It is legitimate under the law to check out suspicious behavior, so the statute doesn't apply to this situation.
It's unclear what Zimmerman found suspicious about Martin's behavior besides his looking around as he walked down the street.
pursuing someone is not even assault
I disagree. You're arguing that someone who wasn't engaged in any criminal activity should be OK with kerb-crawling followed by foot pursuit. I would not be OK with someone following me down the street in such fashion.
Also, it's not an undisputed fact that Zimmerman was chasing Martin. Zimmerman, for one, disputes that.
The police dispatcher asks him whether he was following Martin and Zimmerman replied in the affirmative. This is just a fact. From the transcript of his call:
Dispatcher: Are you following him?
Zimmerman: Yeah.
I'm inclined to give his words on tape during the actual incident much greater weight than whatever a posteriori account he offered afterwards. After all, he wasn't on the hook for a homicide at the time he got out of the car.
It's unclear what Zimmerman found suspicious about Martin's behavior besides his looking around as he walked down the street.
pursuing someone is not even assault
I disagree. You're arguing that someone who wasn't engaged in any criminal activity should be OK with kerb-crawling followed by foot pursuit. I would not be OK with someone following me down the street in such fashion.
Also, it's not an undisputed fact that Zimmerman was chasing Martin. Zimmerman, for one, disputes that.
The police dispatcher asks him whether he was following Martin and Zimmerman replied in the affirmative. This is just a fact. From the transcript of his call:
Dispatcher: Are you following him?
Zimmerman: Yeah.
I'm inclined to give his words on tape during the actual incident much greater weight than whatever a posteriori account he offered afterwards. After all, he wasn't on the hook for a homicide at the time he got out of the car.