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Now, through a statement released by the National Sheriffs' Association (NSA) -- the parent organization of USAonWatch-Neighborhood Watch -- it has been revealed that Zimmerman was not a member of any group recognized by the organization. Zimmerman violated the central tenets of Neighborhood Watch by following Martin, confronting him and carrying a concealed weapon.

"In no program that I have ever heard of does someone patrol with a gun in their pocket," Carmen Caldwell, the Executive Director of Citizens' Crime Watch of Miami-Dade, told theGrio. "Every city and municipality has their own policies. Here in Miami-Dade we train people only to be the eyes and ears of their communities. Not to follow and most definitely not to carry a weapon."

Despite this, Zimmerman admitted that he had fired a weapon on the night of the incident. In addition, the non-emergency call Zimmerman placed on February 26 before the shooting revealed he had been pursuing Martin by car before accosting the youth on foot -- all direct violations of Neighborhood Watch policies. http://www.thegrio.com/specials/trayvon-martin/zimmerman-not-a-member-
of-recognized-neighborhood-watch-organization.php

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Zimmerman followed another man a year later, saying the man had spit on him. {following someone because they spit on you?}

Zimmerman’s record becomes spottier over the following years as he had a handful of run-ins with the law. In July 2005, Zimmerman was arrested after a tussle with law enforcement outside of a bar near the University of Central Florida. It was a first offense, and Zimmerman got off with a pretrial diversion program.

In August of the same year, a petition for injunction was filed against Zimmerman by a woman who cited domestic violence, and Zimmerman responded with his own petition. Both injunctions were issued.

Despite these scrapes, Zimmerman reportedly wanted to enter law enforcement himself, and was attending Seminole State College, which has a law and public safety program. In 2008, he applied to the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office program for citizen law enforcement.{If he applied, why didn't he follow through? If he followed through, why did he go against every tenant of neighborhood watch?}

It is not clear where Zimmerman was employed at the time of the shooting, but records show that he was working for CarMax for an undetermined period of time before 2008.

On Monday, the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office released recordings of six non-emergency calls in which Zimmerman is heard reporting mundane happenings around his neighborhood. In one of the calls he reports spotting two African-American males who match the description of suspects from a recent robbery. In another, he reports a neighbor’s open garage door.

Others members of the community, including Ibrahim Rashada, told reporters that Zimmerman’s behavior was sometimes unnerving, as when the watchman emailed a description of a suspect to other residents. “I fit the stereotype he emailed around,” Rashada said. After that, Rashada didn’t feel comfortable taking walks around his neighborhood. “I don’t want anyone chasing me,” he said. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/03/21/george-zimmerman-the-
man-who-shot-trayvon-martin-profiled-by-family-and-neighbors.html 28-year-old George Zimmerman was discovered by Sanford, Florida police standing over the body of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, they accepted Zimmerman's claim that he killed in self-defense as a neighborhood watch captain.

"The alleged action of a 'self-appointed neighborhood watchman' last month in Sanford, FL significantly contradicts the principles of the Neighborhood Watch Program," NSA Executive Director Aaron D. Kennard, Sheriff (ret.) said in the press statement. "NSA has no information indicating the community where the incident occurred has ever even registered with the NSA Neighborhood Watch program." http://www.thegrio.com/specials/trayvon-martin/zimmerman-not-a-member-
of-recognized-neighborhood-watch-organization.php there's this, according to the police chief:

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Chief Lee further states that, “Zimmerman was in fact on a personal errand in his vehicle when he observed Mr. Martin in his community and called the Sanford Police Department." http://brp305.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/sanford-police-chief-bill-lee-c
rime-watch-captain-george-zimmerman-partners-for-life/] After the 911 call was released last week, speculation arose over whether Zimmerman — who told the dispatcher "these a-holes, they always get away" — used a racial slur.

