George Zimmerman‘s online auction to sell the gun that was used to kill an unarmed Black teenager, Trayvon Martin, appears to have been halted and removed from the GunBroker website just minutes after the auction was supposed to begin, according to the Associated Press.
The auction was set to begin today [Thursday, May 12] at 11am and continue for 24 hours. According to reports, “The auction listing also said a portion of the proceeds would go toward fighting what Zimmerman calls violence by the Black Lives Matter movement against law enforcement officers, combating anti-gun rhetoric of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and ending the career of state attorney Angela Corey, who led Zimmerman’s prosecution.”
At the end of the listing allegedly there was a Latin phrase that translated to “if you want peace, prepare for war.” Zimmerman received the gun back after he was acquitted in the February 2012 Martin case.
A former state and federal prosecutor, David S. Weinstein, said that it appears that Zimmerman is within his rights to sell the gun through the website, stating, “I can’t think of any legal reason why he can’t sell the gun.”
Since Zimmerman was acquitted, he has been charged with assault based on complaints from two girlfriends, which according to reports were later dismissed after both women refused to press charges. Zimmerman’s estranged wife also accused him of foul play after he allegedly smash her iPad during an argument days after she filed divorce papers, but no charges were filed due to lack of evidence. They divorced in January.
Martin’s family refused to comment on the situation, stating that they’d rather focus on the good work from the Martin foundations than Zimmerman’s actions.
