The man who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and is at the center of an investigation conducted by a special prosecutor in Flortida has created a website soliciting donations. "I am the real George Zimmerman," the site reads, a fact confirmed by Zimmerman's attorneys.
In addition to posting quotes from Thomas Paine and Edmund Burke, Zimmerman dedicates a section of his website to "persons whom have displayed their support of Justice for All." Below that writing are two photos, one of which show a building spraypainted with the words, "Long Live Zimmerman." That building is the Hale Black Cultural Center at Ohio State University, which was vandalized in an apparent hate crime after students held a candlelight vigil last Wednesday.
"On Sunday February 26th, I was involved in a life altering event which led me to become the subject of intense media coverage," Zimmerman writes. "As a result of the incident and subsequent media coverage, I have been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer, my family and ultimately, my entire life."
After Zimmerman denies being connected to other funds that he has seen set up to "support my family and I through this trying, tragic time," he states that he created a PayPal account "to provide an avenue to my supporters personally and ensure that any funds provided are used only for living expenses and legal defense." Zimmerman is currently married, and was working for the fraud-detection company Digital Risk.
Yesterday the special prosecutor charged with the Trayvon Martin case announced that she would not present the facts to a grand jury, and instead would make a determination about whether to charge Zimmerman herself. And in yet another example of the media obfuscating coverage of the story, a FOX News affiliate in Orlando referred to the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group that allegedly has been patrolling Sanford, Florida (it has not been confirmed) as a "civil rights group."
According to the Daily News, the website carried a note stating, "We intended to refer to them as a 'self-proclaimed' civil rights group."
