I wasn't surprise by the verdict at all. Too much reasonable doubt.
I'm still highly disgusted by this thread though. Trayvon was no saint. He skipped school and had stolen things before. Allegedly, he was sent to stay with his father so that his father could keep him under control, which is why he was in the neighborhood in the first place. We don't know if his father could have turned him around, his life cut too short for ANYONE to make a judgment of whether or not he would have grown into a felon.
Zimmerman was far from a saint as well. His girlfriend accused him of domestic violence, even going so far as filing a restraining order on him. He was also arrested for battery of a cop. The only side of the story we have is Zimmerman's. NO ONE knows who actually started the fight, many of you all are just taking Zimmerman's word for it. What if Zimmerman was the first one who got physical? What if he put his hands on the boy first because he thought he could handle the young man, and the young man got the upper hand? It could very well be that Zimmerman, who had training in fighting as well as a gun, was way too over confident that night and pushed the kid's boundaries because he thought he could easily subdue the boy.
And what exactly was Trayvon doing before this whole thing happen? He went to the store to buy his brother some skittles and brought some tea for himself. He was going home when some car started following behind him. He wasn't acting like some "punk", he was going home. Zimmerman thought he was a "suspicious" character and up to no good, so he proceeded to call the police on him and follow the boy. The people here saying it has nothing to do with race for his reasons for following him, all I have to ask is what is the color of your skin? Why do I ask that? Well, being black, this kind of thing happens, especially if your a black male, and almost EVERY black male will have an experience of being prejudge and treated like a potential criminal. It is very, very common, it is just not talked about. I have no doubt in my mind that Trayvon being black is what lead to him being followed in the first place.
Anyways, Trayvon was talking on the phone when Zimmerman started to follow him, and he tells his friend about it. His friend tells him to get away from him, so he tries to do that by crossing through a field or yard( I'm not sure which). This is the time when Zimmerman tells the operator that he is getting away. Trayvon is trying to loose him. Zimmerman gets out of his car, despite the operator telling him not to, to follow him and, what I believe, physically stop Trayvon from leaving so that the police will get there handle it. Trayvon sees this unknown man is still following him, and he tells his friend this and she tells him that she is worried that the guy might be a rapist, which makes Trayvon very nervous. It was then that, the caller lost the connection, and Trayvon and Zimmerman get into an altercation. Who started the fight? Zimmerman claims that Trayvon just up and attack him, but that doesn't make any sense. Why would you just up and attack someone who you were once trying to get away from? I believe that Zimmerman who, once again,was probably overconfident because he was trained to fight AND had a gun, tried to physically stop Trayvon from leaving because he felt he could handle this boy if anything goes bad. Trayvon, who was just told by his friend that the guy might be a potential rapist, was highly defensive and fought back, thinking the guy might very well be a rapist and was determine to stop the threat. Should he have have continue to beat the man after the man started yelling for him help? No, he should have stopped, but who knows what his mindset was? Maybe he was trying to knock the man out because he truly thought that the guy was trying to rape him? If you were being followed by a man in a car, you tried to get away from that man and that man got out of his car to follow you, wouldn't YOU think the man was up to no good?
Either way, we will never know the truth. While I doubt Zimmerman's side of the story, there was too little evidence to convict him, so I think the jurors made the right decision. Not because he truly is innocent, but because there was way too much doubt.
