Zimmerman’s Brother Responds to Obama’s Comments

Zimmerman’s Brother Responds to Obama’s Comments
Robert Zimmerman Jr., arrives at the Seminole County Courthouse for a pre-hearing for his brother George Zimmerman, Friday, June 7, 2013, in Sanford, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Zachary Stieber
7/19/2013
Updated:
7/18/2015

Robert Zimmerman Jr. said that President Barack Obama’s unscripted comments on July 19 about the Trayvon Martin cause were at least somewhat off the mark.

“The president is reinforcing much of the mythology surrounding the case,” Zimmerman told The Daily Caller.

Zimmerman’s brother, George Zimmerman, was recently acquitted of any crime in the killing of Martin in a Florida neighborhood last year. George said the killing was in self-defense.

Obama said on Friday that the nation needs to do some “soul searching” after the verdict and said some laws used in the case, such as Florida’s “stand your ground” statute, should be examined and possibly changed. 

Obama questioned whether a law that sends the message that someone who is armed “has the right to use those firearms even if there is a way for them to exit from a situation” really promotes the peace and security that people want.

Robert Zimmerman Jr. said that the scenario that Obama laid out--of Martin being armed and potentially standing his ground--was “amibigious.”

He also said in response to Obama’s saying the nation needs to help black young men with the problems they face that George Zimmerman was mentoring two Black children before the shooting.

“It goes without saying that [Blacks] are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, and I think George was trying to break that cycle.”