George Zimmerman’s father lays out long list of foes, calls NAACP, Black Caucus ‘racist’ in e-book
theGRIO REPORT - The media, the New Black Panthers, Eric Holder and Rev. Al Sharpton -- even the Florida governor and its attorney general, few are spared in a newly released e-book by Robert Zimmerman Sr...
There are some for whom Zimmerman reserves praise: Bill Lee, Tooley’s replacement as Sanford’s police chief, who was relieved of his position by City Manager Bonaparte last year, who Zimmerman writes conducted a fair investigation.
He also singles out the website The Conservative Treehouse, which has become a hub for George Zimmerman’s supporters, writing: “the research that was being conducted by contributors to this site was astonishing. Although I clearly knew the facts in our son’s case, this site made me almost instantly aware of the behind-the-scenes manipulations by many and the true motives of those involved.”
In July of last year, a post on The Conservative Treehouse revealed the identity of Witness 9, a cousin of George Zimmerman’s who called police two days after the shooting, telling a police officer she believed Zimmerman and his family “dislike black people.” She later told investigators that Zimmerman allegedly molested her from age 6 to 16. The Conservative Treehouse, run by a 46-year-old Florida man, Mark Bradman, who calls himself “Sundance Cracker” online, posted the cousin’s photo, along with a picture of her husband and son, which were later taken down.
When Witness 9’s statements were released by prosecutors last July, Zimmerman’s defense team filed a motion to block their public release, saying on the defense website: “the content of this statement is not relevant to the issues of this case, and it would not be admissible in the State’s case in chief,” referring to the trial itself, as opposed to the pretrial period.
Zimmerman Sr. repeatedly refers to the attorneys and a former public relations representative for the Martin family, Ryan Julison, as the “Scheme Team,” and writes that he “felt it strange that Trayvon’s family would obtain attorneys to represent them, clearly presenting a barrier between themselves and law enforcement, while publicly demanding an open and complete investigation.”
He makes frequent references to “little Trayvon,” and writes that “[a]lthough continually portraying Trayvon as their innocent ‘baby’ or child, Trayvon’s parents must surely have been very well aware of Trayvon’s true nature.” In one passage, he questions the romantic relationships of Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, and Martin’s girlfriend, who he and Trayvon were visiting at the time of the shooting, writing: “[i]t’s very difficult for me to understand all the relationships involved.” He adds that he doesn’t think Martin and Fulton are “bad parents.”
References to the “Scheme Team” and “investigations” of the Martin parents and attorneys are frequent themes on the Conservative Treehouse, and the site gave the book a glowing review.
Reached by phone late Thursday, attorneys for the Martin family said they had not read the book and didn’t plan to, and had no comment.
George Zimmerman’s lawyer criticized
Zimmerman reserves the final chapter of his e-book for his thoughts on various parties involved in the case. In a section called “Trayvon Martin,” he writes: “as a result of the tragic death of Trayvon Martin, I sincerely hope young people will more fully understand there are often unintended and wholly unimagined consequences to inappropriate behavior.”
In a section entitled “Mr. Martin and Ms. Fulton,” Zimmerman states that”[t]here are individuals convinced that Trayvon’s parents were loving and sweet parents raising a wonderful son with a very bright future. Others believe Mr. Martin and Ms. Fulton simply had numerous children and cared little about raising them, primarily being concerned with their own social activities. My personal feelings are mixed.”
And he has criticisms of Mark O’Mara, the lead attorney representing his son. He writes about his frustrations with Mr. O’Mara in the early stages of the case, and that he was “clearly frustrated that Mr. O’Mara initially maintained a ‘wait and see’ attitude pertaining to George’s guilt or innocence.”
“When Mr. O’Mara made comments such as ‘George believes he’s innocent”, [sic] I wasn’t happy,” Zimmerman Sr. writes. “Further, when asked if George was a murder [sic], Mr. O’Mara replied ‘we’ll have to wait and see”. [sic] In a purely legal, technical sense that answer was correct, there being no finding of guilt or innocence in a court of law. However, to the media, and certainly to the public, that answer could only be interpreted as a lack of confidence in a client’s innocence.”
He said O’Mara “initially told the family he was a ‘control freak'” and said the family had no problem with the fact that “Mr. O’Mara wanted control. However,” he writes, ” as time passed, it still appeared George was having little said about him positively in the media, even by Mr. O’Mara. This was extremely frustrating to the family.”
TheGrio reached O’Mara’s law firm on Friday for comment. His spokesman said they were reviewing the book, but they have not yet released a statement or commented.
Zimmerman Sr. is not the first member of the Zimmerman family to criticize the NAACP. Robert Zimmerman Jr., who apologized in March for tweets comparing Martin to the 17-year-old Georgia teen accused of shooting a toddler to death after asking his mother for money (a second teen said to have been with him was not charged), and that the “lib media” should “ask if what these2 black teens did 2 a woman&baby is the reason ppl think blacks mightB risky [sic],” wrote a May op-ed for the conservative Daily Caller website, entitled “What the NAACP can learn from George Zimmerman.”
In it, he re-asserts the Ware claims, and writes:Â “In the wake of the NAACP’s strange attempt to exploit the Trayvon Martin tragedy, I thought back to my discussion with [NAACP president Ben] Jealous about racial equality and my brother’s rebuffed effort to enlist the NAACP to help Sherman Ware. Maybe Jealous’ insistence that there will never be racial equality has something to do with the fact that his organization thrives off racially divisive controversies.”
Zimmerman Jr. was promoting his father’s e-book via his Twitter account on Thursday.
Not everyone was a fan of the book, however. An Amazon customer calling themselves Kharma “Kharma” Kharma, posted their own version of the e-book cover, changing the subtitle to “uncovering my malicious son George.”
Follow Joy Reid on Twitter at @thereidreport.
