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George Zimmerman, who murdered his teenage neighbor Trayvon Martin in 2012, has had his defamation lawsuit against the Trayvon Martin Family thrown out of court. A Florida judge dropped Zimmerman’s case, in which he alleged the Martin family slandered him as a racist murderer.

The lawsuit included Trayvon Martin’s family Attorney Ben Crump, a civil rights hero known for advocating for Black families who have lost a family member to racism-based violence. 

George Zimmerman’s case also took aim at HarperCollins Publishers, which promoted a book written by Trayvon Martin’s parents, as well as two witnesses from his 2013 trial. The suit listed both Brittany Diamond Eugene and Rachel Jeantel for allegedly being dishonest during George Zimmerman’s trial.

Judge Tosses Lawsuit

Meanwhile, a Florida judge tossed the entire lawsuit, including all of George Zimmerman’s claims of fraud. In his ruling, Judge John Cooper noted Zimmerman had not shown “any fraudulent representation,” and “there can be no claim for conspiracy to defraud if there is no adequately stated claim for fraud.”

In his original filing, Zimmerman, considered by many as a racist vigilante, claimed that the defendants, including Trayvon Martin’s family, wanted to “destroy his good will and reputation in the community.”

Regarding the two young women listed in the suit, Zimmerman alleged that Eugene did not want to testify in the original murder case, and that her sister, Ms. Jeantel, misrepresented herself.  Jeantel later testified in George Zimmerman’s murder case.

Background on Original Case

George Zimmerman was found not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin in 2013 in a case that spurred a national discourse on racism and the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement. Zimmerman, who was a volunteer watch supervisor in Travon Martin’s father’s gated community, killed young Trayvon Martin, who was walking to a relative’s home after buying skittles and tea. 

Authorities later attempted to charge Zimmerman with a federal crime for young Trayvon Martin’s murder. However, the United States Department of Justice eventually stated there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him on those charges.