In an in-depth interview in GQ, George Zimmerman's brother discloses that his family wanted to "rebrand" the former Neighborhood Watch volunteer after his murder acquittal and make him the star of a reality TV show.
"I learned a lot from watching 'Keeping up with the Kardashians,' " Robert Zimmerman Jr. told GQ in a story in its October editions.
George Zimmerman, 30, would not take part in the interview unless he was offered a week's stay in a luxury hotel, something the magazine would not do, it reported.
Still, the magazine reported some fascinating details about his pre- and post-trial life and that of his spokesman brother, Robert Zimmerman Jr., and parents Robert Sr. and Gladys, who moved out of their Lake Mary home shortly after their son George killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old in Sanford Feb. 26, 2012.
Although a Seminole County jury acquitted George Zimmerman last year, he and his family continue to live in hiding and typically carry guns, fearful that they would be attacked, the magazine reported.
After the shooting but before his arrest, George and his now-estranged wife, Shellie, moved from the Lake Mary home of a close friend to a trailer on an island off the coast of Maryland, according to the report.
At the same time, his parents and adult sister, Grace, moved from Orlando-area hotel to hotel, trying to stay out of sight, always paid cash and tore up their garbage and distributed it to various Dumpsters.
A driver called Lake Mary police earlier this week, accusing former Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman of threatening to shoot him during a road-rage incident.
They carried prepacked "go-bags" that included all their essentials — such things as cellphones, laptops and other electronic devices — should they need to flee an oncoming assault.
They gave each other code names and developed a warning system, the magazine reported. "Code blue" meant law enforcement was at the door. "Code brown" meant draw your weapon, and "code black" meant open fire. .
Gladys Zimmerman also carries a gun, the story reported.
"Personally, I love my .45!" she told the magazine.
After the acquittal, the family tried to come up with a way to capitalize on George Zimmerman's notoriety, his brother told the magazine.
He wanted to make George the star of his own reality show, perhaps something similar to "Candid Camera," where an unsuspecting person taking a self-defense class might discover at the end of the show that George Zimmerman also was in the class.
The family also toyed with the idea of making George front man for a company that sold home-security products.
At a Central Florida gun show on Sept. 20, George Zimmerman told the Orlando Sentinel that he was homeless, jobless and deeply in debt, due to legal bills.
