IMO, the very first clue was that GZ was carrying a gun, period, full stop.
Just from the different pieces of information that we have it appears as if he was very invested in the title of Captain of the crime watch, and there appears to be information out that he was aggressively engaged in not only watching, but in warning and confronting people as well.
Just reading between the lines, it looks as if he was confronting those that he felt were suspicious, carrying his concealed gun, and just waiting for a chance to use it. You don't need a gun if you are a crime WATCH, you only need to watch...and a camcorder isn't going to hurt anyone. When he got out of the car and followed or chased after someone who was not even remotely doing anything criminal he crossed the line.
I can promise you that if I were walking in any neighborhood and someone I did not know chased me, and attempted to detain me I would react aggressively, it is just a serious lack of common sense to say at that point that the man who was following (chasing) T. and outweighed him by at least 80 lbs, was the victim of an attack so vicious as to deserve being allowed toshoot this kid who was not doing anything remotely criminal to death. None of this passes the smell test.
That man was not carrying a gun just in case, he was carrying that gun because he intended to make sure that there was an opportunity to use it. JMHO
Great first post, Sensei, and welcome to WS!
I agree with what you and gitana 1 said, and feel GZ had this all planned out because he wanted to impress the LE that he could be a policeman and get the job done. I'm also wondering if he asked SPD some questions about the 'stand your ground/self defense' law, NOT that they knew he would do this ahead of time but that he wanted to be sure of the law before he used it and know they would have to back him up.
IMO, part of his plan also was to have it happen at night so it would be harder to tell what was happening. It also had to be someone who was a stranger to him and the neighborhood, better to be called 'suspicious'.
One reason I think this is that he had everything down pat at the end...he laid the gun down in one account, in another he had it in his waistband, and promptly said 'it was self defense'. At that point he knew from information he had studied or gotten from LE, he was clear because LE would have to prove him wrong in order to arrest him.
A normal person who just experienced a real 'stand your ground' incident would not react like he did. They would still be upset and frightened and saying something like, 'I didn't want to shoot but he kept beating me and I had to, to get him to stop!"
GZ: 'I yelled for help' and 'it was self-defense', all ready to declare.
Another thing, GZ obviously had Trayvon down and begging for mercy, so why at that point did he have to shoot to kill? He could have stood back and just held the gun on the boy if he was still 'in fear of his life', of if he still 'believed he had to shoot', why did it have to be a fatal shot? Why not shoot for a leg, an arm?
No reason except he wanted to kill and use this law as justification.
I live in the state and hate this law, said back when it was being debated and passed, along with many others here, that just such as this incident would happen and the law would be misused. It was made to be misused.
IMO
