I don't care if he was President of World Safety. Positions don't excuse poor judgement. And had he exercised better judgement, Martin would still be alive.
But that doesn't make Zimmerman a murderer in the eyes of the law. Nor should it.
The exact same thing can be said about Trayvon Martin. If we're being perfectly fucking honest here, Trayvon Martin is the one that sent this thing spiraling out of control. He was the person that elevated it to a physical level, not Zimmerman.
Let's not, unless you believe that selling drugs deserves capital punishment.
Of course I don't, but again, you totally ignore all of the facts. It wasn't just drugs, there was plenty of violent behavior and other misc. shady activity that goes along with that. With that said, I'm not saying he deserved capital punishment for any of it, but if you're gonna attack someone who may or may not be packing heat you better be prepared for the consequences. Martin should have taken that into account before he started knocking Zimmerman's skull against the concrete.
All of the background information absolutely is relevant to a case like this. Trayvon Martin was not "the little 14-year-old kid that loved Skittles" as the media and his parents made him out to be; by all reasonable accounts he was tall, strong, and appeared to be a fully-grown man. Why do you think the jurors sided with Zimmerman in the "was he convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he was fighting for his life" question? Taking Martin's background into account helps to determine how he might have reacted to Zimmerman following him. In any other case an important part of the process is establishing the background, character and credibility of all relevant parties. It also helps to establish motive or lack thereof.
But go ahead, ignore all the facts and keep acting like it was all Zimmerman's fault
Both parties had a choice to make here, and both of them made the wrong choice. We must give credit where credit is due, and just because only one of them lived, that doesn't mean it's fair to shift blame off the person who died.