Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

After Killing Trayvon Martin, Zimmerman Harasses his Family

In 2012, George Zimmerman murdered 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. What followed was an incredibly polarizing court case and the trial concluded in Zimmerman being acquitted. This case demonstrated the impunity of the police and the racist character of state institutions.

Enid Brain

December 7, 2019
Facebook Twitter Share
Image From Rogue Rocket

Many mainstream media outlets took up the ‘cause’ of Zimmerman, calling Martin a “thug” and essentially blaming him for his own murder. Conversely, Zimmerman was painted as a vigilante standing up for his neighborhood. The language was racially charged and the trial concluded in Zimmerman being acquitted. Many thought that, after getting away with killing a teenager, Zimmerman would fade away from the public eye, especially given the level of opposition to his aquittal. However, he has kept himself in the news both for his very apparent misogyny and racism. 

He was detained for threatening his wife, was arrested for pointing a gun at his girlfriend, threw a bottle at his girlfriend’s head, and was kicked out of a bar after screaming racial slurs at the waitstaff. The most notable of his increasingly bizarre and disgusting attempts to reclaim public attention was when he auctioned off the gun that he used to kill Martin for over $130,000. Not to be deterred, Zimmerman is back in the news again this week for filing a suit against Martin’s family for $100 million on the grounds that the Martin family invented evidence. So we find ourselves, once again, talking about this racist murderer.

The allegations of this lawsuit are so ludicrous that they are barely worth the time to discuss. In essence, Zimmerman is arguing that he was the victim of a conspiracy and that Martin’s family, witnesses in the case, and the State of Florida worked together to have one woman pretend to be another in order to testify in the case. Zimmerman also names HarperCollins as a defendant in the case, objecting to a recent book they published by the attorney for the Martin family. Zimmerman’s attorney in this case is politically on the far right and has been recommended for suspension after pursuing a romantic relationship with a client and then severely increasing his price after she rejected him.

There are numerous elements of this story that are infuriating, but one that has not been discussed much is the question of what happened to all those who, at the time, supported Zimmerman? After the trial, 49% of white people surveyed said that they were satisfied with the verdict, and 60% of white people in the same survey said that race was getting too much attention in this case. If Zimmerman’s continuous return to public discourse shows anything it is that he is the violent and racist man who so many white people resisted believing him to be. So, where are his supporters now? Have they begun to reckon with how obviously wrong they were? Have they addressed the broken thinking that led them to side with Zimmerman?

Above all else, the most outrageous thing about this whole lawsuit is that it is, once again, the focus on Zimmerman, rather than on Martin. Zimmerman is still able to live his life and make news. Martin had his life taken from him the night that Zimmerman followed and shot him. What life could he have led? What stories could we be writing about Trayvon Martin? But instead we return again to talking about Zimmerman. In this way, black bodies continue to be erased. We will never get to talk about an adult Trayvon Martin because of George Zimmerman.

Facebook Twitter Share

Enid Brain

Enid is a trans activist, artist, and service industry worker in New York City. Visit her on Twitter at @enidbrain.

United States

A Pause in Genocide Is Not Enough: Jewish Voice for Peace Shuts Down the Manhattan Bridge

Amid a pause in Israel’s offensive on Gaza, Jewish Voice for Peace is showing that the movement for Palestine will continue. Civil disobedience must lead to broad protests which bring all sectors of the movement together.

Samuel Karlin

November 26, 2023
Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid, and Tahseen Ahmed wearing Keffiyes. They were shot in Burlington, Vermont, USA.

The Three Palestinians Shot in Burlington Are Victims of Rising Islamophobia

Three Palestinian men were shot in Burlington Vermont while walking down the street. The campaign against Palestine has dehumanized all Palestinians and left them more vulnerable to these types of attacks.

Enid Brain

November 26, 2023
A rally with people holding signs and a banner reading "Full funding"

Student Workers Stand Up for CUNY and Palestine

Attacks on CUNY and CUNY activists are an attack on all working people and students. Workers and students united can fight back.  

Olivia Wood

November 25, 2023

Protestors Disrupt Thanksgiving Parade With One Message: End Genocide, Don’t Celebrate It

This Thanksgiving, pro-Palestine protestors and Indigenous people refuse to allow the whitewashing of past and ongoing genocide.

Emma Lee

November 23, 2023

MOST RECENT

Fact Check: Did German Leftists Try to Bomb West Berlin’s Jewish Community Center in 1969?

Answer: No. The bombing was undertaken by West Germany’s domestic secret service, originally founded by Nazis.

Nathaniel Flakin

November 29, 2023
Protesters in NYC for Palestinian liberation.

Uniting Workers for Palestine Is a Fight for the Future of Labor

The struggle for Palestine shows the potential for the rank and file to push unions to break with imperialism and to build a new, combative, and internationalist unionism.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

November 27, 2023
Haverford College student Kinnan Abdalhamid and Brown University students Tahseen Ahmed and Hisham Awartani, Palestinian college students who were shot in Burlington, Vermont.

Haverford Faculty for Justice in Palestine Releases Statement Supporting Pro-Palestinian Students

Haverford College Faculty for Justice in Palestine have published a statement following the shooting of three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont.

Women in Gaza: “Sleep Is a Luxury We Cannot Afford”

November 25 is the International Day Against Gender-Based Violence and organizations and activists from diverse countries around the world are calling to mobilize for  a Global Feminist Action for Palestine,

Andrea D'Atri

November 25, 2023