On an old MySpace page belonging to George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin and is charged with his murder, makes disparaging comments about Mexicans and details his response to a criminal case against him in 2005.
The page was first made public by the Miami Herald. Zimmerman's lawyer, Mark O'Mara, confirmed that the page is George Zimmerman's MySpace, but has been unused for years.
On Zimmerman's legal defense fund website, his lawyers admit that the page "will cast Mr. Zimmerman in a less-than-favorable light especially considering the charges he faces."
"In that regard, it is possible that the statements Mr. Zimmerman made could be used as part of the trial, and therefore it is our policy not to comment directly on items that could become evidence," the site read. The statement also indicated that the social media accounts of "all the parties" involved might come under scrutiny, and may be introduced at the trial as evidence.
Photos on Zimmerman's MySpace page show Zimmerman, who calls himself "Joe G.," with groups of friends. In his biographical blurb, he discusses things he doesn't miss about his former home in Manassas, Virginia:
I dont miss driving around scared to hit mexicans walkin on the side of the street, soft ass wanna be thugs messin with peoples cars when they aint around (what are you provin, that you can dent a car when no ones watchin) dont make you a man in my book. Workin 96 hours to get a decent pay check, gettin knifes pulled on you by every mexican you run into!”
In an August 24, 2005 blog post, he boasts about his relief about the proceedings in a criminal case.
Im still free! The ex hoe tried her hardest, but the judge saw through it! Big Mike, reppin the Dverse security makin me look a million bucks, broke her down! Thanks to everyone for checkin up on me! Stay tuned for the A.T.F. charges......
A few days later, he expresses happiness that the other charges against him were reduced to misdemeanors.
2 felonies dropped to 1 misdemeanor!!!!!!!!!!! The man knows he was wrong but still got this hump, Thanks to everyone friends and fam, G baby you know your my rock!
In 2005, a 20-year-old Zimmerman was arrested and charged after an altercation with a police officer. The same year, his ex-fianceé filed a restraining order against him and accused him of domestic violence.
The 28-year-old Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, on the night of Feb. 26. The case has garnered international attention, as many have called the case an example of rampant racial profiling, and have called for a repeal of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" gun laws.
Social media has played a major role in the case so far. News about the case spread virally on sites like Facebook and Twitter before it was picked up by mainstream outlets, and Martin's since-deleted tweets were made public by the Daily Caller, a conservative news website. One of Martin's accounts, called "NO_LIMIT_NIGGA," in which Martin is shown with gold fronts in his mouth and talking about drug use, was seen by many Zimmerman supporters as evidence that the slain teenager was a hoodlum.
"These were not protected tweets," the site's editor told The Huffington Post about the decision to run Martin's tweets, which were from an account that was no longer active. "While he was alive, these were not outside of the public sphere in any shape or form."