Arrest Made for Threatening George Zimmerman is a Hoax

The Epoch Times reports that a story that George Zimmerman got into an altercation with ex-NBA star Gilbert Arenas, and that Arenas was arrested, is fake.

The fake article was published on Empire Sports, which describes itself as “satire.”

Empire Sports has a disclaimer that says it publishes satirical articles, and uses invented names in all its stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. 

“Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas was arrested Monday afternoon after a brief altercation with George Zimmerman as he attended a signing at a gun show in Orlando, Florida,” it reads.

Most people know that the gun show was on the weekend, and not on a Monday.  That should have clued them in to know that the report was at least not factual.

Another story intended as satire was published and apparently believed.  That story was published on Cream Bmp Daily, written by a comedian named CREAM, and said that Zimmerman accidentally shot and killed himself while reloading his gun.

Part of the problem, as I see it, is that people tweet out a comment with a link, and those reading the tweet do not read the link and then begin tweeting out the news contained in the comment.

The same is true for a photo that Zimmerman recently tweeted as proof that he mentored Black children.  That photo was not provided to the media nor presented by any of Zimmerman’s advocates pre-trial, nor during trial.  It only showed up after there was discussion on social media of the conflicting reports for what George did before leaving, and his reason for leaving his home on February 26, 2012. 

Robert Zimmerman Sr. said that George cooked dinner for Shellie and then they went to shop for grocery.  That questioned whether Shellie was in the truck with George when he saw and called non-emergency dispatch to report a “suspicious person.”

George Zimmerman himself contradicted his father’s comment, saying that after he and Shellie mentored the kids on Sundays, they went grocery shopping. 

After trial, Shellie Zimmerman interviewed with media saying that the Saturday before George killed Trayvon, she and George had an argument and she left and was staying at her dad’s and was at her dad’s that Sunday evening.

That makes it reasonable to believe that George recently tweeted the photo in effort to distract from the conflicting statements of what he did and why he left his house the evening of Sunday, February 26, 2012.   However, it goes a bit further than that.  In a pre-trial interview with Sean Hannity, George Zimmerman said he no regrets for leaving his truck to follow Trayvon, and no regrets for carrying a gun.  In fact, he said that it was “all God’s plan.”  In a recent interview with Chris Cuomo, George said that if he could go back to that night he would not have left his house.  George cannot truly regret leaving home to grocery shop, so his answer to Cuomo indicates that he left his home for another reason.   

George Zimmerman told Cuomo that the Department of Justice is still investigating whether he violated Trayvon Martin’s civil rights.  The photo that George recently tweeted might come with another agenda and should not be distributed as any proof that George mentored Black kids.  It is self-serving and has not been corroborated neither verified by any unbiased source.