George Zimmerman sells painting for 'Muslim-free' zone gun shop
George Zimmerman is raising money for himself and the owner of a 'Muslim-free' gun shop by raffling off an original painting of the Confederate flag.
George Zimmerman is raising money for himself and the owner of a 'Muslim-free' gun shop by raffling off an original painting of the Confederate flag.
Three of the biggest controversies causing heated debate across the United States have merged into one at a gun shop in Florida.
George Zimmerman, whose acquittal after fatally shooting black teen Trayvon Martin in 2012 sparked the #BlackLivesMatters movement, is raffling off an original painting of the polemical Confederate flag emblem to raise money for himself and for Andrew Hallinan, who last month proclaimed his gun shop a 鈥淢uslim-free zone鈥� after a Muslim man attacked two military sites in Chattanooga, Tenn.
According to a blog post on the gun shop鈥檚 website, Mr. Zimmerman began painting an American flag, but changed his mind when he found out Mr. Hallinan was being sued by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). The transition is reflected in the painting鈥檚 caption.
鈥淭he caption, 鈥榯he 2nd protects the first鈥� is a double entendre,鈥� Zimmerman said according to the post. 鈥淭he first flag I painted on this canvas was an American Flag, but decided to repaint over it with the Confederate Flag when I heard Andy was getting sued by CAIR. The 2nd flag I painted was the Battle Flag 鈥� which we need in America in order to protect the first.鈥�
The 鈥�2nd鈥� and the 鈥渇irst鈥� also refer to the bill of rights, the post continued: 鈥淵ou cannot have the 1st amendment without the 2nd, and you cannot have the American Flag if you remove the Battle Flag.鈥�
Those who purchase prints of the painting will be entered into a raffle to win the original.
While Zimmerman鈥檚 artwork is not what has landed him in headlines in the past, an original painting of an American flag he sold on eBay last year earned him more than $100,000, the blog post said.
The money raised in the raffle will offset Hallinan鈥檚 and Zimmerman鈥檚 legal fees and living expenses, and a portion will be donated to the Boys and Girls Club of America.
By refusing service to Muslim patrons, Hallinan鈥檚 Florida Gun Supply claimed in a video that it was making 鈥淎merica a safer place to live.鈥� While the video received a perhaps surprising number of supportive comments, the legality of a religion-based ban is doubtful.
As 海角大神鈥檚 Meredith Hamilton reported at the time,
This report contains material from Reuters.