Tracy Martin told NBC he hadn't heard the entire tape, but he and Crump said they were shocked by Zimmerman's use of racially suggestive language, such as "these people." http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/trayvon-martin-shooting-paren
ts-call-george-zimmerman-arrest-article-1.1048076

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I've heard the stuff about him possibly having muttered "fucking coon" on the 911 call too, but it's so garbled I wouldn't want to swear to it. But the "they always get away" is verified. That in itself, along with all the other facts that have come out, paint a picture of someone who is enamored of law enforcement (definitely going beyond the bounds necessary), has been aggressive in the past, and has, at the very least, some preconceptions about people.

I think what is bothering me the most currently is that nowhere, on line or in the news, do I hear anyone at ALL bringing up the point that this law pertains to TRAYVON, not just Zimmerman. He was being stalked, there is no question about that, first by car and then on foot. He had every right to ask why the man was following him, and to defend himself if he felt threatened (I sure would if some burly guy was following me for quite some time late at night!). Ergo, the argument that Zimmerman had some bruises means nothing; if Trayvon felt threatened, he had a right to defend himself under the law.

There are so many questions, it seems to me anyone who wasn't desperate to make Zimmerman the good guy has GOT to be wondering. Obviously that's not the case for many, and some here, but if people were to take a step back and look at the FACTS, they should be wondering.

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.... law enforcement expert Rod Wheeler who listened to the tapes tells ABC News that Zimmerman, not Martin, sounded intoxicated in the police recordings of the 911 calls.

"When I listened to the 911 tape the first thing that came to my mind is this guy sounds intoxicated. Notice how he's slurring his words. We as trained law enforcement officers, we know how to listen for that right away and I think that's going to be an important element of this entire investigation," Wheeler said.

But Zimmerman was not tested. " http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayvon-martin-family-seeks-fbi-investigation
-killing/story?id=15949879

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"ABC News has learned police seemed to accept Zimmerman's account at face value that night and that he was not tested for drugs or alcohol on the night of the shooting, even though it is standard procedure in most homicide investigations." http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayvon-martin-family-seeks-fbi-investigation
-killing/story?id=15949879] Witnesses told ABC News they heard Zimmerman pronounce, "It was self-defense," and place the gun on the ground.

But after the shooting, a source inside the police department told ABC News that a narcotics detective and not a homicide detective first approached Zimmerman. The detective peppered Zimmerman with questions, the source said, rather than allow Zimmerman to tell his story. Questions can lead a witness, the source said.

Another officer corrected a witness after she told him that she heard the teen cry for help. The officer told the witness, a long-time teacher, that it was Zimmerman who cried for help, the witness told ABC News.

Lee publicly admitted that officers accepted Zimmerman's word at the scene that he had no police record. Two days after the incident, during a meeting with the victim's father, Tracy Martin, an officer told the father that Zimmerman's record was "squeaky clean." Yet public records showed that Zimmerman was charged with battery against on officer and resisting arrest in 2005, a charge that was later expunged. http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayvon-martin-family-seeks-fbi-investigation
-killing/story?id=15949879 just too much to make you wonder. The cops not only took him at his word, they let him go, they let him go with his loaded gun still in his possession. No sobriety test was administered, so we can never know if he was inebriated. It doesn't appear that a proper investigation was undertaken; they took him at his word for everything, before even checking his record, even saying he was "squeaky clean" TWO DAYS after the incident, meaning they had made no investigation of him even then.

Trayvon, on the other hand, has NO record of violence whatsoever, wasn't bothering anyone and possessed nothing but a bag of skittles and a soft drink.

Then there's the phone call with his girlfriend:

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Trayvon's phone logs, also obtained exclusively by ABC News, show the conversation occurred five minutes before police first arrived on the scene. Crump said the girl's identity was being withheld because "her parents are gravely concerned about her health and her safety." Her parents asked that only an attorney be allowed to ask her questions.

Martin's father, Tracey Martin, and mother, Sybrina Fulton, listened to the call, along with ABC News, ashen-faced. "He knew he was being followed and tried to get away from the guy, and the guy still caught up with him," Tracey Martin said. "And that's the most disturbing part. He thought he had got away from the guy, and the guy backtracked for him."

