Fail

Zimmerman got out of his car.

Put as much window dressing on that as you want to, you can't get around that one fact. If he had stayed in his car, where he damn well belonged, he wouldn't be wishing he had stayed in bed that morning.

I don't care if the teenager was handing out an ass whooping. You chase some kid down just before dark and you might just run straight into one.

I don't care that he had a glass bottle, and if he had been shoving it up Zimmerman's orifices I couldn't care any less.

I don't care, I don't care, I don't care.

The most important thing you learn in a concealed carry class is how to de-escalate bad situations, not escalate them. One of the ways you do that...is not to start them in the first place.

Zimmerman got out of his car.

I don't see this ending well for him.

The worst part is that the rest of us (meaning, the entire "gun culture") are being judged by his actions.

UPDATE: Miguel adds some detail. He's absolutely right, now that Z-man has lawyered up and shut up we will likely never know what really happened. Not even a change in venue will get an impartial jury now, the case has already been tried in the court of public opinion. My prediction: no criminal case but the Z-man will be sued into the poorhouse through wrongful death suits (no wrongful death suits if there is no criminal case in Florida, that is a plus in my book).

UPDATE II: I don't think Zimmerman is guilty of anything more than douchebaggery in the first degree, which is not punishable by law. He didn't use his head, he didn't de-escalate, and he let his situational awareness get so out of whack that a kid was able to jump him from behind. This is all part of responsible weapons carry, yep bad things can happen to anyone (and often do), but there were many ways to not shoot this kid...starting with not getting out of his car.

UPDATE III: Had to add the video.

UPDATE IV: Well. Don't I feel sheepish.