Update, May 12, 2016, 2:13 p.m ET: The gun appears to have been removed from GunBroker.com. The link for the auction returns the following error: “Sorry, but the item you have requested is no longer in the system.”
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Four years after he killed Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, George Zimmerman is auctioning off the gun he used to end the unarmed Black 17-year-old’s life.
USA Today reports that Zimmerman listed the 9mm gun for sell on GunBroker.com. The one-day auction will start at 11 am ET today (May 12), with bids starting at $5,000. At press time, the auction had been viewed more than 180,000 times. In the listing, Zimmerman describes the weapon as, “the firearm that was used to defend my life and end the brutal attack from Trayvon Martin on 2/26/2012.” He says the U.S. Department of Justice recently returned the gun to him, and that “the firearm is fully functional as the attempts by the Department of Justice on behalf of B. Hussein Obama to render the firearm inoperable were thwarted by my phenomenal defense attorney.”
Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, shot Martin on February 26, 2012, after deciding that his hoodie made him “a suspicious person.” It took police two months to charge and arrest him, and he was eventually acquitted on charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter.
Zimmerman, who has been arrested on firearm and domestic violence charges in the years since his aquittal, says the money will be used to oppose the work of the Black Lives Matter movement, which was sparked by Martin’s death: “On this day, 5/11/2016 exactly one year after the shooting attempt to end my life by BLM sympathizer Matthew Apperson I am proud to announce that a portion of the proceeds will be used to: fight BLM violence against Law Enforcement officers, ensure the demise of Angela Correy’s persecution career and Hillary Clinton’s anti-firearm rhetoric. Now is your opportunity to own a piece of American history.”
The Trayvon Martin Foundation released a statement to the FOX affiliate in Orlando, but did not mention Zimmerman by name:
The Trayvon Martin Foundation is committed to its mission of ending senseless gun violence in the United States. This election season, we are laser focused on furthering that mission. As such, the foundation has no comment on the actions of that person.