Zimmerman relative, 'Witness 9' accused Zimmerman of racial bias
theGRIO REPORT - theGrio has learned that the initial claims that Zimmerman harbored bias against African-Americans came from a member of his family...
The sources told theGrio the woman initially took steps to come forward; even making arrangements to meet with a reporter and tell her story. She never showed up for the interview, despite a promise that she could remain anonymous. The sources also said the woman’s allegations include the fact that Zimmerman or members of his family objected to her dating black men in the past.
Meanwhile, an FBI interview in April with Zimmerman’s former girlfriend, who filed a restraining order against him after he allegedly hit her, indicates that she told agents investigating the case that Zimmerman’s mother, who is from Peru, “talked about marrying into white families in order to improve one’s status.” (Zimmerman’s father is white.) The FBI report states that the former girlfriend said she didn’t get along with Zimmerman’s mother, “and did not think that she approved of” the girlfriend, because her mother was Puerto Rican and her fathr was from Argentina. The woman told investigators that while it was never said explicitly, she “felt that Zimmerman’s mother wanted him to marry a white female,” though she said Zimmerman came to her defense on one occasion when she got into an argument with his mother. In that instance, Zimmerman reportedly “turned off the electricity to his mother’s house, and departed leaving his mother without electricity.” The girlfriend told investigators Zimmerman played basketball with men of all races and never showed any racial bias, and that he has a brother who is gay and “has never showed [sic] anything but support for his brother.”
It is not known whether prosecutors plan to use Witness 9’s statements, or the former girlfriend’s to try and prove that racial bias played a role in Zimmerman’s following and shooting Martin. Prosecutors have declined to comment on the investigation.
O’Mara has made what he calls false accusations of racism against Zimmerman central to his defense. Ironically, the first such charge — and the only direct one — appears to have come from a member of Zimmerman’s family. A representative of O’Mara’s law firm declined to comment for this article, saying O’Mara would comment once Witness 9’s statement is released.
Separately, Zimmerman’s lawyers on Friday sought to have Judge Lester replaced as the trial judge, charging that he is biased against their client after Zimmerman and his wife misled the court about their finances. The state attorney’s office in a later email to the media indicated they would object to Judge Lester recusing himself in the case.
But for now, the focus on Monday could shift to Witness 9, who concluded her phone call with a plea for her identity to remain secret. But she added: “I just … I’m a mom. I can’t stand seeing that some kid got shot and killed over a stupid fight, especially one that my [redacted] … because I know how he is.” She asked the officer to “just get character reports from other people and see if he’s ever said anything about black people or been racist or anything like that, ’cause I guarantee there’s someone out there that will say it.”
“Hopefully they’ll admit it and not be afraid of him,” she says. “But I swear, please just look into that.”
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