Thoughts on the Zimmerman Trial

First, I want to make something clear:  the story.  To be fair, the only two people that know exactly what happened are either, A, Zimmerman, or B, dead.  For argument's sake, this is the story I'm basing my opinion on:

Zimmerman was an overzealous neighborhood watch wannabe cop who was just doing his job, patrolling. He saw a kid who looked shady.  Doing his job, he called the police.  HE DID NOT ORIGINALLY SAY, "THERE'S A SHADY KID HERE WHO'S BLACK."  The dispatcher asked for Martin's race, then Zimmerman told him.  Zimmerman was told to stay in the car, and not follow Martin.  He did it anyways.  Martin's fight or flight instincts kicked in.  He turned to fight him, thinking he was protecting himself.  Zimmerman was losing, so he shot him.  Yes, Martin had done marijuana.  That's the story I'm using.  Whether this is 100% true or not, I don't know, but it's the best I got.

Zimmerman was trying to defend himself...  but he started it.  He started following Martin around.  He disobeyed the dispatcher's orders.  He pulled the gun.  It's Zimmerman's fault.  And because of this, a child was murdered.  A family was destroyed.  That child will never grow up, never have kids, grandchildren, will never see his family again, will never see his friends again.  That is a life, a family, ripped apart and it will never fully heal.  Zimmerman was trying to do the right thing, but he failed.  He shot a child.  That is never right.

Marijuana doesn't make you violent.  Fact.  You can't argue that Martin was fueled by rage.  Enough.  

I don't feel this was a matter of race.  I could bore you with racial crime statistics, but I'm not going to.  I'm just going to say that Martin looked shady to Zimmerman.  Zimmerman isn't fully Hispanic.  One parent was Hispanic and the other, white American, like me.  Hispanics (typically in South America) are extremely racist against African Americans.  Not all, obviously, but typically.  If you're a black person in South America, good luck getting a job.  Now having said that, Zimmerman was raised in the US, where racism is frowned upon.  He, in my opinion, was probably not doing this out of hate for black people, but out of love for his neighborhood.

Carrying a gun as a neighborhood watchman is an aspect I don't have a particular stance on because I'm not sure how I feel about it, so I'm not gonna comment.  

I feel he should have gotten manslaughter.  It's a shorter sentence, but still a sentence.  I don't think he got out of that car with the intention of killing him, but rather a precautionary measure, thinking if he starts to rob somebody or whatever, I'll be here to stop him.  In trying to protect members of his community, he ended the life of a child and that is tragic.  

I'd like to express my deepest condolences to the Martin family.  I feel horrible about what happened, and I'm so sorry.  If there is anything I could have done, even though I'm states away, I would.  No one should ever have to bury their own child.