Zimmerman tried to sell his gun: It was legal, but was it right?
George Zimmerman is convinced聽he is entitled to auction the gun that killed Trayvon Martin, the black 17-year-old, in Florida in 2012.聽聽
"I'm a free American. I can do what I want with my possessions," Mr. Zimmerman, who was聽, told WOFL, Fox's聽Orlando affiliate, Wednesday. "What I've decided to do is not cower."聽聽
Naturally, Twitter was afire Wednesday聽and Thursday with over聽聽about Zimmerman, most proclaiming utter disgust and scorn for him聽and the sale of the pistol. Among all the tweets that expressed outrage, a video聽CNN's "New Day"聽posted聽of Marc Lamont Hill,聽聽professor of African-American studies聽at Morehouse College and a聽commentator聽for the news network,聽touched on the heart of this anger.聽聽
"He consistently pokes at the same national wound," said Hill聽on "New Day"聽early聽Thursday. "Can you imagine if O.J. Simpson decided to sell a line of steak knives after the unfortunate killings in the 90s?"聽
"Of course he could have done it 鈥� of course he was a citizen who was found innocent by his peers. But it would have been insensitive and mean." 聽
Zimmerman is not聽guilty in the eyes of the law, and, thus, is not restricted by Florida's version of the "Son of Sam"聽law, which is designed to prevent聽felons from profiting from the celebrity status聽they acquire because of聽their crimes. And yet,聽the sale, not to mention the incendiary聽description on the聽web page for the auction, further complicates聽a聽longstanding debate in the US over the morality of "murderabilia"聽or, in this case, a criminal trial that helped kindle the #BlackLivesMatter聽movement.聽
Zimmerman,聽the neighborhood watchman who killed聽Martin,聽was auctioning聽聽he fired at聽the unarmed, hooded聽teenager, on gunbroker.com. The聽auction was scheduled to be held from Thursday to Friday, but聽an error message appeared on the website about 11 a.m. Thursday. "Sorry, but the item you have requested is no longer in the system," the website reads.聽聽
On the web page no longer online,聽Zimmerman聽asked for at least $5,000 for the聽gun, which he said remains聽operable.聽In the description of the聽item, Zimmermann said he does聽not plan to聽pocket the money聽from the sale. Instead, he said, he聽plans聽to devote it聽"to fight [Black Lives Matter] violence against Law Enforcement officers" and "to ensure the demise of Angela [Corey's] persecution career and Hillary Clinton's anti-firearm rhetoric," though The Washington Post聽reported Zimmerman聽has聽. Corey was the Florida聽attorney who prosecuted Zimmerman.聽聽
Zimmerman said聽he has received numerous inquiries for聽the gun, including聽from a Smithsonian museum, although he didn't specify which one. "However, the offers were to use the gun in a聽fashion聽I did not feel comfortable with," wrote Zimmerman. 聽聽
He added that it聽has been featured in "several聽publications" and textbooks already.聽"This is a piece of American history," he said.
Famous or infamous, there are strong opinions over the ethics of this sale.聽
"From a victim's perspective there is nothing more nauseating and disgusting than finding out the person who murdered one of your loved ones now has items being hawked by third parties for pure profit," Andy聽Kahan, the former director of Houston's Crime聽Victims聽Assistance Office, and the man who聽 told U.S. News and World Report.聽聽聽
The effect "murderabilia" or any items involved in a crime can have on victims, emotionally or financially, motivated the New York Legislature to create聽the first "Son of Sam" law in 1977. The federal government and聽40 states聽have since adopted a version of it, although whether it is a聽聽is often debated.聽聽
"When you commit extremely violent crimes, you lose certain rights and privileges. One of them is the ability to tell your story,"聽wrote criminologist Scott Bonn, according to U.S. News and World Report.聽
Marc Lamont聽Hill's parallel聽of Zimmerman to聽Simpson is a thorny one because Simpson, although found not guilty of murdering聽Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in a criminal trial, was聽. Because of this聽paradox, a federal bankruptcy judge awarded 90聽percent聽of the proceeds of Simpson's book, "If I did it," to Goldman's family and the remaining 10 percent to a trustee in order for Simpson to pay off his creditors, including the multi-million wrongful death judgements owed to the Brown and Goldman families.
Zimmerman, in comparison, was not found guilty of any crimes against Martin, and is free, legally, to auction the gun.
