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Brother of Trayvon Martin shooter tweets racist photo

Robert Zimmerman's picture attempts to draw a connection between his brother's victim and De'Marquis Elkins, who allegedly killed a 13-month-old during a robbery.

 

Kevin Collier

Internet Culture

Posted on Mar 25, 2013   Updated on Jun 1, 2021, 8:41 pm CDT

George Zimmerman is currently awaiting trial for the second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin, a black teenager he shot and killed in what he claims was self-defense.

His brother, Robert Zimmerman, stands accused of being really racist about it on Twitter.

Robert sent out a flurry of tweets Sunday evening, all containing the same image. It compares a Martin with purported photo of 17-year old De’Marquis Elkins, who was arrested Friday for allegedly shooting and killing a 13-month-old baby during a robbery.

He tweeted the same photo three times, tagging several media personalities, the National Rifle Association, and amazingly, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Of course, plenty of Twitter users accused Zimmerman of both racism and not being very logical.

“I get it. You’re out to smear your brother’s victim,” replied @Pinkomomma.

“so now it’s acceptable to murder a teen for flipping the bird to a camera?” asked @juniper_breez.

Zimmerman tried to offer an explanation that the image could imply something other than black teenagers who have fingers are likely to shoot people. “Pics like those R usu[ally] prod[ucts] of raising kids w/a cash/cars/bit*hes mentality,” he tweeted.

At least George Zimmerman is staying out of the conversation. Though he once was an avid social media user, his legal team now diligently maintains his online presence. His trial is set to begin June 10.

H/T HyperVocal | Photo of Robert Zimmerman via @rzimmermanjr

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*First Published: Mar 25, 2013, 10:35 am CDT