The girl was so distraught after the killing that she spent a night in the hospital, the lawyer said. "She was really traumatized over this. They were dating. ... It's a situation where to know you were the last person to talk to the young man who was one of the most special persons in the world to you," Crump said. The lawyer said he would give the details of the phone call to the federal investigation. http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayvon-martin-death-friend-phone-teen-death-
recounts/story?id=15959017#.T2ibdI42_7n

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I don't believe they can "listen to" the call, can they? But the logs have shown the call took place, so that backs up that part of her story. I think he was smart not to run while he knew Zimmerman was pursuing him, it would only make him look guilty.

There's more:

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His neighbors felt protected because he always kept a watchful eye over the community. However, others say he was an overzealous, paranoid racist that so desperately wanted to be in law enforcement he tends to take matters into his own hands. Mr. Zimmerman was born in Virginia and always desired to be in law enforcement.

According to information released by The Orlando Sentinel, Zimmerman had several run-ins with the law ranging from domestic abuse to exchanging blows with local law enforcement.

However, each time he barely got a slap on the wrist. He appointed himself as the local neighborhood watch Captain, and so far it looks like he was also the only member. In the past year he made 50 phone calls to 911 reporting suspicious activity, which usually turned out to be mundane. A young African American student, 17, who also resides at the Retreat at Twin Lakes, said there are not a lot of African Americans in his community. Usually he and his friend would wait and sit up the street until Zimmerman finished doing his “rounds” because they felt uncomfortable.

When they greeted Mr. Zimmerman there greets always went unanswered, according to the teen boys. The self-appointed neighborhood watch captain even confronted one of the boys stating they stole a bike, later they found out the bike was never stolen and an apology was never given. http://www.newspitter.com/2012/03/22/a-closer-look-at-trayvon-martins-
shooter-george-zimmerman?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-closer-look-at-trayvon-martins-shooter-george-zimmerman

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How can people not, at the very least, have questions about Zimmerman and his story, and the police? I just don't get it; there's so much that is illogical or questionable about how it was handled, I don't understand why people are so determined to defend Zimmerman without even knowing all the facts, and with what facts are available clearly indicating there is something wrong with how it was handled.

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You are upset that someone could be judged by their clothing, their mannerisms, their skin, the way they walk, the way they talk... ok.

Its cute, but it is also like being angry at the sun for being too hot, or the wind for being too cold.

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Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee said he must "temporarily remove myself" from duty, a day after the City Commission voted 3-2 in favor of a nonbinding measure of no confidence in him.

"My role as the leader of this agency has become a distraction from the investigation …." Lee said during a news conference.

Zimmerman has not been arrested. Police say they have not charged Zimmerman because they have no evidence to contradict his story that he shot in self-defense, leading to a new debate over a controversial state law. http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/22/sanford-police-chief-temporarily-
steps-down/?hpt=hp_c1 last is curious, to me, and brings to mind Kiki's question about killing someone then claiming self-defense. They have no evidence his story is TRUE, either, yet they chose to think in terms of "We can't prove he's lying". That's like saying "if you're dead, and nobody can offer evidence that you were killed wrongly, you get away with it", just as Kiki posited. How insane! There is no logic to this whatsoever. They HAD evidence Zimmerman was stalking him. They HAD evidence he's been over-zealous before. They HAD evidence Trayvon had nothing but skittles and ice tea on him, whereas Zimmerman had a gun. All that before anything else came out!

Completely aside from anything else, they let him go with his loaded gun, with no sobriety test, nothing. Obviously, if it had been a Black man, neighborhood-watch captain or no, it wouldn't have happened this way. How they can conceivabl justify what they did is beyond me.

Hope this law gets trashed in every state where it exists. It literally DOES say that if you're found standing over the body of someone with a loaded gun and ADMIT you shot them, if nobody saw anything and before any investigation goes on--say as to whether your injuries were self-inflicted, whether you were drunk, whether you were stalking the person, whether they were armed or not, whether they were doing ANYTHING wrong--you go home with your gun. How crazy is that?!?!

There'd BETTER be a GOOD investigation, 'cuz there are too many questions and not nearly enough answers. Someone should take a good long look at that police department from top to bottom; given one of the police CONTRADICTED a witnesses statement that Travvon yelled help, and another questioned Zimmerman rather than let him tell his story, and the fact that it wasn't the police chief, it was the OFFICERS who took Zimmerman at his word and sent him home, there should be a serious investigation.

