George Zimmerman, a neighbourhood watch volunteer in Florida who was acquitted in the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, recently said in an interview that his killing of the 17-year-old African-American teenager was part of God’s plan. In the same video, Zimmerman is seen accusing President Barack Obama of fueling 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 the interview, while talking of 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.”
In February this year, the Department of Justice made the decision of not bringing criminal charges against 31-year-old Zimmerman, who was at the time of Martin’s death acting as a neighbourhood watch volunteer. On the night of February 26, 2012, he shot Martin to death after the two got into an intense argument. Even though Zimmerman has said he killed Martin out of self-defense, the victim’s parents and civil rights activists have maintained that the African-American teenager was racially profiled and killed.
In his latest video, Zimmerman goes on to accuse Obama of treating him unfairly after Martin’s death.
“President Obama held his Rose Garden speech stating if I had a son he would look like Trayvon,” the 31-year-old Zimmerman said. “To me, that was clearly a dereliction of duty pitting Americans against each other solely based on race. … 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. … 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.”
Despite Zimmerman having been acquitted of second-degree murder in Martin’s case in July 2013, he has faced several other charges since then. In January this year, he was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend, who accused him of chucking a wine bottle at her and damaging her phone. In September last year, he was accused of following and threatening a driver during a road rage incident. A year before that, he was detained by police after his former wife complained that Zimmerman had threatened and assaulted her father, two months after which his girlfriend alleged that he had held her at gunpoint and destroyed her belongings.
Photo Credits: ABC News
