George Zimmerman Claims It Was Part of God's Plans for Trayvon Martin to Die, Accuses Obama of Stoking Racial Tensions in America
George Zimmeran, the man who was acquitted in the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, has said in a video that it was part of God's plans for the 17-year-old Florida teenager to die. Zimmerman also accused President Barack Obama of stocking racial tensions in America.
"I believe God has his plans, and for me to second-guess them would be hypocritical, almost blasphemous," Zimmerman said in an interview posted on his website, talking about the fatal incident involving Martin.
"It's up to God and I put it all in his hands, and I do have faith that whatever he has planned out for me is what's best for me," he added about his future. "So whatever he's determined, whatever he has planned out for me, I am along for the ride and I just hope to be strong enough to see his will be done."
Back in February, the Department of Justice decided not to bring criminal charges against Zimmerman.
The 31-year-old was acting as a neighborhood watchman in Sanford, Florida, on the night of Feb. 26, 2012, when he shot and killed Martin following a confrontation. While Zimmerman has claimed the shooting happened out of self defense, Martin's parents and civil rights activists have claimed that the African-American teenager was racially profiled and murdered.
In the latest video, Zimmerman accuses Obama of being unfair to him in the aftermath of the incident.
"President Obama held his Rose Garden speech stating if I had a son he would look like Trayvon," the 31-year-old said. "To me, that was clearly a dereliction of duty pitting Americans against each other solely based on race."
Zimmerman continued: "He took what should have been a clear-cut self-defense matter — and still to this day on the anniversary of the incident he held a ceremony at the White House inviting the Martin-Fulton family and stating that they should take the day to reflect upon the fact that all children's lives matter."
He added: "Unfortunately for the president, I'm also my parent's child and my life matters as well. And for him to make incendiary comments as he did and direct the Department of Justice to pursue a baseless prosecution he by far overstretched, overreached, even broke the law in certain aspects to where you have an innocent American being prosecuted by the federal government, which should never happen."
Although Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder in July 2013, he has faced a number of other charges in separate cases.
In January, Zimmerman was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend in Lake Mary, Florida, who accused him of throwing a wine bottle at her and destroying her cell phone. In September 2014, he was accused of threatening and following another driver during a road rage incident.
A year earlier in September 2013, he was detained by police after his estranged wife, Shellie Zimmerman, said that he had threatened and assaulted her father, but no charges were filed. Two months after that incident, he was involved in another confrontation with his girlfriend, who accused him of pointing a shotgun at her and destroying her belongings, but those charges were also dropped.