George Zimmerman's brother says Twitter rant a "mistake"

By Barbara Liston

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - The brother of George Zimmerman, the man charged in the 2012 shooting death of unarmed black Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, said on Wednesday he was wrong to tweet a series of racially charged comments about his brother's case.

"I made a mistake," Robert Zimmerman Jr. said during an appearance on CNN's Piers Morgan Live. "It unfortunately may not have helped George."

George Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder for killing Martin, who was 17, after an altercation in a residential neighborhood in Sanford, Florida.

Prosecutors contend George Zimmerman, then a neighborhood watch captain, racially profiled Martin, then pursued and shot him while Martin was returning from a convenience store to a townhouse where he was staying with his father.

Robert Zimmerman this week posted side-by-side photos of Martin and one of two teenagers arrested last week in a fatal shooting of a 13-month-old boy as his mother was pushing his stroller down the street in a coastal Georgia town.

The separate photos showed Martin and the teenager posing while making an obscene gesture.

Robert Zimmerman wrote in a tweet, "a picture is worth a thousand words ... any questions?" In another tweet, he said, "Lib media shld ask if what these2 black teens did 2 a woman&baby is the reason ppl think blacks mightB risky."

Morgan, in his interview with Zimmerman, called the tweets "incendiary" and "bordering on outright racism."

"I understand this was controversial and I apologize," Robert Zimmerman said.

Mark O'Mara, George Zimmerman's lawyer, has criticized Robert Zimmerman's tweets.

George Zimmerman's trial is set to start in June.

George Zimmerman arrives with his lead counsel, Mark O'Mara (L) for a hearing in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Florida February 5, 2013. A judge is expected to hear a delay motion on Tuesday ... more? George Zimmerman arrives with his lead counsel, Mark O'Mara (L) for a hearing in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Florida February 5, 2013. A judge is expected to hear a delay motion on Tuesday filed by Zimmerman's lawyer, Mark O'Mara, who says he needs another six months to raise money and prepare for the racially-charged trial for the murder of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. REUTERS/Joe Burbank/Pool (UNITED STATES - Tags: CRIME LAW) less? ?

(Editing by Kevin Gray and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/george-zimmermans-brother-says-twitter-rant-mistake-032522332.html

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