More reprehensible behavior for one of right wing America’s heroes.
You can't simmer the Zimm.
By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel 6 hrs ago
ORLANDO, Fla. — George Zimmerman, the former Sanford, Fla., resident acquitted of murder in the 2012 killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, is suing Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg over tweets they posted to commemorate the teenager’s birthday.
The lawsuit was reported Wednesday morning by Newsweek. The attorney representing Zimmerman, Larry Klayman, posted a copy of the suit online, which seeks damages “in excess of” $265 million.
“Trayvon Martin would have been 25 today,” said a tweet posted to the verified Twitter account for Buttigieg on Feb. 5. “How many 25th birthdays have been stolen from us by white supremacy, gun violence, prejudice, and fear? #BlackLivesMatter”
Tweeted Warren’s verified account: “My heart goes out to @SybrinaFulton (Trayvon’s mother) and Trayvon’s family and friends. He should still be with us today. We need to end gun violence and racism. And we need to build a world where all of our children — especially young Black boys — can grow up safe and free.”
In a lawsuit filed in circuit court in Polk County, where Zimmerman now lives, Klayman alleges the tweets “defamed Zimmerman for political gain in misguided and malicious attempts to bolster their standings amongst African-American voters, all at Zimmerman’s expense.”
Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and Warren, a Massachusetts senator, were retweeted more than 7,600 times combined in the three days after their tweets posted, the suit says, and garnered tens of thousands of likes — 42,000 for Buttigieg and 7,300 for Warren.
Zimmerman shot the Miami Gardens 17-year-old inside the Retreat at Twin Lakes community in Sanford on Feb. 26, 2012. Prosecutors said Zimmerman profiled, pursued and killed Trayvon after calling police to report him as su ious. Zimmerman said he fired in self-defense after Trayvon attacked him.
After Sanford police opted not to arrest Zimmerman, citing his self-defense claim, the case became an international cause célèbre and sparked a debate about racial profiling and unequal treatment in the criminal justice system. Zimmerman was later charged with murder but acquitted at trial.
The lawsuit against Buttigieg and Warren argues that, though the candidates didn’t mention him in their tweets, they unfairly tied Zimmerman to racism, white supremacy and gun violence.
“The false impression of … Zimmerman, which Defendants created, caused irreparable harm to him, his business and person and his calling, as well as to his good will and reputation, as well as harmed his family,” states the lawsuit filed Tuesday.
Klayman is also representing Zimmerman in a lawsuit against Trayvon’s family and officials involved in his prosecution, based on a filmmaker’s claim that a key witness in the case was faked. The witness, Rachel Jeantel, testified she was on the phone with Trayvon during his confrontation with Zimmerman.
The filmmaker, Joel Gilbert, is known for promoting conspiracy theories, including unproven or debunked claims about President Barack Obama’s parentage and a secret son of President Bill Clinton.
©2020 The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/george-zimmerman-sues-pete-buttigieg-elizabeth-warren-over-trayvon-martin-birthday-tweets/ar-BB10amFD?ocid=spartanntp
More reprehensible behavior for one of right wing America’s heroes.
Well Zimmerman brought the suit in a state with a decent Anti-SLAPP law....rookie mistake on his part.
Read a comment that the serial LOSER Z is only qualified for a Repug seat in the House of representatives.
Last edited by boutons_deux; 02-19-2020 at 10:35 PM.
Georgy Porgy really needs the money tbh.
Did any of these people tweet anything about him on his birthday in non election years?
LMFAO,I think you don't even need to ask that question
Gonna set aside some time this weekend to watch the Trayvon Hoax film that recently came out.
You always gotta laugh... when a black person gets killed by a white person its RACIST
And when the nameless white folks in every major US city are robbed and killed every day it's not worthy of mention.
Because Cassandras... all the available official data proves that blacks kill/rob/maim whites at a far higher rate than vice versa
It's about making money off conflict and conflating that with the medias overwhelming SJW biases
Legally, he has a decent case for damages. Obviously not as much as he is asking, but some. He was tried and found not guilty by a jury. Explicitly insinuating he is a white supremacist and racist is clearly defamatory.
Crazy how conservatives made this loser their hero. It really opened my eyes to how evil and racist this country still is.
Racism has DEFINED America for 400 years, and American Capitalism was built on the backs of slaves.
=============
Slavery and Capitalism
https://www.chronicle.com/article/SlaveryCapitalism/150787
Three s bags all involved in this. Dog whistlers trying to score phony moralist points with more divisive scab-picking and then the bigger piece of trying to cash in again...
his twitter feed makes it pretty clear that hes a racist. He has absolutely no case for damages whatsoever. This will get thrown out as SLAPP litigation.
Lol white supremacy at the hands of a latino. Hahaha
How is that funny? You don't have to be white to push white supremacy and Zimmerman identifies as white-hispanic.
Zimmerman had a confederate flag as his twitter handle at one point, called Obama a “racist baboon”, posted revenge porn on twitter saying his ex girlfriend cheated on him with a “dirty Muslim”, retweeted a picture of Martins dead body that was captioned with “Zman is a one man army” and bragged about killing Martin on other occasions too.
The idea that any comment suggesting he’s a racist or a white supremacist gives rise to a defamation or libel claim is laughable.
yeah you most definitely have to be or you can be a total ing re like yourself where latino's represent whites.
Public figure. Sorry, Zimm, you want to be a famous conservative hero, you lose some libel/slander rights.
you. I think Zimm is a dumbass. I was strictly saying that he probably has as a legal case.
How do you define him as a public figure? Has he run for office? Have a tv show?
Are those the only criteria you know of?
I don't, the law does. Public figures even include celebrities.
Even if it wasn't well within Buttegig and Warren's 1A rights to call him a racist and a murderer, both of which are subjective interpretations of a factual incident, there's a higher legal standard for defamation against someone perceived to be newsworthy or in the public eye.
He might have more of a case on the "murderer" bit if he didn't actually kill Martin, but he'd basically have to prove they know he didn't kill him and intentionally mislead the public. I'll defer to the ST Legal team if I'm oversimplifying or off in any way.
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