Zimmerman provoked the confrontation with Martin that resulted in him using lethal force.
Due to SYG, he's going to walk too, even though his actions were unconscionable.[...]
Maybe.
This issue has acquired some of the characteristics of the Rodney King incident and the state of Florida might not be willing to accomodate Zimmerman by risking a major riot, which is entirely likely.
Were it not for the Stand-Your-Ground ruling Zimmerman would already be sentenced and serving time. But the circumstances in this case are such that if Zimmerman cannot convince a jury that he was the defender, not the original aggressor, Stand-Your-Ground will not apply. And while we do not know the finer details of the confrontation, what we do know is Zimmerman pursued Martin in spite of the 911 dispatcher's cautionary advice that it was not necessary for him to do so. So, as you've indicated, I believe the term,
provocation, will be the pivotal factor in this case. Who provoked who?
An extremely important consideration in this case is the public's disposition toward Stand-Your-Ground. I believe I understand why this concept was allowed to pass into law.
I haven't been to a movie in well over twenty years. But I'm recalling an incident in a movie theater that happened in the early '80s. I was with my late wife, my daughter and son-in-law. The film was
The Fourth Protocol and the theater was quiet except for a group of six obnoxiously loud Blacks in their late teens or early twenties. Their laughing and carrying on was a complete distraction from the film.
A young White man seated with his wife or girlfriend two rows behind this group of Blacks leaned forward and said, "How about keeping it down!" And that started it.
One of the Blacks, a stereotypical thug, began a threatening exchange with the White fellow that included such insults as
"************" and
"******" which caused the White couple to get up and leave. I saw the White man's face as he turned into the aisle and he was totally frustrated and embarrassed. It was clear that if they had not left he either would have ended up being beaten or subjected to continued humiliating abuse.
It seemed to me that if he had been armed, and if he had allowed that verbal aggression to graduate to its inevitably violent conclusion, and if he had drawn a gun and shot the aggressively offensive punk, he would have been applauded -- not only by me and mine.
That type of menacingly aggressive behavior on the part of young Black thugs toward peaceful Whites has become increasingly common and I believe it ultimately led to introduction of the Stand-Your-Ground legislation and its passage. People have gotten fed up with gang-banger behavior and steps are being taken to deal with it.
The circumstances in the Zimmerman/Martin incident are such that existence of Stand-Your-Ground is threatened, which I believe will motivate the state of Florida to find that Zimmerman's actions are not covered by its provisions. That he initiated the confrontation without just cause. That he was the original aggressor, not the defender.