Best-selling author Brad Thor (shown) has offered to buy George Zimmerman a new gun and all the ammunition he wants after the federal Department of Justice blocked the release of evidence from Zimmerman’s murder trial in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Despite the not guilty verdict by a Florida jury, Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered a continuing investigation of the February 2012 shooting to determine if Zimmerman violated Martin’s civil rights and/or was guilty of a racially motivated federal “hate crime” against the black teenager. Zimmerman’s handgun, a Kel-Tec PF9, is among the evidentiary materials being held in the investigation.
“SCREW the #DOJ. If they won’t give #Zimmerman his gun back, I’ll buy him a new one,” Thor announced in a tweet shortly after midnight Friday morning. As reported by the Blaze, he followed that with a tweet to Zimmerman’s brother. “Whatever gun he wants + however much ammo, consider it done. I’m buying. Done deal,” Thor wrote to Robert Zimmerman, Jr.
Though the FBI reported over a year ago that its investigation found no evidence of racism on Zimmerman’s part, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was among the organizations calling for federal prosecution of Zimmerman immediately after the July 13 not guilty verdict in the state trial was announced by the jury of six women. Despite the federal Constitution’s Fifth Amendment ban on trying someone more than once for the same offense, a federal “hate crime” or civil rights violation would be considered a separate offense and could be tried in federal court. The Justice Department has established a public e-mail address, inviting citizens to offer any information that might help in its investigation of Zimmerman.
Speaking at an NAACP convention on July 15, Attorney General Holder said the Justice Department would continue to investigate the possibility of prosecuting Zimmerman, pledging the department will “continue to act in a manner that is consistent with the facts and the law.”
“We are committed to standing with the people of Sanford, with the individuals and families affected by this incident, and with our state and local partners in order to alleviate tensions, address community concerns and promote healing,” the attorney general said, “and we will never stop working to ensure that — in every case, in every circumstance and in every community — justice must be done.”
Thor, whose spy novels and thrillers include The Lions of Lucerne, Path of the Assassin, State of the Union, Blowback, and The Last Patriot, discussed the case Friday morning as a guest on the Chicago TV show Windy City Live. “When’s it over? How much more does he have to go through?” Thor asked. “There’s not a shred of evidence that he is a racist and yet the Department of Justice is freezing everything.” Saying Zimmerman’s “life is ruined at this point,” Thor questioned why the government keeps “hounding” him after his acquittal. “I know we have a dead child here, but he was found not guilty by a jury of his peers,” said Thor, asking, “At what point does he get to recommence his life?”
The discussion became a bit heated when a panelist on the show asked if “it’s really a good idea to give George Zimmerman a gun back?”
“He’s not guilty!” Thor repeated. “And as a matter of fact, don’t you think he needs a gun now more than ever with all the death threats against him?”
Asked by co-host Val Warner why Zimmerman would want a gun and “risk going through the same thing again,” Thor replied, “That’s his decision, Val. It’s not for us to decide if we’re going to curtail his liberty or not. That is his Second Amendment right to possess a firearm, defend himself, defend his family, and it is not up to you, it’s not up to me, to decide what’s right for George Zimmerman.”
Asked what type of gun he would buy Zimmerman, Thor said he would let the Florida man choose the brand and model.
“That’s the beauty of guns,” he said.
