Exclusive–George Zimmerman: Why Hillary Clinton’s post-Las Vegas comments are ‘dangerous’
Neil W. McCabe
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The former Sanford, Florida neighborhood watch volunteer, who was found not guilty in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, told Big League Politics Hillary R. Clinton’s suggestion that Capitol Hill Republicans were partners in Sunday’s spree-shooting in Las Vegas was a disgrace.
“Frankly, I am just disgusted that Hillary Clinton made the comments that she did without out knowing anything—and that is the most dangerous thing that anyone in politics can do at this point,” said George Zimmerman, who was a neighborhood watch volunteer the Feb. 26, 2012 evening Martin jumped him and struggled for his gun.
Under pressure from the public and the media, police charged Zimmerman with murder, weeks after police initially declined to charge him.
Zimmerman said Clinton should have shown restraint given the emotions that are unleashed after a shooting tragedy.
“Politicizing this, we already know it is going to get turned into a firearms issue, which we already know is polarizing and is extremely dangerous,” he said.
Clinton made her comments in a long-form interview with the Center for American Progress “Thinking CAP” podcast.
Podcast co-host Igor Volsky asked the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee if Capitol Hill Republicans and the National Rifle Association were complicit in what he called an epidemic of gun violence.
“Of course, they are,” she said.
“I obviously feel strongly about this and what we saw happen in Las Vegas was just another horrible example of, you know, people with too many guns and too few restraints being able to now kill,” she said. “I just find it terrible and sickening.”
“One of the first things that Trump did when he became president was to undo the regulation from the Obama era so, you know, mental health records no longer prevent you from buying a gun,” she said.
“In fact, being blind does not any longer prevent you from buying a gun. I mean, this is beyond absurd; this is evil,” she said. “This is nothing but pure, unadulterated greed motivated by people who want to sell as many guns as they can.”
Zimmerman said he had one question for Clinton: “Can she unequivocally say that the Las Vegas murderer did not use any rifles from Eric Holder’s Fast and Furious deal?”
Taking up another one of Clinton’s points, he asked: “Why is she going out and making comments about silencers or suppressors, when nothing is known?”
All of it had a familiar ring, he said.
“That is what they do,” Zimmerman said.
“They make sound bites for the media that they think will resonate or they think will get continuous play just for publicity,” he said.
“Leaders, in whatever capacity they fulfill, should know that they should wait for law enforcement to fully research the situation before they go on a Twitter tangent,” he said.
The 34-year-old said his trial ordeal was one large lesson in not rushing to judgment, when not only was the media overwhelmingly against him, he also had to overcome the fallout from NBC News’ deliberate editing of the audio file from his call to the police in order to incriminate him.
ABC News also put forward a false narrative of the events of Feb. 26, 2012 with an animated recreation, he said. “The worst part is they knew what they were doing—they did it maliciously.”
Zimmerman said the media tainted the jury pool before there was even a jury or any trial.
“They did the American people a disservice, it did me a tremendous disservice and they created hundreds of hours of work for my attorneys, who should have been focusing on my defense.”
More than five years after Martin attacked him and was killed during his struggle for Zimmerman’s handgun, the man, who wanted to be a police officer and earned a criminal justice degree, has
found his way in the world.
George Zimmerman (Photo courtesy of Peter Duke)
Zimmerman still lives in Florida and he spends his time working a documentary and book, both called “Sheepdog Nation,” based on his experiences.
“My executive producer’s vision is simply to help the people, the masses, realize how misled and manipulated they were by the media,” he said.
People will be surprised to hear the true behind-the-scenes account, where he exposes the malpractice of justice by police, prosecutors and Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott, in addition to the misdeeds of the reporters covering his case.
The book and film are expected to debut early next year, he said.
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