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George Zimmerman is suing Trayvon Martin's family and lawyers for $100 million

George Zimmerman
George Zimmerman

AP

  • The man acquitted of murder in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin is suing the teenager's family and several others for $100 million.

  • George Zimmerman has named Martin's mother, her attorney, prosecutors, a witness, and a publishing company as defendants in the lawsuit, accusing them of offenses such as conspiracy, defamation, and violating his constitutional rights.

  • Zimmerman fatally shot 17-year-old Martin in February 2012 as the teenager returned from a local 7/11 with snacks. The details of their altercation remain hazy.

  • Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

George Zimmerman, the man acquitted of murder charges in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, is suing the teenager's family and several others for $100 million.

The lawsuit provided by Zimmerman's lawyer, Larry Klayman, accuses the defendants of conspiracy, defamation, and violating Zimmerman's constitutional rights, along with a number of other complaints. Klayman filed the lawsuit Wednesday, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Zimmerman was a 28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida, when he fatally shot the unarmed, black 17-year-old in February 2012 as Martin returned from a local 7/11 with snacks.

The details of the conflict that ensued remain hazy, but Zimmerman alleged that he shot and killed Martin in self-defense because the teenager was attacking him. Martin's family had argued that it was Martin who was attacked and plead for his life.

But now, Zimmerman is accusing Martin's family and attorneys of helping an "imposter" and "fake witness" lie to prosecutors to incriminate Zimmerman. The lawsuit also names several prosecutors involved in the case, accusing them of false and malicious prosecution, as well as a "campaign of obstruction."

Benjamin Crump, Martin's family attorney, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that the lawsuit was baseless.

"I have every confidence that this unfounded and reckless lawsuit will be revealed for what it is — another failed attempt to defend the indefensible and a shameless attempt to profit off the lives and grief of others," he said.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which is named in the lawsuit, told Insider it hadn't yet been served. The Office of the State Attorney for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circuit did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on the allegations against the office's former prosecutors named in Zimmerman's lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that Martin's family and attorneys coached a 'fake witness'

Trayvon Martin
Trayvon Martin

Associated Press

The lawsuit alleges that the prosecution's star witness, Rachel Jeantel, was not Martin's girlfriend and had not been on the phone with Martin just before the conflict with Zimmerman, as she had testified.

Instead, the lawsuit alleges, Jeantel's half-sister, Brittany Diamond Eugene, was actually the one on the phone with Martin before he died. The suit alleges that she declined "intense pressure to make an on-the-record statement incriminating Zimmerman."

The lawsuit names both Jeantel and Eugene as defendants, and neither woman could be immediately reached for comment.

Zimmerman's lawsuit alleged that nearly all of the defendants worked together to cause Zimmerman to be unjustly arrested and prosecuted for second-degree murder. The lawsuit said Zimmerman has suffered "great mental anguish" as a result and has required professional treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and weight gain.

Zimmerman also "lives in constant fear of physical harm due to regular death threats," was forced to abandon his education and career plans, and endured a near total loss of income "as he cannot find work because of his 'infamy' and legitimate fears by employers of violence and boycotts on their company," the lawsuit said.

The attorney representing Zimmerman is a well-known conservative activist lawyer who once sued his own mother

larry klayman
larry klayman

Associated Press/Andrew Harnik

The attorney representing Zimmerman, Klayman, is a highly litigious conservative activist lawyer who founded the right-wing watchdog group Judicial Watch and has filed a prodigious amount of lawsuits over the years — against everyone from Clinton administration officials, to foreign dictators, to his own mother.

Klayman is perhaps best known for suing the Obama administration over the National Security Agency for collecting millions of Americans' phone records. Klayman has also been accused of promoting conspiracy theories, including birtherism.

Zimmerman and Klayman were scheduled to hold a press conference on Thursday, followed by a screening of a film titles "The Trayvon Hoax: Unmasking the Witness Fraud that Divided America," according to Klayman's website.

But on Wednesday afternoon, the theater, Coral Gables Art Cinema, tweeted that the event had been canceled because it "was not aware of all of the details surrounding this event."

Zimmerman's name has resurfaced in the news regularly since his notorious acquittal, which triggered widespread protests and prompted a national debate about racial bias.

Most recently, Zimmerman drew attention after auctioning off the handgun he used to shoot Martin for $250,000. Earlier this year, he was banned from the dating app Tinder, which said it takes users' safety "very seriously."

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