SANFORD, Fla. (AP): The Latest on George Zimmerman to auction gun used in Trayvon Martin case (all times local):
Noon
An online auction for the gun that former Florida neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman used to kill unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin appeared to have been halted Thursday, with the weapon’s listing removed from the auction site.
It was not immediately clear why the website, GunBroker.com, took down the listing.
The auction was set to begin at 11 a.m. EDT Thursday and end 24 hours later. The bidding started at $5,000.
But by about 11:18 a.m. the listing was no longer there. The website could not immediately be reached for comment.
Zimmerman said in an interview with a Florida TV station that he wanted to do the auction to “move past the firearm.”
The gun had been in federal custody since Zimmerman was acquitted in Martin’s 2012 shooting death.
10:15 a.m.
The Smithsonian Institution says it has no interest in purchasing the gun used by George Zimmerman to fatally shoot Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman had said in an auction listing that the Smithsonian had expressed interest in buying the weapon, but the museum said in a statement it had not done so and had no plans to display it.
Zimmerman says he is auctioning the pistol, which was just returned by the U.S. Justice Department. It has been in federal custody since Zimmerman was acquitted in Martin’s 2012 shooting death.
Zimmerman told the WOFL-TV in Orlando, Florida, he’s selling the gun because “it’s time to move past the firearm.”
The auction listing on GunBroker.com lists the gun as a 9 mm Kel-Tec PF-9 pistol. The auction begins Thursday at 11 a.m. EDT and the bidding starts at $5,000.
8:31 a.m.
The pistol former neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman used in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin is going up for auction online.
In an interview with Orlando, Florida, station WOFL, Zimmerman says he had just gotten the pistol back from the U.S. Justice Department, which took it after Zimmerman was acquitted in Martin’s 2012 shooting death.
Zimmerman told the station he’s selling the gun because “it’s time to move past the firearm.”
The auction listing on GunBroker.com lists the gun as a 9 mm Kel-Tec PF-9 pistol. The auction begins Thursday at 11 a.m. EDT and the bidding starts at $5,000.
Zimmerman has said he was defending himself when he shot and killed Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old. The shooting sparked protests and a national debate about race relations.
