It isn’t every day that a blogger gets an email from an attorney in a high profile murder case. But according to one supporter who frequents a conservative, pro-Zimmerman website called The Conservative Treehouse, Mark O’Mara offered more than a form email. He requested a chat.
O’Mara represents George Zimmerman, who faces second degree murder charges in the killing of Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman has found strong support from conservative media and blogs. His case has become a cause célèbre among Second Amendment advocates, opponents of civil rights leaders like Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson (and of President Barack Obama, who drew conservative ire by saying that if he had a son, he’d have looked like Trayvon), as well as regular watchers of Fox News, where prime time host Sean Hannity even boasted about talking on the phone with Zimmerman during a time his own lawyers couldn’t reach him.
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O’Mara, who took over the case after the previous attorneys quit, has not always gotten applause from Zimmerman supporters for his handling of the case. The “Treepers,” as the users of the site call themselves, have faulted his genial manner and his arguments, which they deemed insufficiently hard-hitting. They seethed when O’Mara described the fatal confrontation between the 28-year-old neighborhood watch coordinator and the Miami teen, who had been visiting Sanford with his father — as a “horrible intersection of two young men’s lives” that “ended in tragedy.” And they demanded he go after Trayvon Martin’s reputation, his parents, and what they call the “scheme team” — the attorneys representing Martin’s family.
“Well, I think he needs to verbally attack Trayvon Martin more, for one, regardless of how the media disagrees. I think he did a good job of explaining why the 7/11 video is relevant,” was a common complaint, from someone calling himself Lou da Jew. “He needs to ask how it must feel to get bashed in the head with a slab of concrete.
Another Treeper called SundanceCracker wrote: “Previously I refrained from opinion on O’Mara, but after watching his approach to the various case issues I think George Zimmerman would be better served with a different attorney taking lead.”
But it was unhappiness with O’Mara’s tactics at the June 29 second bond hearing, after which the judge imposed a $1 million bond, that prompted one Zimmerman fan, calling themselves GZtheCourageous, to voice their complaints to O’Mara in a June 30th email, sent with the subject line: Disappointed! “To be honest,” GZTheCourageous wrote. “many of us are disappointed watching you in the second hearing with Judge Lester. I personally felt you were whispering the strong points, and rather loud and repetitious on the weak points.” It goes on to point out the diligent work Treepers have done researching the case, and combing through discovery and news articles to ferret out information that will help free Zimmerman. “The treehouse think tank has done much research on the case from the beginning. But they began a thread discussing your approach at the second hearing.”
Just a few days later, on July 2nd, O’Mara apparently responded, even asking for a “meet-up.” GZ posted the email said to be from O’Mara on a discussion board at the Conservative Treehouse, along with a note asking an editor named “Sundance” to ” please contact him regarding a chat where we could directly ask him questions, as he suggests?”
From: Mark M. O’Mara
Subject: RE: Disappointed!
Date: Monday, July 2, 2012, 9:03 AMI sincerely appreciate the criticism… there are many more nuances to consider regarding the presentation, and I will respond in more detail… I truly appreciate all the great work done by everyone over there so far, and really take ur comments to heart… rest assured the presentation was metered for very specific purposes, as this is a long-game approach the bull dog mentality would be premature…. goal for today is to get him out, that’s all…… I will respond better shortly….
Pls pass on, and I would like to c if we could set up a chat session so I could respond directly to q’s.. just need to maintain a level of security over the communications…
M Mark M. O’Mara
O’Mara Law Group
1416 East Concord Street
Orlando, Florida 32803
http://www.markomaralaw.com
Reached by theGrio, the person listed as the contact for the Conservative Treehouse responded by email that the site has had no contact with O’Mara, and that the email exchange was provided to the site by a Treehouse reader and posted by the site editors, who were “simply relaying the content of their communication. The person went on to say that the site, which also goes by the name The Last Refuge, has “ZERO affiliation with, nor any connection to, any party of interest in the Trayvon Martin shooting. Nor do we contribute anything to Mr. Zimmerman’s defense. The Last Refuge is a very small discussion blog where a few interested people gather merely to share opinion on points of general interest. No-one visits us much other than a few dozen regular site folks we affectionately call ‘Treepers.'”
O’Mara’s law firm responded to theGrio’s request for comment by email, saying that “regarding The Conservative Treehouse, the email from Mr. O’Mara they published represents the only interaction we have had with them.”
A more confrontational style
However, O’Mara does seem to have shifted his strategy in defending Zimmerman. Where early on, he seemed to avoid confrontational tactics or disparaging Martin, he drew a sharp response from prosecutors by presenting still images of Trayvon Martin at the 7-11 store where he bought iced tea and candy before the shooting — grainy images which made Martin appear larger and more menacing than the images previously seen in the media; and for a post on the GZLegalCase website appealing for fresh fundraising on the GZLegalCase website on July 5th, which included the passage:
For those who have given in the past, for those who have thought about giving, for those who feel Mr. Zimmerman was justified in his actions, for those who feel they would do the same if they were in Mr. Zimmerman’s shoes, for those that think Mr. Zimmerman has been treated unfairly by the media, for those who feel Mr. Zimmerman has been falsely accused as a racist, for those who feel this case is an affront to their constitutional rights — now is the time to show your support.
That appeal was seen by some as an attempt to curry favor with conservative media and blogs who have expressed outrage at what they call race baiting by Martin supporters against Zimmerman.
The Treehouse editor who posted the alleged O’Mara email, SundanceCracker, expressed some reservations about posting the O’Mara email, writing:
I am working my way through the myriad of considerations and doubt I will offer more than just surface response. Lots to flesh out on this, and before anyone comments please think though the variety of issues, highly consequential issues, the considerations outlined in this email provide. Our hand was forced because this communication was dropped into a discussion thread, and in a general sense, as presented, it carries no risk.
It is innocuous enough to allow to stand, and obviously O’Mara thought it “safe” to exist. But further expansion most certainly would present risk. I just cannot find the words right now to explain so that everyone would understand. The last thing O’Mara or Zimmerman need right now is the perception of advice from a “blog” …
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