Spike Lee apologises to elderly couple who were forced to flee their home after he tweeted WRONG address for Trayvon Martin's killer George Zimmerman



Wrong address swept the internet after Lee's tweet to 250,000 followers

School lunch lady, 70, suffers from heart condition



Man posing as Will Smith tweeted angry post about no justice for Trayvon

Spike Lee has apologised to an elderly Florida couple who say they were forced to leave their home after the director wrongly identified their address as that of Trayvon Martin's shooter George Zimmerman.

Elaine and David McClain, who are in their 70s, say they have a son named William George Zimmerman who lived in their Sanford-area home in the mid-1990s. They say he is no relation to 28-year-old George Zimmerman who killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on February 26.

The killing has touched off widespread public outrage and protests across the country, including from Lee and other celebrities, because Zimmerman was not arrested. He says he acted in self-defense.

Wildfire: An elderly couple in Florida fled their home after it was wrongly spread across Twitter as the address of the man who killed Trayvon Martin (left) by people including director Spike Lee (right)

Lee tweeted late today: 'I Deeply Apologize To The McClain Family For Retweeting Their Address. It Was A Mistake. Please Leave The McClain's In Peace.'



The school-cafeteria lunch lady, 70, and her 72-year-old husband had received repeated visits from reporters and neighbours after their address was posted on Twitter.



The man and his wife, who has heart problems, had to be relocated to a hotel to avoid further trouble.

Lee had been accused of accelerating racial tensions as he retweeted the mistaken address to his 250,000 followers.



Threatened: George Zimmerman has had a bounty placed on his head by the New Black Panthers after he shot dead an unarmed black teenager last month

Lee faced considerable backlash for the retweeting of the alleged whereabouts of Zimmerman, who has an outstanding $10,000 bounty on him by the New Black Panthers. The post has since been removed from Lee's Twitter account.



The elderly couple have no relation to George Zimmerman who shot unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, 17, while on neighbourhood watch patrol in a Florida gated community last month.



Zimmerman was never arrested after claiming to have killed the teenager in self-defense. The case has sparked outrage across the country and roiled race relations.



The couple's son William Zimmerman told the Orlando Sentinel: ' It's scary because there are people who aren't mentally right and will take this information and run with it.'

According to the Sentinel, Mr Zimmerman traced the messages to California and asked the Twitter user to take down his parents' address - but his request was brusquely denied.



Social media surrounding the Trayvon Martin case has reached a point of near-hysteria – including a fake Will Smith tweet to be reposted thousands of times.

The alleged tweet read: ‘WE live in America where a girl that threw flour on Kim Kardashian was arrested on site. But the man who KILLED Trayvon Martin is still free.’

The fake Will Smith account, @RealWillSmith, in fact belonged to a man from Nashville, Tennessee, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Though the actor Will Smith does not have a publicly-identified Twitter account, several celebrities jumped on the re-tweeting bandwagon, including Rosie O’Donnell, Spike Lee and reality show star Omarosa.

Imposter: A man with the Twitter handle @RealWillSmith tweeted his outrage over the handling of the Trayvon Martin case

Imitation: A rep for Will Smith (left) said the tweet about Trayvon Martin was not from the actor while another person tweeted about a non-existent charity under the guise of Will Ferrell (right)



The flour bombing incident to which the fake Smith was referring was at the London West Hollywood Hotel last week. Kardashian was plastered with flour while promoting her new fragrance, True Reflection.

Comedian and actor Will Ferrell has also been dragged into the confusion. A person with the Twitter handle @RealWillFerrell posted about a T-shirt fundraiser.



The tweet read: ‘RIP Trayvon Martin… For every R-T this tweet gets, $1 will be donated to the #TrayvonMartin Foundation, which helps counteract racism.’

However, there was yet no Trayvon Martin Foundation. Furthermore, Ferrell’s rep confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that the tweet was a hoax.

Lee’s rep was unavailable for comment.

Basketball buddies: Spike Lee, right, tweeted this picture of himself beaming with Will Smith at a recent basketball game

The white stuff: Kim Kardashian was flour bombed at an event in London on March 22





