The reality is that it is a cop's JOB to make judgment calls all the time regarding "guilt or innocence" in terms of whether or not someone has broken the law. That's why they arrest people. For instance, if someone is GUILTY of breaking into a home, they arrest them. I think the news article needs to give more details here. Were the cops AWARE Zimmerman had been pursuing this guy and were they AWARE of the specifics of the 911 conversation? Also, cops are limited by the the way laws apply to a situation. There is nothing illegal with Zimmerman driving around looking for this guy. There is nothing illegal with Zimmerman getting out and confronting the suspect about it. So if the law truly does allow deadly force over being "in fear of great bodily harm or injury" then there's not a lot the cops can do. We really shouldn't blame them for this.

Also, the very last sentence was interesting ...
Why would people in Canada or Thailand be signing a petition that pertains strictly to FL state law? Do people here go and sign petitions in Thailand that only pertain to Thailand law? That doesn't bode well for the credibility of the petition ...