Yes, attitude is top down, but these officers had no problem doing what they did; THEY should be investigated as well.

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There was no stalking. Zimmerman had the same right as Martin to be in that place.

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What was Martin's justification for hitting Zimmerman?

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I get a kick when idiots with no history, no experience, no knowledge, try to talk like they know what is going on.

This is something you have no intelligence on. Keep to talking about Apple, and niche music, hipster.

Stick to what you know, and stop making a fool of yourself.

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Niki, you had pikes ready and set to put this guys head on... when he was white....

now you've backed off that, and are trying a different tact.

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Was Zimmerman approaching Martin with a gun out?

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Zimmerman had the same right to be in that place as Martin

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His neighbors had appointed him to the community watch

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When the homeowners association wanted to start a neighborhood watch, only one man stepped up: George Zimmerman

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Zimmerman's injuries do back up a justification for use of force.

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As long as the gun is holstered

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But from an eyewitness.... we know that Martin battered Zimmerman

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....witness Mary Cutcher ... said police only took a two or three sentence statement from her. Cutcher said a cry for help got her attention on the day Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in her backyard by Zimmerman.

Cutcher said it was short, and police never questioned her in detail until after she repeatedly reached out to them.

"Blew us off, and I called him back again and I said, "I know this was not self-defense. There was no punching, no hitting going on at the time, no wrestling,'" Cutcher said.

"We said, 'Is everything OK? And he just looked at us. Selma [another witness] asked him again, 'What's up, what's going on, everything OK? And he just said, 'Call the police,' kind of nonchalantly, kind of like, 'Leave me alone,' '' Cutcher said. http://www.wftv.com/news/news/witness-sanford-police-blew-us-teen-slay
ing/nLSqk/

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A police officer “corrected” a key witness. “The officer told the witness, a long-time teacher, it was Zimmerman who cried for help, said the witness. ABC News has spoken to the teacher and she confirmed that the officer corrected her when she said she heard the teenager shout for help.” [ABC News] http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/03/18/446768/what-everyone-shoul
d-know-about-about-trayvon-martin-1995-2012/

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Mary Cutcher describes what she witnessed that night.
"And at the time that we heard the whining and then the gunshot, we did not hear any wrestling, no punching, no fighting, nothing to make it sound like there was a fight," Cutcher said to Anderson Cooper.
Cutcher told Cooper that she does not believe the Zimmerman acted in self-defense.
"Originally, I didn't believe it was self-defense because of what we saw when we walked out on the porch. If it was self-defense, why was he on Trayvon's back?"
Another caller, Selma Mora Lamilla, who was also on Anderson Cooper 360, said she saw Zimmerman straddling Martin's body after the shooting.

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One witness also complained that police told her that she was wrong in reporting Martin called for help — saying that it was Zimmerman. http://jonathanturley.org/2012/03/15/who-watches-the-watchman-florida-
family-calls-for-the-arrest-of-watch-captain-who-sought-teen/ about what some of his neighbors have to say?

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Licensed to carry a firearm and a student of criminal justice, Zimmerman went door-to-door asking residents to be on the lookout, specifically referring to young black men who appeared to be outsiders, and warned that some were caught lurking, neighbors said. Theself-appointed captain of the neighborhood watch program...

But the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin left the boy’s family and attorneys convinced that the volunteer developed a twisted sense of entitlement, one that gave him a false sense of authority to enforce the rule of law in his tiny gated community.

“He would circle the block and circle it; it was weird,” said Teontae Amie, 17. “If he had spotted me, he’d probably ask me if I lived here. He was known for being really strict.” http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/17/2700249/shooter-of-trayvon-marti
n-a-habitual.html#storylink=cpy about the police department's record?

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On at least two prior occasions, the Sanford Police Department was accused of giving favorable treatment to relatives of officers involved in violent encounters with blacks.

In 2010, police waited seven weeks to arrest a lieutenant’s son who was caught on video sucker-punching a homeless black man.

