From a legal standpoint, the jury reached an appropriate verdict. He did not do anything illegal under Florida law and that is what he was on trial for. Yes, it was an unfortunate chain of events and it's terrible that it ended the way it did, but at the end of the day, it was (and this is my personal belief too) self defense. People need to put their emotions aside for a minute and understand that the verdict was based on law...not what they feel is morally right or wrong. Maybe we should blame youthful recklessness for this? It seems that Martin initiated a confrontation with Zimmerman because he felt that he was being folllowed. Initiating that confrontation IS against the law. Zimmerman being on that same street as him is not. Martin should have walked away but he chose not to. Zimmerman didn't go out there to kill anyone that night. He had a gun for protection. A gun that he carried legally. He may have followed Martin but that did not give Martin any right to physically attack him. If Martin felt that threatened, he should have went home. But he didn't and the worst case scenario became a reality.
Zimmerman didn't shoot Martin because he was black. He shot him because he was being attacked by him badly enough that he feared for his life. Self defense. Not guilty. Case closed.