George Zimmerman says he is now homeless and is struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder in a recent interview with a Univision television show.
The former neighborhood watch guard, who was found not guilty of all charges in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, opened up to the Spanish language television show Aquí y Ahora (Here and Now) and said he is still struggling with living a “normal life” since his acquittal.
During the taping, Zimmerman said that he believes he did the right thing but lives in fear of his life, adding that he wears a bullet-proof vest whenever he leaves his home.
In discussing the events of the night he fatally shot Martin on Feb. 26, 2012, Zimmerman said that he was initially concerned that the bullet had not struck Martin and had potentially hit a neighbor instead.
“I was afraid it had gone through his clothes and that it was going to go … get lost, and, um, you know, go into a house and — because the young man was still talking to me, as I have said. So I thought that it hadn’t … affected him, and I got worried, and I said, ‘I hope that it hasn’t — that the bullet hasn’t hit a neighbor,'” Zimmerman says. “But I only knew that the attack stopped.”
An English-language translation released Saturday indicated that when asked if he had done the right thing, Zimmerman said, “in my mind and between God and me … I know that if I did not act the way I acted … I would not be here,” reports The Los Angeles Times.
Zimmerman said he faces $2.5 million in debt due to lawyers fees and is currently living off assistance from his family. He said that he is not working, does not have a permanent home and has no health insurance.
He told the show’s special correspondent Ilia Calderón that the struggles and danger he says he faces is because of the media’s portrayal of the shooting.
“Honestly, I [would] love to live a calm life without being in the press. I’d like [to be treated like] any American citizen — have a ticket … or an argument … [and] not have everyone aware,” he said. “But that … that’s my life and I do not understand why that is, but I’m living my life as I have always lived.”
According to The Orlando Sentinel, Zimmerman did not answer several questions during the interview – including an inquiry on whether he should have waited for the cops to arrive that night – citing that the case is under a federal Department of Justice investigation.
Zimmerman previously planned to participate in a celebrity boxing match against rapper DMX but the fight was recently cancelled. When asked about his thoughts on the matter, he said it “transformed into something that is not right.”
The interview, which comes seven months after the trial and almost two weeks before the second anniversary of the shooting, is scheduled to air Sunday at 7 p.m.
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