Online bidding for the pistol used to shoot and kill an unarmed teenager appears to have been inflated to $65 million by fake buyers such as “Racist McShootFace”.
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Zimmerman originally listed the gun on GunBroker.com, but that site took down the listing after public outcry, so he moved the auction to the website for the United Gun Group.
Hours later, United Gun Group tweeted that it would post Zimmerman’s ad. The new link was posted, along with a statement from Zimmerman.
The gun, Kel-Tec-PF-9, is now displayed on the online auction site Gunbroker.com, with a court officer holding the gun at the murder trial.
Zimmerman originally announced the auction of the weapon, which he called “an American icon”, Wednesday night in an interview with an Orlando news station.
“Unless the law has been violated, it is the intention of United Gun Group to allow its members to use any of the available features”.
In the listing, Zimmerman said he would use money from the sale to counter violence against law enforcement officers by Black Lives Matter, a movement that grew out of Martin’s shooting.
Zimmerman’s words stating that he is “honored and humbled” to sell the iconic gun isn’t sitting well with some folks who are taking the opportunity to hijack the gun auction website.
“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”, he added, highlighting President Barack Obama’s middle name as foes of the U.S. leader have often done to question his origins and legitimacy.
Since Mr Zimmerman was acquitted, he has been charged with assault based on complaints from two girlfriends.
The auction listing said the Smithsonian was interested in buying the gun to display in one of its museums because the gun is a piece of American history.
Several outlets have reported about the user name stunt, which included the names Weedlord Bonerhitler and Donald Trump as well bidding on the gun.
Gun Broker, however, after removing the initial listing, released a brief statement saying, “We want no part in the listing on our web site or in any of the publicity it is receiving”.
Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer, spotted Martin walking through his gated Sanford community in February 2012, and, not recognizing him, confronted the 17-year-old African-American.
The Smithsonian has since issued a statement saying it’s not interested in the weapon.
Zimmerman tagged the item with the Latin phrase, “Si Vis Pace Para Bellum”, meaning, “If you want peace, prepare for war”.
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Herman Darvick, a collector and auctioneer who helped sell the gun that killed Lee Harvey Oswald, John F Kennedy’s assassin, said selling the Zimmerman gun was outside the bounds of acceptable behavior.
