A lawyer for George Zimmerman, the man who fatally shot teen Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012 and was acquitted of all charges, has sued Democrat presidential hopefuls Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren.

The claim alleges the two "maliciously defamed" Zimmerman, using Martin's death "as a pretext to demagogue and falsely brand Zimmerman as a white supremacist and racist to their millions of Twitter followers."

Lawyer Larry Klayman filed the action in Circuit Court for the 10th Judicial Circuit in Polk County, Florida.

"The obvious intent of Buttigieg and Warren's Tweets is alleged race baiting, in an attempt to draw African American votes during this Democrat presidential primary season," Klayman's announcement said.

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"Both defendants, Buttigieg and Warren, are alleged in the complaint to have acted with actual malice, as it is widely known that Zimmerman was acquitted of murder based on self-defense," the announcement said.

"It is high time that the cheap and harmful use of the race card by politicians of all stripes be made to cease and desist," commented Klayman.

"Their despicable 'race tactics' are not only causing great harm to persons such as my client George Zimmerman, but also are damaging relations between black and white Americans who are all brothers. The nation should applaud Mr. Zimmerman for taking a strong stand and pushing back against hack politicians like Buttigieg and Warren, who know no bounds of decency and frankly could obviously care less about whom they hurt in their quest to dishonesty use and manipulate black voters to win the 2020 Democrat presidential primary," his announcement said.

He pointed out that a recent documentary, "The Trayvon Hoax: Unmasking the Witness Fraud that Divided America," it was "Hispanic George Zimmerman was a minority advocate who was active in mentoring black youth before the tragic encounter with Trayvon. In the well-publicized film, Zimmerman recounts how he was stalked by Martin and badly beaten before he eventually used a lawful firearm in self-defense."

Klayman explained, "The film and a companion book also provide incontrovertible evidence that Zimmerman was allegedly framed by the fake witness, and that witness fraud is the subject of a lawsuit filed in December 2019."

The complaint itself explains the case is being brought against Buttigieg and Warren "for defamation with actual malice or at a minimum a reckless disregard for the truth."

It explains Buttigieg posted a statement "to his 1,600,000 Twitter followers … 'Trayvon Martin would have been 25 today. How many 25th birthdays have been stolen from us by white supremacy, gun violence, prejudice, and fear?"

Warren's was, "My heart goes out to @SybrinaFulton and Trayvon's family and friends. He should still be with us today. We need to end gun violence and racism. And we need to build a world where all of our children – especially young Black boys – can grow up safe and free."

Zimmerman, the complaint states, joined a neighborhood watch program after a series of robberies and home invasions.

At that time Martin was "often getting into fights at Michael Krop High School and was suspended 3 times. In text messages to a friend, Trayvon lamented only breaking the nose of a student whom he had fought because 'he snitched on me' and insisted he would fight the student again because 'he ain't bleed enough for me.'"

Text messages suggest he was dealing handguns and was a heavy marijuana user."

The physical confrontation happened when Zimmerman noticed Martin hanging around his neighborhood, then lost him. Then Martin sucker-punched Zimmerman and broke his nose, then straddled him on the ground, the complaint states.

Martin then started "slamming Zimmerman's head onto the concrete sidewalk."

"Fearing he would go unconscious from the continued bashing of his head onto the concrete sidewalk, he reached for his legal firearm and discharged a single shot to stop the assault," the complaint states.

He eventually was charged and then acquitted.

The defendants are accused of knowing the facts about the shooting, but condemning Zimmerman in their comments anyway.

The case cites defamation and defamation by implication, as well as defamation per se.

The complaint seeks "in excess of $265,000,000.00 million U.S. Dollars for loss of good will and reputation."

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