The blogger who revealed the name, address, and photos of a cousin of George Zimmerman, the man charged with killing Trayvon Martin, has carefully guarded his own privacy. Known on the Internet only as “Sundance Cracker,” the anonymous blogger has posted potentially embarrassing personal information about several figures in the Martin case — people who fellow posters at “Cracker’s” website derisively call “Trayvonites.” The punishment for supporting Martin’s family, or for opposing Zimmerman, who has developed a following on some conservative blogs, is often to have intimate details, including photos, posted to the site.
This month, the site, which theGrio will not name, published photos and personal information about the woman known publicly as Witness 9 — a female cousin of Zimmerman, who contacted Sanford, Florida police two days after Zimmerman shot and killed Martin, a Miami teenager visiting Sanford with his father. She told the officer she spoke with that Zimmerman and his family dislike black people, and that from the time she was eight years old, until around age sixteen, Zimmerman — who is two years older — sexually molested her.
The charges drew outrage among Zimmerman’s supporters, including “Sundance Cracker,” who runs a conservative blog whose members spend time perusing evidence in the case, critiquing Zimmerman’s lawyer, Mark O’Mara, and posting negative information about Martin, has family, and his family’s lawyers. O’Mara has taken notice, and even emailed a frequent reader of the site seeking a “chat session” with the bloggers.
Now, it appears “Sundance Cracker” has been outed himself.
A new website, posted anonymously on July 20th, claims that “Sundance Cracker’s” real name is Mark Ivor Bradman, a 46-year-old from Florida. The person who created the site, calling him or herself only “dagmarcleftjaw” — an apparent reference to a character on the HBO series Game of Thrones, said of Bradman: “The blogger who disclosed the identity of the person (a possible victim of sexual abuse) listed as Witness #9 in various court documents associated with the State of Florida’s investigation of Trayvon Martin’s shooting works as a store manager at a Publix Supermarket in the vicinity of Cape Coral, FL His name is Mark Bradman (aka Mark Ivor Bradman and Mark I. Bradman). He is 46, has an unhealthy obsession with George Zimmerman, and is overcome with racial paranoia.”
The creator of the site does not explain or substantiate the claims about Bradman’s interest in Zimmerman, or his attitudes on race. Posters to his site focus on various conservative issues — opposition to President Barack Obama, support for presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and odes to conservative talk radio host Glenn Beck and the late right wing gadfly Andrew Breitbart. However “Sundance Cracker’s” posts often contain a “disclaimer” admonishing commenters to avoid racially abusive or offensive comments.
Still, it was the posting of personal information about Witness 9, including photos of her husband and child, that led some to question the propriety of Sundance Cracker’s careful guarding of his own identity.
Meanwhile, Bradman left one crack in his shield of anonymity — he created a Gravatar account — a universal profile which gives the user a unique online identity wherever he or she goes online or on social networking sites. The Gravatar identifies him by name, as “the author and owner of” the conservative blog, adding that he “also posts as SundanceCracker and GrandpaCracker on other sites across the internet.”
“When he’s not writing online,” the profile continues, “he’s the Phramcy Manager of the Publix Supermarket in Cape Coral, Florida.”
Reached by theGrio, the manager of one of several Publix supermarkets in Cape Coral said Bradman had not worked at the store for “two to four” years. An employee at a nearby chain said he had been a “store manager,” not a pharmacy manager, but that had “retired” from Publix Supermarkets at least five years ago. Publix Supermarkets’ corporate office referred all employment inquiries to a third party firm.
Bradman did not respond to email requests for comment. A person with the same Gravatar and the name Mark Bradman is associated with the Tea Party Patriots and the Naples Tea Party. TheGrio sought comment via a contact email for the Naples Tea Party, but received no response.
Follow Joy Reid on Twitter at @thereidreport.