To the Editor:

Norman Hoffman has his facts wrong about the Trayvon Martin shooting.  

Based on my experience, and what I read in the news, here is my opinion on what happened. Zimmerman had a legal right to be where he was. He wasn’t on a hunt but was out to observe. There is no obligation to comply with a 911 operator’s suggestion not to follow someone.

Trayvon spoke to his girlfriend on the phone about how annoyed he was that Zimmerman was following him. She will never tell us the truth about what Trayvon really said in his moment of bravado. But we do know that Trayvon decided to beat the living **** out of Zimmerman. He beat him with his fists to the ground.  

I believe he wanted to knock him out so he wouldn’t be able to call the police or follow him home. When he couldn’t knock him out he took Zimmerman’s head and smashed it against the concrete in an attempt to render him unconscious. This was witnessed!

And this is when Trayvon used deadly physical force and Zimmerman was forced to terminate the attack. Zimmerman didn’t pull his pistol until the end.

Now they assigned a bulldog prosecutor to go after Zimmerman, and she will certainly get him before a grand jury and indict him. People who see the photo of the nice young Trayvon are calling for blood and she will give it to them. An unbiased jury will never find him guilty. It was just a terribly unfortunate incident.   

Jim Sottile

Franklin