So Why Would Zimmerman Not Necessarily Have Deserved a Swollen Nose and Bruises?

[bettyellen]

45. total set up. for it to be a clean kill of an unarmed person, two things needed to be shown:

1) you believed the person was high on drugs, and capable of any kind of violent, erratic behavior.
2) you need to believe they are armed, and a direct immediate threat to you.

According to my cop friends, you need to have both reasons in play when you shoot an unarmed person. George had to know this too. Like the guy with the hammer- except he had a hammer. If he wasn't swinging it and moving toward the cop, they could not have shot him.

And you are completely right, his phone call was a set up to cover his ass in case things went bad.
Where he fucked up was, telling 911 he thought he was dangerous - reaching for "something in his waistband" and then following him.

He tried to say he later found himself under immediate threat during their scuffle, but that was something he initiated himself by leaving the car and admittedly following the kid.