Update: The weapon was removed from the GunBroker.com website Thursday, minutes after the auction was to begin. It was not immediately clear why the website took down the listing.
In an interview with FOX 35 news Wednesday night in Orlando, George Zimmerman disclosed that he is auctioning off the gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin four years ago. He made international news by killing Martin as a neighborhood watch leader. The case made the 17-year-old boy a symbol of racial profiling and the face of a protest movement. A jury acquitted Zimmerman in the unarmed African-American teen’s death after he claimed self-defense.The acquittal helped launch the Black Lives Matter activist movement. The starting bid is set at $5,000. Zimmerman confirmed to FOX 35 reporter Valerie Boey, that he is selling the gun and plans to use the proceeds to fight against Hillary Clinton and Florida State Attorney Angela Corey. The 9mm pistol that Zimmerman said was used to shoot and kill Martin on February 26, 2012 is up for sale in an online auction. Zimmerman told FOX 35 about the weapon and its sale. “I recently received it back from the Department of Justice. They took it after my trial, after I was exonerated,” he said.
Link to Zimmerman gun auction: https://t.co/4mFAB0GtoC #FOX35 @Fox35News
—Valerie Boey (@vboey) May 12, 2016
#Georgezimmerman says he’ll use the proceeds to fight against Hillary Clinton and State Attorney Angela Corey.#FOX35 @Fox35News
— Valerie Boey (@vboey) May 12, 2016
“I thought it’s time to move past the firearm,” Zimmerman said in the interview. “And if I sell it and it sells, I move past it. Otherwise, it’s going in a safe for my grandkids and never to be used or seen again.”
Tracy Martin, Trayvon’s father, released a statement through his lawyer early Thursday saying the family would not be commenting on the “actions of that person that murdered Trayvon.”
“The Trayvon Martin Foundation is committed to its mission of ending senseless gun violence in the United States,” the statement said. “We are laser focused on furthering that mission.”
Since his acquittal in 2013, Zimmerman has made news several times, including an arrest in a domestic violence case. Prosecutors dropped the charges after his girlfriend refused to cooperate with the investigation.
According to the online site gunbroker.come, the gun, a Kel-Tec PF-9 and according to Zimmerman it is “a piece of American history.”
“Prospective bidders, I am honored and humbled to announce the sale of an American Firearm Icon,” the listing says. “The firearm for sale is the firearm that was used to defend my life and end the brutal attack from Trayvon Martin on 2/26/2012.”
Mr. Zimmerman said in the listing that “many have expressed interest in owning and displaying the firearm,” including the Smithsonian Institution.
A trip to the website this morning showed that the posting of the firearm had been taken down with no mention of it being sold.