Say this for them: This is, basically, the popular version of what happened, evidence be damned. Zimmerman spots a suspicious man in the distance and, his trigger finger itchy, immediately reaches for his gun. (In fact, Zimmerman told police his gun was in his holster until after the fight started.) Fade out, then fade back in and suddenly there’s a dead teenager on the ground with Zimmerman hunched over him. What happened between the fades is irrelevant. What you’re seeing here isn’t a depiction of “stand your ground” self-defense, it’s a guy basically stalking another guy with his mind on shooting him before he’s even close enough to make out the other man’s features. Is it likely that Zimmerman would have been looking to shoot Martin given that he’d already called the cops and knew that they’d be at the scene at any moment? No, but what kind of ad would that have made?

And in case you’ve forgotten, “stand your ground” played only a very minor role in the trial itself. Zimmerman waived his right to an SYG pretrial hearing and pleaded standard self-defense instead. SYG was mentioned in the jury instructions but if you believe Zimmerman’s version of the fight, which was credible enough to sway the jury, SYG was inapplicable to the facts because he was knocked down before there was any ground to stand. Again, though, what kind of ad would that have made?