Attorney for Trayvon Martin’s Family Says George Zimmerman ‘Seeking Attention’ With Lawsuit

Benjamin Crump, who is named in Zimmerman’s lawsuit, is in Michigan this week to bring attention to environmental racism in Flint.

Jake Neher/WDET
Jake Neher/WDET

George Zimmerman, the man acquitted by a jury in the death of Trayvon Martin in 2013, is suing Martin’s family and its attorney Benjamin Crump. Zimmerman says they have conspired against him and defamed him to the point of ruining his life.

Crump is a civil rights attorney known for representing the families of both Martin and Michael Brown. He tells WDET’s Jake Neher the lawsuit is baseless.

“Poor people of color always get the most of injustice and the least of justice.” – Benjamin Crump, attorney

“We’d rather spend our time on very important legal matters like here in Flint, Michigan where people have been poisoned,” says Crump. 

“And that is very important that we have legal redress for that, not for somebody who is seeking attention for whatever reason in the most horrific ways.”

“Obviously, it’s very personal because I am very close with Trayvon Martin’s parents, Tracy [Martin] and Sybrina [Fulton], and we have a lot to say, but we think that we do not want to give any attention to this completely asinine pleading.”

Crump is the author of a book titled “Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People.” He is in Michigan for rallies in Flint on Saturday and Sunday to bring attention environmental racism.

“As bad as the killing of Botham Jean was, as bad as the killing of Laquan McDonald, as bad as the killing of Eric Garner, as bad as all of these killings, in many ways, environmental racism is far worse than police brutality or any of these other individualized killings because environmental racism is generational. It not only affects you, it affects your children, and it can affect your children’s children,” says Crump. 

“Poor people of color always get the most of injustice and the least of justice,” he says. 

The Justice for Flint Rally is Saturday, December 7th at 4 p.m. and Sunday, December 8th at 2 p.m. at the Berston Field House in Flint (3300 N. Saginaw Street Flint, Michigan 48505).

Click on the player above to hear civil rights attorney Ben Crump speaking with WDET’s Jake Neher on Detroit Today.

Authors

  • Detroit Today
    Dynamic and diverse voices. News, politics, community and the issues that define our region. Hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Stephen Henderson, Detroit Today brings you fresh and perceptive views weekdays at 9 am and 7 pm.
  • Jake Neher
    Jake Neher is senior producer for Detroit Today and host of MichMash for 101.9 WDET. He previously reported on the Michigan Legislature for the Michigan Public Radio Network.