George Zimmerman Sold The Gun He Used To Kill Trayvon Martin For A Lot Of Cash
George Zimmerman just sold the gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin for as much as $138,900, according to CNN. This comes not long after he announced his plans to auction the firearm off.
There are conflicting reports on the actual amount, with some claiming the gun actually sold for around $120,000.
Regardless, this is very sickening news, as Zimmerman just profited off of killing an unarmed black teenager.
In 2012, Trayvon Martin was walking home after buying a pack of Skittles. Zimmerman spotted the young man, who was wearing a hoodie at the time, prompting him to dial 911 to report a "suspicious person."
The 911 dispatcher told Zimmerman to remain in his vehicle, but he disregarded these instructions, followed Martin and ultimately shot and killed him. Martin was 17 years old.
Zimmerman claimed he shot the young man in self-defense and was acquitted in a trial in 2013.
The dubious circumstances of the fatal incident helped catalyze the Black Lives Matter movement while sparking a wider conversation regarding racial profiling, racism and gun violence in the United States.
As President Obama famously stated in 2013,
Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago. There are very few African-American men in this country who have not had the experience of being followed when they are shopping at a department store. That includes me. There are probably very few African-American men who have not had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me -- at least before I was a senator. There are very few African-Americans who have not had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had the chance to get off. That happens often. The African-American community is also knowledgeable that there is a history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws, everything from the death penalty to enforcement of our drug laws. And that ends up having an impact in terms of how people interpret the case. And that all contributes, I think, to a sense that if a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario that, from top to bottom, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.
Zimmerman, a man with a history of violence that, beyond the killing of Martin, includes being charged with domestic aggravated assault against his girlfriend in 2013, said he plans to use some of the proceeds from the sale of the gun to fight violence inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, according to The New York Times.
Someone should probably inform Mr. Zimmerman FBI data show killings of police officers actually declined in 2015, contradicting the notion Black Lives Matter inspires some sort of "war on police."
Zimmerman also said he wants to use some of the proceeds from this sale to stop Hillary Clinton's "anti-firearm rhetoric."
Meanwhile, the family of Trayvon Martin continues to fight to end gun violence, and Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, endorsed Clinton back in January largely because of the former secretary of state's stance on firearms.
Needless to stay, there's a stark disparity between how the family of Martin and the man who killed him moved on from the young man's tragic and untimely death.
Citations: George Zimmerman's auction for gun that killed Trayvon Martin ends (CNN)
