Charles Barkley is an ignorant buffoon.
The one aspect most people continually ignore in this case, which excuses ALL OF TRAYVON MARTIN'S ACTIONS DIRECTED TOWARDS GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, is how terrifying and how much of a mind fuck it is when you're being FOLLOWED at NIGHT by a stranger in a car, who then gets out and chases you on foot.
How the fuck is a normal person going to think this is a non-confrontational situation??:roll:
'There's a stranger who's been following me for several blocks, but I trust in my heart he's got good intentions.'
When I was 11 years old I had two people in a van drive along side me for about 10-15 seconds in my apartment complex, telling me to come here 'cause they wanted instructions. This was in broad daylight right after school.
I was nervous but I eventually stopped, never moving from the sidewalk.
Suddenly the side door on that van SWUNG WIDE OPEN. They kept telling me to come here kid, etc. I was frozen scared out of mind and eventually they sped off.
Being followed by a stranger at night is RARELY a safe situation. I don't care who you are.
If some of you don't think being followed at night is a big deal, try it sometime.
Go out around 9PM and pick a stranger to tail. Make sure they KNOW you're following them, and do it for about five blocks, never speaking a word. Then all of sudden run up on them and not say shit.
See what happens.
IMO following someone is a form of physical harassment and an implicit physical threat.
It's the fact that the prosecution never explored this line of argument is one of the reasons many feel the state's prosecution was incompetent.
There was enough evidence to charge Zimmerman with involuntary manslaughter; the unintentional killing of another person(this still gives Zimmerman the benefit of the doubt that he never intended to kill Trayvon as was simply defending himself).
That jury was about as stupid as Mr. Barkley.:smt099
