This is
George Zimmerman’s MySpace page. Years before he stood at the center of an international storm over the killing of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, the Florida man used his page to complain about “mexicans” and celebrate a victory in a criminal case against him.
Today, it remains a small window into the life of a man who has gone into hiding while he awaits trial on a second-degree murder charge. Showing him with a history of relationships with people of multiple races, it also complicates the image critics have painted of him being a racist.
The page was unearthed Wednesday by
the Miami Herald, which confirmed its authenticity with Zimmerman’s attorney, Mark O’Mara.
On it, Zimmerman went by the alias Joe G. and username onlytobekingagain. The newspaper noted that this account is different than another one that was disabled last month, which had the username datniggytb.
In a long, rambling “About Me” section of the site, Zimmerman, who would have been in his early 20s when the site was active, wrote that he missed his friends in Manassas, Va., where he grew up and went to high school. But there were things he said he didn’t miss.
“I dont miss driving around scared to hit mexicans walkin on the side of the street, soft ass wanna be thugs messin with peoples cars when they aint around (what are you provin, that you can dent a car when no ones watchin) dont make you a man in my book,” Zimmerman wrote. “Workin 96 hours to get a decent pay check, gettin knifes pulled on you by every mexican you run into!”
In a
letter to the Orlando Sentinel in March, his father, Robert Zimmerman, described George as Hispanic. He also defended his son against accusations of racism, which have been made because the unarmed teen was black. “The media portrayal of George as a racist could not be further from the truth.”
On the MySpace page, Zimmerman identified himself as ethnically “Latino/Hispanic.” He also posted photos of himself hanging out with friends of other races, including some who are black.
Zimmerman also used the account to celebrate some legal victories, including one against his ex-fiancee, who he referred to as his as his “ex hoe,” and another in which he was accused of assaulting a law enforcement officer.
“Im still free!” he wrote on Aug. 24, 2005. “The ex hoe tried her hardest, but the judge saw through it! Big Mike, reppin the Dverse security makin me look a million bucks, broke her down! Thanks to everyone for checkin up on me!”
Six days later he posted about another victory.
“2 felonies dropped to 1 misdemeanor!!!!!!!!!!! The man knows he was wrong but still got this hump, Thanks to everyone friends and fam, G baby you know your my rock!”
Zimmerman’s internet presence has been an issue in his murder case recently. His attorney revealed last week that his client had managed to raise
more than $200,000 for his own defense using a crudely built website and a PayPal account.