As George Zimmerman’s legal team tries to win his battle in the court of public opinion, disparaging remarks he made about Mexicans on an old MySpace page have handed the team a setback.
Zimmerman has admitted to killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. on Feb. 26, saying he did so in self-defense and is using Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law as a defense. He was charged with second-degree murder in late April and released on bond.
The case has been a lightning rod for controversy, as many believe Zimmerman racially profiled Martin that evening and will use the discovery of his old MySpace page as ammunition.
The MySpace site, which dates to 2005, was confirmed as Zimmerman’s by his attorney Mark O’Mara. It makes negative comments about Mexicans and discusses a seven-year-old domestic violence incident with an ex-girlfriend.
“I don’t miss driving around scared to hit mexicans walkin on the side of the street, soft (expletive) wanna be thugs messin with peoples cars when they aint around (what are you provin, that you can dent a car when no ones watchin) don’t make you a man in my book,” Zimmerman writes on the page.
“Workin 96 hours to get a decent pay check, gettin knifes pulled on you by every mexican you run into!”
Benjamin Crump, attorney for the Martin family, told the Associated Press that Zimmerman’s comments can be used against him.
“It’s not just speculation and innuendo. He has a history and a habit of profiling people,” Crump said. “He thinks certain things about certain racial groups.”
Meanwhile, O’Mara did not comment about the page directly, saying only that it could paint Zimmerman in a negative light.
“We believe that inviting public scrutiny of the contents of this social media account invites scrutiny of the social media accounts of all parties involved,” O’Mara wrote on his blog. “While these social media accounts may be public, we will not comment on them publicly, as they may be part of the evidence produced at trial.”
