Video and audiotapes have been released of Sanford, Florida, police officers interrogating George Zimmerman about his fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. The videos include Zimmerman reenacting the killing for officers at the murder scene one day after the slaying. In a video of a separate interrogation, Zimmerman makes two astounding claims: that Trayvon Martin, upon seeing that Zimmerman had a gun, did not retreat, but instead went ahead and said to Zimmerman, “You’re going to die.” Zimmerman also claims that after he shot Martin at close range, Martin looked up at him and said, “You got me.”
George Zimmerman: “When I shifted, my jacket came up and my shirt came up and exposed my firearm. And that’s when he said — he like sat up and looked and said, ’You’re going to die tonight, [expletive].’ And I felt him take one hand off my mouth and slide it down my chest. And I just pinched his arm, and I grabbed my gun, and I aimed it at him and fired one shot. He kind of sat back and said, 'You got me,' or 'You got me,' 'You got it,' something like that.”
Zimmerman was recently jailed for lying about his finances during his bond hearing. Trayvon Martin’s family has yet to respond directly to the new Zimmerman tapes. On Thursday, Martin’s parents were featured guests at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in New Orleans. Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, talked about losing her son.
Sybrina Fulton: “This was our life. You know, this was my son. This was just not a news story and tomorrow it’s gone. I have to live with this the rest of my life.”