George Zimmerman’s Brother Defends Sibling’s Actions
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Orange County Jail(NEW YORK) — The brother of Sanford, Fla., neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman claimed Thursday night that the shooting of Trayvon Martin happened because his sibling “prevented his firearm from being taken away from him.”
Appearing on CNN, Robert Zimmerman Jr. told Piers Morgan that his brother had stopped Martin because he was walking around a gated community where recent break-ins had occurred. He insisted George Zimmerman was not profiling Martin because he was black.
According to Robert Zimmerman, his brother never chased the 17-year-old and was reaching for his cellphone after confronting Martin when the teenager allegedly attacked him.
He added that the screams heard on a 911 recording were probably from his brother, not Martin, and that he wished that people in the neighborhood would have come out to stop the fight, adding that George Zimmerman was left with no choice but to shoot his alleged assailant to save his own life.
Robert Zimmerman said the shooting was a tragedy, acknowledging the pain Martin’s parents are going through.
However, the younger brother also defended his sibling’s character, maintaining that George Zimmerman is “a neighbor everyone would want to have.”
As for a video tape obtained by ABC News that seems to dispute George Zimmerman’s claim that he was bloodied while fighting Martin, Robert Zimmerman said that the medical examiner’s report should verify his brother’s injuries.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio