George Zimmerman sells gun used to kill Trayvon Martin for nearly $140,000
An online auction for the gun George Zimmerman used to kill black teenager Trayvon Martin has ended with a high bid of $138,900.
The auction for the Kel-Tec PF-9 pistol, listed on UnitedGunGroup.com, ended at noon on Wednesday. More than 180 bids were placed by nine users.
The top bidder was listed as a John Smith from Alabama, but it’s unclear whether the bid is legitimate, as the auction was disrupted by fake offers. “Racist McShootface,” for example, made a bid of $136,600 on Wednesday before the account was closed.
United Gun Group indicated in a tweet that a second auction was held for “pre-qualified” bidders, and that Zimmerman is in the process of sifting through several offers and verifying funds.
— United Gun Group (@UnitedGunGroup) May 18, 2016
Zimmerman later released a statement in which he said that he wanted to “give glory to God” for the auction that successfully raised funds “for several worthy causes,” according to Click Orlando.
Zimmerman had tried to auction off the weapon on two other occasions. The first attempt was at GunBroker.com last week, but the auction was quickly removed by the website’s moderators. Zimmerman tried listing the gun on United Gun Group, but his first attempt there was in vein too, as by Friday afternoon the item had received offers of up to $65 million, many likely from fake accounts intending to disrupt the auction.
The pistol is famous for being the gun used to kill Trayvon Martin in February of 2012. At the time, Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch member who approached Martin, whom he described to police as suspicious.
Zimmerman successfully argued in court that he shot the teenager in self-defense during a confrontation. He was acquitted in 2013.
In a description on the auction, Zimmerman referred to “an American Firearm icon.” It still bears the case number from the trial written in silver permanent market, he said.
In an interview with the Daily Beast on Tuesday, Zimmerman accused Martin’s parents of doing “everything they could to capitalize on her son’s death.”
“They didn’t raise their son right. He attacked a complete stranger and tried to kill him,” Zimmerman said.
The court of public opinion had some new harsh words for Zimmerman himself, however.
@TheRoot Someone should buy the gun put a bullet in it and shoot #Zimmerman 😲🔫
— Douglas (@787FirstClass) May 18, 2016
Hey guys turns out all you have to do to get rich is shoot an unarmed black kid and then sell the gun you used to take his life! #Zimmerman
— Taylor Triplett (@taylor_tt1132) May 18, 2016
George Zimmerman just made 138 thousand dollars for shooting an unarmed black teen
— NickelAss (@fun_haver) May 18, 2016
United Gun Group indicated in statement that it is strictly neutral on the matter.
“Unless the law has been violated, it is the intention of United Gun Group to allow its members to use any of the available features. While not always popular, this is where we stand,” the statement said. “These are the principals this nation was founded on, and our goal is to do our part to defend liberty.
“We know that many lives have been forever impacted by the incident February 26, 2012, and we’re truly sorry to the Martin family for their loss.”
— United Gun Group (@UnitedGunGroup) May 13, 2016