George Zimmerman auctions off gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin
UPDATE: Thursday, August 12, 2016 at 2:30 p.m. PT
Gunbroker.com, the auction site where the gun George Zimmerman used to shoot Trayvon Martin in 2012 was listed Wednesday night, has canceled the auction.
"We want no part in the listing on our web site or in any of the publicity it is receiving," gunbroker.com wrote in a statement Thursday, adding that Zimmerman posted the auction listing without assistance from the company. Gunbroker.com auctions are user generated.
You May Also Like
However, another auction listing purporting to be selling the same gun has appeared on United Gun Group Auction.
Additionally, the Smithsonian has issued a public statement refuting Zimmerman's claim that the museum was interested in purchasing the gun for display.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
ORIGINAL STORY BELOW
George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch captain who killed unarmed teen Trayvon Martin in 2012, is auctioning off the gun he used in the Florida shooting.
The 24-hour online auction, scheduled to begin Thursday morning, has an opening bid of $5,000, according to gunbroker.com.
"I'm a free American and I can do what I like with my possessions," Zimmerman told Fox Orlando, adding that the auction was a way for him to move on.
"I thought it's time to move passed the firearm," he said. "And if I sell it, and it sells, I move past it. Otherwise it's going in a safe for my grandkids, and never to be, ya'know, used or seen again."
The Department of Justice recently returned the black Kel-Tec 9mm to Zimmerman, who successfully used Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law in 2013 to defend himself after he was charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in the shooting death of Martin, 17. The acquittal sparked protests across the country.
Last February, the Justice Department decided against pursuing a civil rights case, concluding there was insignificant evidence to prove Zimmerman killed Martin because of his race. Martin was black. Zimmerman has a Latino mother and white father. Trayvon's death has become a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement, along with Michael Brown, Eric Garner and other black men killed while unarmed.
In his auction description, Zimmerman calls the gun, which still has the case number written on it in silver ink, an "American Firearm Icon." Some of the money he makes off the auction will be used to "ensure the demise of Angela Correy's [sic] prosecution career and Hillary Clinton's anti-firearm rhetoric," he writes. Corey was the special prosecutor who tried to put Zimmerman behind bars.
Zimmerman says he feared for his life when he shot Martin after an altercation, but prosecutors painted Zimmerman as a wannabe cop with a faked self defense story.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Martin's family, speaking through the Trayvon Martin Foundation, gave a sharp statement to Fox Orlando regarding the auction: "The foundation has no comment on that person."
As for those who may be appalled by the auction, Zimmerman was unconcerned.
"They're not going to be bidding on it so i couldn't care less about them," he said.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Brittany Levine Beckman was Mashable's managing editor. She enjoys crafting feature ideas, learning new things, and party parrots. Before working at Mashable, she covered community news at the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register. That's how she met a zonkey and the tallest man in the world.