In 2005, two security guards — one the son of a longtime Sanford police officer and the other a department volunteer — killed a black man they said was trying to run them over. Black leaders complained of a lackluster investigation. The guards ultimately were acquitted.
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Zimmerman felt he was one of them; he felt he was a cop,” said Trayvon’s family attorney, Natalie Jackson, who accuses the police of protecting him.
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The recent shooting raised troubling questions about whether the homeowners association knew its volunteer was armed with a Kel Tek 9mm semiautomatic handgun. Many residents — black and white — question Zimmerman’s judgment and wonder why he would have engaged the teenager at all.
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He suspects Zimmerman got tired of thugs “and reached his breaking point,” Frank Taaffe, a former neighborhood block captain said. “But why was he carrying a gun? Why not carry pepper spray or a Taser? That’s bizarre-o.”

Police volunteer program coordinator Wendy Dorival said she met Zimmerman in September at a community neighborhood watch presentation.

“I said, ‘If it’s someone you don’t recognize, call us. We’ll figure it out,’?” Dorival said. “‘Observe from a safe location.’ There’s even a slide about not being vigilante police. I don’t know how many more times I can repeat it.” http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/17/2700249_p3/shooter-of-trayvon-ma
rtin-a-habitual.html]

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In fact, since an eyewitness saw Zimmerman and Martin fighting, we can conclude that Zimmerman did or attempted to, punch Martin for hitting him.

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Again, how do you "conclude" any such thing? How do you know Zimmerman didn't grab Martin, and Martin swung at HIM in self-defense? Doesn't the "stand your ground" law cover that; that if one feels threatened, one can respond with force?

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What was Martin's justification for hitting Zimmerman?

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I repeat, YOU HAVE NO PROOF Martin hit Zimmerman first. Nobody has said anything about any injuries to Martin (aside from the bullet hole). Martin's justification, again, would be the "stand your ground" law. I guess that only works one way?

Thank you for providing the material on stalking, you just made our point, tho' if you like "harrass" better, that's fine too:

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"Harass" means to engage in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that causes substantial emotional distress in such person and serves no legitimate purpose.

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Zimmerman engaged in just such a course of conduct, resulting in Trayvon telling his girlfriend he was frightened. His "course of conduct":

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"Course of conduct" means a pattern a conduct composed of series of acts over a period of time, however short, evidencing a continuity of purpose. Constitutionally protected activity is not included within the meaning of "course of conduct." Such constitutionally protected activity includes picketing or other organized protests.

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The series of actions are well documented, they occurred over a short period of time--following him by car, following him on foot, and demanding to know what he was doing there--and evidenced a continuity of purpose. His actions were not "constitutionally protected"

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Any person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows or harasses another person commits the offense of stalking

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That's it right there. He repeatedly followed Trayvon, causing him emotional distress, which is "harrassing", that constitutes the offense of stalking. Zimmerman willfully followed Trayvon, despite being told not to by the dispatcher, repeatedly in his car and then by foot, then demanded to know what Trayvon was doing there. "Maliciously" would need interpretation, but given his actions and words, I would say there is convincing evidence of that.

As to

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Zimmerman was slurring his words. Post-shooting effects include psychological shock.

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Zimmerman was slurring his words BEFORE he shot Trayvon, if you missed that.

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.... law enforcement expert Rod Wheeler who listened to the tapes tells ABC News that Zimmerman, not Martin, sounded intoxicated in the police recordings of the 911 calls.

"When I listened to the 911 tape the first thing that came to my mind is this guy sounds intoxicated. Notice how he's slurring his words..

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Zimmerman made NO 911 tapes after he shot Trayvon, only before.

You're both really desperate to defend Zimmerman's words and actions, despite all the questions about him, his background, his feelings toward Blacks, the contradictory words and actions of the police, witnesses who were told they were wrong, witnesses who contradicted Zimmerman's account of events, that's obvious. Ergo; enjoy your beliefs, I hope they give you comfort. Me, I want law enforcement to be held to the same standards for everyone, and I don't believe that came even close to having been done here.