Kulturkampf

[benji]

The one argument that makes sense to me is the injustice that swift justice is served here while someone like Zimmerman gets to walk free, but surely the solution is to lock up people like Zimmerman too and not to let murderers like this go unpunished.

The problem with the Zimmerman case was that:
1. No witnesses except WHITE Hispanic Zimmerman.
2. His testimony was that he was getting his ass beat by Trayvon.
3. While he had no severe injuries he did have markings and minor ones consistent with being on the ground.

Trayvon told the family member he was on the phone with that he thought a dude was following him, so I imagine Zimmerman was obvious and suspect Trayvon circled and easily got the drop on him. If that was the case, and prosecutors couldn't find any contrary evidence to Zimmerman losing the fight, it would be self-defense even if didn't necessarily escalate to deadly force.

Being "harassed" in a situation you entered and can leave doesn't create any kind of legal self-defense. I don't know the grounds for the murder one charge however, that would indicate they made the case that he took the knife with the intent of doing it and was just waiting for a provocation.