Black Hate Crimes. Police Injustice. Partial Judiciary System. Overwhelming incarceration of Black people. Those are some of the words that describe the America society lately and they have risen to the forefront of American discuss with the advent of social media. Through social media, black people and other minority groups have risen up to protest injustices like the death of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman.
In America, there are unlimited ways to be famous, and amidst the plethora of positive vways through which the country provides for those who desire fame, there are still those who have chosen the worst way possible to rise out of the faceless multitude of the American mass to become a notable face. Such is the story of George Zimmerman who is famous for being the fatal shooter of Trayvon Martin on the 26th of February, 2012.
George Zimmerman – Biography
George Zimmerman was born to Gladys Cristina and Robert Zimmerman Snr. on the 5th of October 1983 in Manassas, Virginia. He was born into a family of six as the third of four children which includes two sisters and a brother. He attended Osborn High School in Manassas, Virginia. George Zimmerman had always had an affinity for the military that is believed to have grown from his father’s life as a career military officer, so he joined the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps after-school program. He graduated from high school in 2001 but while he was there, he also worked different jobs to earn money for a car.
After graduation, George Zimmerman moved to Florida, specifically Lake Mary where he got a job as an employee of an insurance agency. While he worked in the agency, Zimmerman took night classes in order to obtain an insurance license.
After completing his studies for a license, he moved to Twin Lakes, Sanford in Florida where he worked at a car dealership and in a mortgage audit firm. In continued pursuit of positioning himself for a good job, he enrolled himself at Seminole State College in 2009 where he studied criminal justice for an associate degree while he worked as an insurance underwriter. It was during the completion of the program that the incident that would change his life forever happened.
On the fateful day on February 26, 2012, Zimmerman, who was a neighborhood watchdog at the time had shot Trayvon Martin after an altercation. Zimmerman had called the police shortly after the incident and claimed to have shot him in self-defense even though Trayvon Martin was unharmed during the supposed altercation.
After Zimmerman was taken into custody and interrogated by the police, he was released due to a lack of evidence contrary to the self-defense narrative he told the police and the Stand Your Ground law in Florida which allowed that any person had the right to defend themselves with lethal means against real or perceived threats even if there was a safer alternative to deal with the situation.
The news of the incident sparked outrage around the country, with protests springing up in various parts of the country. The protests prompted Florida Governor, Rick Scott to appoint a special prosecutor and charge George Zimmerman for murder. However, in the trial that started over a year after the incident, Zimmerman was found not guilty of murder and was subsequently acquitted of all charges.
Zimmerman also faced three years of investigation from the Department of Justice which came into conclusion in February 2015, with the DOJ finding him innocent of any crime.
Since the incident, Zimmerman has been involved in multiple encounters with the police, including an attempted assassination by Matthew Apperson.
Spouse
George Zimmerman is married to Shellie Dean, who is a licensed cosmetologist. The couple got married in 2007 in Lake Mary, Florida. Like her husband, she has also come under police investigation in 2013 for perjury, she was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and a year’s probation. The couple got separated in 2013. Zimmerman is currently believed to be in a relationship with Samantha Scheibe.
Parents and Siblings
George’s parents are Robert Zimmerman and Gladys Cristina. His father is an American with German ancestry while his mother is Peruvian. Despite his white ethnic roots, he identifies with his Latino ethnic side. His father was a military officer who served for 22 years.
George Zimmerman has three siblings – a brother, Robert Jr. and two sisters, Grace and Dawn. His brother, Robert regularly came to his defense to the media during the height of his trial.
Is He Dead?
George Zimmerman is not dead. He has maintained his fame by verbally attacking members of the black community like Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z. He is also reportedly $2.5 million in debt.