Man Who Shot at Trayvon Martin's Killer Convicted

By teleSUR

19 September 16

Man claimed self-defense in shooting at George Zimmerman, who effectively used the same defense in his fatal shooting of an unarmed Black teenager.

Florida court has convicted a man who claimed that he shot at George Zimmerman in self-defense, using essentially the same strategy used by Zimmerman in his 2012 acquittal for the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black teenager Trayvon Martin who he accosted while walking home from a convenience store.

Matthew Apperson has been found guilty of second-degree murder for shooting at Zimmerman in a 2015 incident that prosecutors characterized as "road rage" along with related assault and firearm charges. He faces a minimum of 20 years in prison.

Apperson's lawyer maintained that their client acted in self-defense, after Zimmerman threatened him with a gun.

Zimmerman, however, testified that Apperson followed him, and the prosecution claimed that Apperson was the aggressor, who fired a bullet at Zimmerman, shattering his window and lodging itself in Zimmerman’s car seat.

According to The Root, Apperson failed to meet the standard of self-defense because “he did not act in a reasonable, prudent or cautious manner prior to firing”.

“George Zimmerman is no boy scout—I get that, and you get that,” prosecutor Stewart Stone said. “But no matter how you feel about George Zimmerman, he can still be a victim of a crime, and he was in this case.”

The two men had previously been embroiled in an altercation. As The Sentinel reports, in September 2014, they had argued about the Trayvon Martin case. Apperson had allegedly told Zimmerman that he was wrong to kill Trayvon, and Zimmerman soon began threatening and following him.