A lot of people are very bitter about this result, and that's to be expected. From a legal standpoint, the state never had more than a prayer of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that GZ didn't act in self defense. They're only hope was to confuse the jurors and play on their emotions, and that's a sad indictment of our justice system. Thankfully, the jury reached the correct result, which is an affirmation of our justice system.
As to the larger debate, many will continue to hold up Trayvon as some sort of martyr (the whole "skittles and iced tea" bit), despite the many indications to the contrary. Maybe GZ was an "overzealous, wannabe cop", and true, the whole situation could have been avoided if he had not approached Trayvon, but simply approaching Trayvon and asking "what are you doing here?" should not have resulted in a fist fight.
Who started the phyiscal fight? Was it GZ, the guy who had just called the police, or was it Trayvon, the troubled teenager with a recent history of behavioral issues; who had been suspended on multiple occassions in the prior months for fighting and drugs, who boasted about that fighting, and who had been kicked out of his mother's house for these issues, who saw a "creepy ass cracker" following him, but instead of returning home, hung out outside for over 4 minutes, not exactly the actions of a scared kid? I think given the totality of the circumstances, Trayvon popped GZ in the face, just as GZ said, and that's on Trayvon for escalating the confrontation into a physical fight.
It's a sad situation, but Trayvon the martyr? I don't buy it. Commence cries of racism, etc...
