George Zimmerman caught advertising on Tinder — then kicked off

Everybody looks for love, but they won't find it everywhere. At least that's the case for the man who killed Trayvon Martin in 2012 and has been reviled ever since

Melanie Eversley

Apr 19, 2019

In a case that sounds like it’s right out of the scenes MTV’s “Catfish,” Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman has been booted from the dating app Tinder for trying to meet people through a false profile.

Zimmerman, the self-appointed neighborhood watchman who fatally shot unarmed Black teen Martin in Sanford, Fla., in 2012, was caught on Tinder advertising himself as “Carter,” a 35-year-old self-employed consultant, according to screenshots published by Creative Loafing Tampa.

The advertisement includes several photos of Zimmerman, one in which he is shirtless and wearing mirrored glasses, and accompanies a few sentences in which he explains he prefers to avoid the public.

“I’m looking for carefree fun!” Zimmerman writes. “I love the outdoors, fishing camping and hiking. I love adventure not into huge crowds. I’m also down for a quiet night with Longhorn takeout.”

In February, Zimmerman was booted from Bumble for posting a profile that violated the company’s terms of service, according to Creative Loafing. In that ad, Zimmerman referred to himself as a “jury consultant,” the website reports.

Zimmerman also has been caught on the site OKCupid.

Tinder shared a statement with Creative Loafing indicating that Zimmerman has been banned from the service.

“At Tinder, we take our users’ safety very seriously and our team has removed this profile from our platform,” the statement read. “We utilize a network of industry-leading automated and manual moderation and review tools, systems and processes – and spend millions of dollars annually — to prevent, monitor and remove bad actors who have violated our Community Guidelines and Terms of Use from our app.”

Zimmerman, who was acquitted in the death of 17-year-old Martin six years ago, was booted from Bumble twice, the New York Post has reported.

In February, Bumble sent an email to the Post.

“George Zimmerman was blocked and banned in December 2018 when we first discovered his profile,” the service wrote to the news organization. “We have blocked and banned him again after we were informed by our users that he had created a new unverified profile.”