George Zimmerman says he's selling gun used to shoot and kill Trayvon Martin

[Teh One Who Knocks]

FOX News


http://i.imgur.com/idR9H16.jpg

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain acquitted of murder charges in the 2012 shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin, said Wednesday he is auctioning off the gun used in the shooting.

“I recently received it back from the Department of Justice. They took it after my trial, after I was exonerated,” Zimmerman told Fox 35 Orlando.

Zimmerman told the station the he’s received numerous death threats while in hiding and has received much more after putting the 9mm pistol that was used to kill Marin on Feb. 26, 2012 up for auction.

“What I’ve decided to do is not cower,” he told Fox 35 Orlando. “I’m a free American. I can do what I want with my possessions."

An attorney for Martin's family declined to specifically comment on Zimmerman, but did issue a statement to Fox 35 Orlando Wednesday.

“The Trayvon Martin Foundation is committed to its mission of ending senseless gun violence in the United States. This election, season, we are laser focused on furthering that mission. As such, the foundation has no comment on the actions of that person."

The station reported that the starting bid for Zimmerman’s weapon is set at $5,000. He is auctioning it through GunBroker.com, where the item description claims "a portion of the proceeds will be used to fight [Black Lives Matter] violence against Law Enforcement officers, ensure the demise of Angela Correy's persecution career and Hillary Clinton's anti-firearm rhetoric."

Zimmerman added that “many have expressed interest in owning and displaying the firearm including The Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C.”

“This is a piece of American History. It has been featured in several publications and in current University text books. Offers to purchase the Firearm have been received; however, the offers were to use the gun in a fashion I did not feel comfortable with,” he wrote.

Zimmerman also claims that the Department of Justice tried to make the gun inoperable, but insists that the weapon remains fully functional and it will come with a letter of authenticity.

Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter in death of Trayvon Martin in July 2013. The Justice Department determined last February that there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Zimmerman with a hate crime in the shooting.

The acquittal is said to have started the Black Lives Matter movement.

The auction is set to go live on Thursday at 11 a.m.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Agence France Presse


Washington (AFP) - A website auction of the gun used by a neighborhood watchman to kill an unarmed black teenager in the United States in 2012 quickly climbed into millions of dollars Friday.

Nationwide protests erupted after George Zimmerman shot dead Trayvon Martin in what he said was self defense, but the teenager's family and friends claimed was a racist murder.

Zimmerman's trial and subsequent acquittal exposed the deep racial fissures in US society.

Online bids for the gun, which had an initial reserve price of $5,000 -- already far above the market value of a secondhand weapon -- rocketed overnight Thursday and into Friday after it was listed on unitedgungroup.com, with five days left to go in the sale.

However, it was difficult to verify the validity of the bids, with participants using obvious pseudonyms and seemingly bidding against themselves as the price climbed past $53 million.

The auction site did not appear to have any restrictions on who could bid for the weapon and did not request down payments.

Zimmerman advertised the gun as "the firearm that was used to defend my life and end the brutal attack from Trayvon Martin" and called the sale "your opportunity to own a piece of American history."

"The firearm is fully functional as the attempts by the Department of Justice on behalf of B. Hussein Obama to render the firearm inoperable were thwarted," Zimmerman's listing said, apparently referring to President Barack Obama.

"I am proud to announce that a portion of the proceeds will be used to: fight BLM (Black Lives Matter) violence against Law Enforcement officers," he wrote.

The Black Lives Matter movement grew out of the killings of a number of young black men across the country, many at the hands of police officers who were not subsequently charged.

- Run-ins -

A neighborhood watch volunteer in a gated community in Florida, Zimmerman fatally shot high school student Martin as he was walking home with iced tea and candy in February 2012.

Zimmerman insisted he had been following Martin on suspicion the teenager was involved in robbery, and that he shot him in an act of self-defense.

He was acquitted of second-degree murder the following year, setting off protests nationwide over Florida's "stand your ground" gun laws.

The weapon's description on United Gun Group, which bills itself as a "social marketplace for the firearms community," was accompanied by photographs of the gun taken when it was displayed as evidence in court.

The 32-year-old Zimmerman has made headlines repeatedly since his acquittal over Martin's death, notably for selling paintings of the Confederate Flag -- which many view as a racist symbol -- in partnership with a Florida gun store.

He has also had several subsequent run-ins with the law.

Last year, he was accused of assault by his girlfriend, although she later withdrew the complaint.

In September 2014, he allegedly threatened a man during a road rage incident on a Florida highway, but police released him because the man did not want to press charges.

In 2013, his estranged wife Shellie Zimmerman called police to say he had threatened her with a gun, but she, too, failed to press charges.

[RBP]

$53 million. :lol: