every unlocked car door on the street. I wouldn’t have seen that had I not thought his initial behavior was suspicious and took the time to observe him.
So while there is always a legitimate reason for doing just about ANYTHING there are actions that appear to be suspicious. Zimmerman had every right to observe Martin. The only thing relevant is the exchange that led to a fight.
Zimmerman also declared that the boy had a weapon in his waistband that he was about to pull out. He also said the boy looked drugged out. Neither of these turned out to be true, so why are you putting any stock in his interpretation of suspicious behavior? The kid was a visitor in the neighborhood. If he was looking at houses, it could have been because he was admiring them. Truly suspicious behavior would be peering into windows, trying doorknobs, etc.
And like I said before, he was on the phone. Ever seen someone having a conversation with a headset on? They stare out at the distance, talking to themselves like crazy people, walking obnoxiously slow. Zimmerman probably misinterpreted normal distracted phone behavior as suspicious because it was coming from a black male wearing a hoodie rather than a middle-aged day trader wearing a polo shirt and khakis.
You’re inclined to view him as an aberrant because you are biased towards Zimmerman’s account. Walking slowly is not suspicious behavior to me. You know what’s suspicious, though? Chasing after someone on a dark street with a gun.
And do you think it’s normal for a neighborhood watch person to arm himself and follow people they’ve identified as threats for no rational reason at all, despite being told not to do so by the cops? That’s pretty damn abnormal to me–much more so than walking home slowly–and surprisingly, the person who did that did another abnormal thing: they shot and killed a teenager.
If Martin was acting abnormally, it’s because he was reacting to a stranger pursuing him on a dark street. Being afraid tends to mess people up a little.
I wouldn’t get too exercised about body position. He can stagger in any direction and fall in any manner and Zimmerman can add to that by pushing him. All that’s relevant is that it was consistent with Zimmerman’s story. So what is important is entry wound angle, direction, and distance.
If M had in earbuds with his hood up as has been reported by the girl he was talking to, it may not have been obvious that M was on the phone. The fact that Z didn’t mention it doesn’t seem noteworthy imho.
And you’re the measure of all people, so obviously M was not doing something that you wouldn’t want to do?
Or what?
Maybe he didn’t have health insurance, but I sure as hell would get medical treatment after saying I got so much shit beaten out of me that I feared for my life.
The sun would have just gone down about 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour ago. And the rain was such that Martin didn’t have his hood up yet and kids were out walking their dogs. So it wasn’t a dark and stormy night or anything. It was twilight and lightly raining or something.
The report is 0.20 inches of precip for that day.
Between 5 and 8 pm 0.04 inches fell
No he didn’t. Seriously, maybe this is the problem. You have completely warped the facts to support your argument.
As far as I am aware the toxicology reports haven’t come back yet on Martin.
Second, Zimmerman said he “looks like he is up to no good, or he’s on drugs, or something”.
And yes, I put a lot of stock into Zimmerman’s account of suspicious behavior, because every indication I’ve seen is that Martin reacted in a bizarre and irrational manner to the situation, culminating in punching Zimmerman and then slamming his head on the sidewalk. I can’t imagine any way that’s how this situation would have ended if it were me in Martin’s place.
Like I’ve said before, I’m not interested in making every assumption making Martin completely innocent, while making every assumption that makes Zimmerman look bad.
Yeah, that sounds like suspicious behavior to me. Perhaps even something that would cause someone to believe that something wasn’t right with this person, or that they were on drugs.
Why? Because I disagree with you?
And I’m not the one searching for any possible explanation to portray the situation in the light I like.
I don’t see anything particularly abnormal about having a CC permit. I don’t see anything particularly abnormal calling the cops about a suspicious person. I don’t see anything particularly abnormal trying to see where a suspicious person ran off to.
I think the point is that I don’t think it is reasonable to see someone slowly walking down the street, staring at houses, and think “Oh, he must be on a earphone talking to his girlfriend because he is 17 and in love”.