George Zimmerman Gun Auction Draws Fake Buyers, Bid Price Now At $65M
Internet trolls take over online auction with fake bids.
When George Zimmerman, the gunman who shot African-American teen Trayvon Martin in 2012, received the gun he used back from the Department of Justice, he decided to put it up for sale through an online auction. According to a Huffington Post report, Zimmerman announced that he was selling his Kel-Tec PF9 9mm handgun which he used as a neighborhood watch volunteer, which he listed as "an American Firearm Icon."
The online auction hosted by the United Gun Group opened the auction on Thursday through the group's website. Since then, the site has received bids as high as $65 million, from a bidder named Craig Byrant. It is not known if Bryant is a serious bidder however. Before him, another bidder who called himself Racist McShootface was the one with highest bid on record.
According to a CNN report, his bids were deleted as he was labeled as a troll or a fake bidder. Aside from him, there were other online bidders who were also considered fake bidders as most of them used the names of some known shooting victims such as Tamir Rice and Shaniqua Bonifa.
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The weapon figured in the shooting that killed the 17-year-old Martin, who was said to be taking a walk home from a neighborhood store when he chanced upon Zimmerman, who claimed that Martin attacked him so he need to defend himself. Zimmerman was acquitted of charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter, which triggered nationwide civil rights protests
According to a Reuters report, the United Guns Group was not the first group that Zimmerman approached to help sell his gun. Zimmerman reportedly approached GunBroker.com, who refused him outright, stating that they did not want to be a part of it and the "attendant publicity" that it will definitely bring.
The outlet cited that two other brokers were also approached and these were Cincinatti-based Wes Cowan of Cowan's Auctions and Maine-based James Julia of James D. Julia Auctioneers. Both auctioneers turned down Zimmerman because of moral and ethical reasons.
