Don’t Let Trayvon Martin’s Killer Make Money from His Autograph

By Matthew Farley

Target: George Zimmerman

Goal: Convince George Zimmerman to stop selling his autograph to raise money for his defense against murder charges.

As he awaits trial for the killing of teenager Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman has recently started selling his autograph online to pay for his defense case. Even if Mr. Zimmerman is found innocent in this case, he has done nothing to make his signature worth any value. Additionally, Mr. Zimmerman has already gotten into substantial trouble for misusing the money previously raised on his website. Now he is asking people to pay for his signature, with no guarantee of where the money will be going.

Originally Mr. Zimmerman he had kept his fundraising website a secret from the court, and ended up using donations to pay off bills and other expenses unrelated to the Trayvon Martin case. From anonymous donations, the account managed to collect over $140,000. Now, however, Mr. Zimmerman reports that he only has around $15,000 left, and he needs more.

As an incentive for donators, he is now sending out his autograph in unmarked envelopes to anyone who helps him out. Mr. Zimmerman promises the fund will not be managed by him, and the money will only go to his living expenses and legal costs. Living expenses is a fairly generic term, so who knows what he is spending the money on? More importantly, whatever the money is used for, a man on trial for killing a teenager, whether it is deemed a murder or not, should not be sending the message to the world that his actions make him a celebrity. Please tell George Zimmerman to cease sales of his signature, before other people get the idea they can make money by killing a person.

PETITION LETTER

Dear George Zimmerman,

Please cease sales of your autograph on your defense fund website. While you have the right to sell your signature, it truly sends the wrong message to the public about your actions. Regardless of the results of your trial and what happened on the night Trayvon was killed, shooting another human being is never something to be commended.

The sale of your signature implies that you did something important enough to give your autograph monetary value. I know you believe you are innocent, or you at least want the world to believe so. However, that doesn’t mean you are a celebrity. Even famous actors and musicians don’t charge people for their signature, or if they do, it goes to a good cause. How can the public be expected to trust your use of your defense fund? In the past, you have used it for things like credit card and cell phone bills, payments you had to make before Trayvon was even killed. Now you have used up most of the fund, and you expect people to keep giving you more money?

Do the right thing, and stop sending your autograph to donators. If you still want to accept donations, that is one thing, but don’t act as though your signature is a gift anyone wants to have. Set an example for others and stop this now.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo Credit: Gary Green