Zimmerman testimony rips Black Lives Matter
He calls members ‘terrorists’ in new Fla. shooting case
ORLANDO, Fla. — In a heated exchange with a defense attorney, George Zimmerman called members of the Black Lives Matter movement “terrorists” and said he sold the gun he used to kill unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin for $250,000.
Zimmerman, 32, returned to the Seminole County courthouse Wednesday to testify against a man accused of trying to kill him by shooting into his truck last year.
The defense attorney for shooter Matthew Apperson, who maintains he fired in self-defense, peppered his questions with blatant and brutal references to Martin’s death.
“You didn’t shoot at Apperson because he had a pistol and not a bag of Skittles?” Michael LaFay asked.
Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer, shot Martin, a black 17-year-old, who was carrying, among other things, a bag of Skittles in his pockets when he died. A jury in 2013 acquitted Zimmerman in Martin’s slaying, which spurred protests across the country and gave birth to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Apperson admits to shooting a bullet through the window of Zimmerman’s truck on May 11, 2015, but argues he acted in self-defense after Zimmerman threatened him.
Apperson, 37, of Winter Springs, Fla., faces charges of attempted second-degree murder with a firearm, shooting into an occupied vehicle and aggravated assault with a firearm.
LaFay asked Zimmerman if he associated Apperson with the Black Lives Matter movement. Zimmerman said no, calling the group “terrorists” and saying the attorney was giving them “credence.”
“They are terrorists,” he said. “I see them as terrorists.”
A year after the Apperson shooting — on May 11, 2016 — Zimmerman made multiple attempts to sell the gun used in Martin’s death through online auctions.
In a post advertising the sale, which LaFay read in court, Zimmerman referred to Apperson as a “BLM sympathizer” who tried to take his life.
“I spent $2.5 million defending myself for the prosecution, so if I sold the gun for $250,000 that’s really not making any money,” he said.
Over two days, Zimmerman testified for about seven hours as the victim in the current shooting case. His interactions with LaFay moved slowly as Zimmerman frequently asked for clarification on the questions and interrupted him.
Seminole-Brevard Circuit Judge Debra Nelson, who also presided over Zimmerman’s murder trial, admonished Zimmerman for being a hostile witness and interjecting too often.
Attorneys excused Zimmerman for the rest of Wednesday but Nelson instructed him to be back Thursday in case an attorney recalled him to the stand.