Four years after shooting and killing Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager in Florida, George Zimmerman reportedly attempted to sell the murder weapon at auction.
Having recently recovered the weapon from the Department of Justice, Zimmerman listed the Kel-Tec PF-9 gun on the user-generated auction site Gun Broker. “Prospective bidders, I am honored and humbled to announce the sale of an American Firearm Icon,” he wrote. “The firearm for sale is the firearm that was used to defend my life and end the brutal attack from Trayvon Martin.”
Shortly before the auction was slated to begin, Gun Broker pulled the listing from the website. In a statement, the company noted that Zimmerman was the sole person responsible for posting and promoting the listing.
Firearms analyst Amy Siewert from Florida Department of Law Enforcement shows the jury how George Zimmerman’s gun can be fired. Courtesy of Jacob Langston-Pool/Getty Images.
“We want no part in the listing on our web site or in any of the publicity it is receiving,” the website insisted, noting that “we reserve the right to reject listings at our sole discretion, and have done so with the Zimmerman listing.”
Despite Zimmerman’s claims that the Smithsonian was among the “many have expressed interest in owning and displaying the firearm,” which he described as “a piece of American history,” the institution was quick to deny it.
“The Smithsonian has never expressed interest in collecting George Zimmerman’s firearm. The Smithsonian has no plans to ever collect or display this object in any of its museums,” reads their statement.
A statement issued on behalf of Martin’s father, Tracy Martin, said that the Trayvon Martin Foundation “has no comment on the actions of that person that murdered Trayvon” and “is committed to its mission of ending senseless gun violence in the United States.”
George Zimmerman, Confederate Flag in Andy Hallinan’s Honor. Image by George Zimmerman, courtesy Florida Gun Supply.
Since his acquittal on murder charges in July 2013, Zimmerman has continued to court controversy through his abominable works of art. For instance, he sold an American flag painting on eBay for $100,099.99 that December.
This past August, Zimmerman joined forces with a Florida gun store, selling prints of a Confederate flag painting with a gun rights message to support the store’s owner, who was threatening to bar Muslims from patronizing the business.
Zimmerman’s continued time in the media spotlight has also included several other brushes with the law, most in connection to incidents of domestic violence. In January 2015, Zimmerman allegedly threw a bottle of wine at a woman when she refused to return a painting to him.
When questioned about the decision to sell the gun that he used to kill Martin, Zimmerman told local FOX affiliate WOFL, “I’m a free American. I can do what I’d like with my possessions.”
Undeterred, Zimmerman is attempting to sell the 9mm weapon at another online gun auction, reports USA Today. Bids start at $5,000.