In spite of the repeated specific threats against the life of Trayvon Martin’s attacker George Zimmerman, the Twitter account ‘@KillZimmerman’ remains active and gaining followers.
The account, whose picture is Zimmerman in a gun’s crosshairs, was created on March 24 and has been kept open even though many are outraged at the fact that it is allowed to continue calling for the vigilante murder of the 28-year-old.
‘They act like they wanna charge me but I'm not the one who shot an unarmed kid #zimmerman is so judge him,’ the account posted on Thursday night
Clear target: The profile picture of the Twitter account makes its intentions obvious
There are now 320 followers and the unidentified creator has posted several pictures, including a doctored ‘Wanted’ poster and a picture of Zimmerman next to a Klu Klux Klan cloak.
The social media giant has not shut the account.
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‘We don’t comment on specific users or the status of accounts for privacy reasons,’ Twitter spokesperson Rachael Horwitz said in response.
Martin supporters have been Tweeting about the case ever since it became a national issue, with many celebrities posting pictures of themselves in hoodies to honor the slain teen.
Manhunt: George Zimmerman, seen (center) when he was taken in for questioning after the fatal shooting, is now in hiding for fear of his safety
Controversy: The Twitter account is calling for people to find and kill Zimmerman because the user does not feel the justice system will work
Director Spike Lee got issued an apology yesterday for retweeting an address that he believed to be the home of Zimmerman. It ended up being the home of an elderly couple who were very frightened when people began arriving at their home looking for the wanted man, who is in hiding.
U.S. law is murky on the issue, as it is a question of how far can you defend the freedom of speech before allowing the incitement of violence.
Prior cases show that there has to be ‘the likelihood of imminent violence’ for a citizen’s freedom of speech to be abridged, so in this case, simply saying that he should be killed may, or may not, be considered enough grounds for legal action.
That does not mean that a Tweet hasn’t been taken as a serious threat before.
In February, 20-year-olf Joaquin Amador Serrapio Jr. was arrested for threatening to kill President Obama over Twitter and Facebook.
That case, however, making threats against a president is a federal offense, which is why he was arrested but released on a $20,000 bond after admitting guilt to authorities.
The photo being used as the @KillZimmerman account picture also calls into question the issues raised in the wake of the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords last January.
The Arizona shooting led to a national debate on the use of vitriolic language in political debate, specifically citing a list of ‘target’ districts that former Governor Sarah Palin posted on her campaign site using similar target crosshairs.
