"It's my understanding that Trayvon Martin got on top of him and just started beating him"

The father of George Zimmerman has decided, against the advice of many, to speak out in defense of his son:

For the first time since that fateful night on February 26, the father of a neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed an unarmed teenager sat down for a television interview.

Robert Zimmerman, father of George Zimmerman, said he decided it was time to speak out for his son, against the advice of others.   He shared with us what George said happened on the night that 17-year-old Trayvon Martin died.

"It's my understanding that Trayvon Martin got on top of him and just started beating him," the 64-year-old Robert Zimmerman said.

He said he felt his son has been portrayed in the wrong way.  He also said he and his family have received death threats and asked that we not show his face on camera.

Because there has been a lot of break-ins in the area, Robert said George thought it suspicious that someone would not be walking on the street or the sidewalk on a rainy night -- that Martin would be walking between the town homes.  He said after making those observations, his son decided to call the police. 

"He called the non-emergency number first, and they asked him where he was, because he was at the rear of the town houses and there was no street sign," said Robert.

Even though a dispatcher told George Zimmerman not to follow Martin, his father said his son continued his pursuit to locate an address to give to police.

"He lost sight of the individual, he continued to walk down the same sidewalk to the next street, so he could get an address for the police," he said.

"He went to the next street, realized where he was and was walking to his vehicle. It's my understanding, at that point, Trayvon Martin walked up to him and asked him, 'Do you have a [expletive] problem?' George said, 'No, I don't have a problem,' and started to reach for his cell phone...  at that point, he (Martin) was punching him in the nose, his nose was broken and he was knocked to the concrete."

Robert said Trayvon, "continued to beat George, and at some point, George pulled his pistol and did what he did."

The interview follows in the accompanying Fox 35 video... it's compelling stuff:

Comments

[Dave]

Did Zimmerman have corroborating injuries? I hadn't heard about them, but I'm (deliberately) not following the story very closely.

[tim aka The Godless Heathen]

‘Even though a dispatcher told George Zimmerman not to follow Martin…’

A small point, but maybe of some importance, I believe the dispatcher said, “You don’t have to do that…” Not a command but rather a suggestion.

Also, 911 dispatchers are not of any authority, one doesn’t have to do what they suggest, advise or tell you to do. And therefore it has no bearing on this case or any other.

But it does help if you want to paint Mr. Zimmerman as a racist, cold blooded killer.

For the record, I believe both parties are to blame for the initial confrontation but having said that, I also believe they both had ever right to be doing what were doing before that. Though walking between houses in a neighborhood you don’t reside in, at night, with a hoodie on, and objecting to someone questioning your presence, isn’t the brightest idea.