George Zimmerman isn’t exactly keeping his head down.
After a jury found him not guilty of murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, Zimmerman has spent the past month as a free man doing exactly what he did behind bars: making headlines. First, he reportedly—and not without considerable skepticism—helped a family of four escape their overturned vehicle in Florida. Then the police stopped him for speeding in Texas and discovered he had a gun in his glove compartment. Last Friday, he visited the firearms factory that manufactured the gun he used to shoot Martin dead. And on Thursday, a parody TMZ Twitter account posted that Zimmerman himself had been found dead in a local Orlando hotel, causing more than a few undiscerning Twitter users to fall for it (with a spammy link).
The constant news seems at odds with what his brother called his post-trial plans to stay out of the spotlight, mainly to avoid all the death threats he’s been getting since Martin’s death caused an uproar. ”I think he has more reason now than ever to think that people are trying to kill him because they express they’re trying to kill him, all the time, every day, on my Twitter feed, on the internet,” Robert Zimmerman Jr. told CNN.
Zimmerman’s defense team is less than thrilled about seeing his client in the news. “We certainly would not have advised him to go to the factory that made the gun that he used to shoot Trayvon Martin through the heart,” says Shawn Vincent, a spokesperson for Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara.
Kel-Tec manufactured the semi-automatic handgun Zimmerman used—and got back from the cops after his verdict. Now he seems to be in the market for more firearms. At the factory, he reportedly asked about his ability to acquire the KSG tactical shotgun, “one of the most desired products in the industry,” according to the company.
Even Joe Scarborough, a former Florida Republican congressman who’s now a TV pundit, warned members of the GOP to avoid associating themselves with Zimmerman after this week’s stunts, saying “don’t embrace him as a hero.”
Zimmerman’s wife, Shellie, generated her own headlines this week by pleading guilty to perjury. The misdemeanor charge has to do with her lying about the state of the couple’s finances at Zimmerman’s bond hearing, telling the judge they had no cash, but failing to mention that supporters had given them more than $100,000 in online donations. (Zimmerman is now asking the state of Florida to pay $200,000 to $300,000 for his legal fees).
George Zimmerman Happily Tours Gun Factory as he Asks Taxpayers for More Money http://t.co/wwGD0FCvzk #StopRush #UniteBlue
— Shawtwo (@Shawtwo) August 29, 2013
Pure class RT @stopthenra: All smiles, George Zimmerman shakes hand of manufacturer of gun that killed Trayvon Martin http://t.co/3Unalu6G4T
— Kelly Steele (@steelekelly) August 29, 2013
A Vocativ scan of social media for the last 30 days shows an overwhelming amount of Twitter posts regarding George Zimmerman, many of which are negative, and some of which are of the death threat variety.
I don’t understand why the Zimmerman’s are still in the media & looking for sympathy.
— Destinee (@Destineeee_x3) August 29, 2013
Some one asked me who I want to kill- that’s easy ZIMMERMAN or how every u spell his ugly ass name-_- not even kidding — just a black girl (@BLACKPEOPLEEE) August 29, 2013
Remember, when moaning about silly dysfunction in your family, be thankful you’re not part of the hate-fueled, delusional Zimmerman family. — Deborah NYC (@DebsWorldNY) August 29, 2013
I’d hate to be George Zimmerman’s lawyer.
— alexis (@_shutupALEXIS) August 29, 2013
Shellie Zimmerman is taking some of the heat, too, less for the perjury charge and more for the news that she might divorce Zimmerman. In an interview with ABC News on Thursday, she talked about their marriage problems, including an argument they got into the night before he shot Martin. ”I was staying at my father’s house. We had gotten into an argument the night before and I left,” she said. In the interview, she also said she’s “deeply sorry” for Martin’s parents’ loss.
How long until George Zimmerman’s wife has her own tv show?
— DJ Creighton (@DJCreighton) August 29, 2013
The post After Trayvon: The wild world of George Zimmerman as a free man appeared first on Vocativ.