George Zimmerman told police over the weekend that he was punched in the face in a Florida restaurant after mentioning that he killed Trayvon Martin, according to police records.
Zimmerman called 911 dispatchers to report the incident and request assistance from police, according to the 911 transcript obtained by Orlando television station WFTV.
He told dispatchers of another restaurant patron, “He told me he was going to kill me he told me he’d (expletive) shoot me and he punched me in the face,” according to the transcript. Zimmerman told dispatchers that he was talking about the death of Trayvon Martin and saying that he shot the unarmed teen in self defense, when a man walked up to him and said, “You’re bragging about that?” The man then punched him, Zimmerman said on the 911 call.
According to a Seminole Country Sherriff’s Office report review by the Orlando Sentinel, the incident began when Zimmerman complimented a man’s confederate flag tattoo in the restaurant. The man, identified as Joseph Whitmer, then recognized who he was, according to the report. When Zimmerman began to say that he shot Martin in self-defense, another man, identified by authorities as Eddie, walked up to him and asked if he was bragging. The man then told Zimmerman to “get the [expletive] out of here,” according to the report.
After Zimmerman returned to his table with friends, Eddie returned and said, “Didn’t I tell you to get the [expletive] out of here…” according to the sheriff’s report. He then punched Zimmerman, per the report.
Witnesses gave differing versions of events.
One witness told police that Zimmerman “came to his table and proceeded to brag about how he was the one who killed Trayvon Martin,” according to the Orlando Sentinel.
According to CNN, Joseph Whitmer told police that Zimmerman came up to him and said, “I love your tattoos. My name is George Zimmerman, you know, that guy who killed Trayvon Martin?”
Whitmer’s wife, Beverly Whitmer, told police that Zimmerman said he liked the man’s “racist tattoos,” according to CNN.
A man also sitting at Whitmer’s table, David Worrell, told authorities that a man confronted Zimmerman and knocked something out of a friend of Zimmerman’s hand, according to CNN.
Gregory Horne told police he was eating lunch with Zimmerman when five men confronted Zimmerman, according to CNN. Horne said he tried to use his phone, but one of the men knocked the phone out of his hand, per CNN.
Zimmerman was acquitted of murder in the shooting of Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in 2013.
