Here’s something you don’t hear about everyday. George Zimmerman’s parents are gearing up to sue comedian Roseanne Barr. Many people had very opinionated reactions leading up to the Trayvon Martin murder trial , which saw Zimmerman with a “not guilty” verdict. However, it looks like the outspoken former television star might have taken it a bit too far, which will probably land Barr in pretty hot water with the law.
According to the suit filed by George Zimmerman’s parents, Roseanne Bar tweeted their home address on Twitter before the trial in 2012 encouraging people to commit vigilante activity to the home of Gladys and Robert Zimmerman Sr. In the suit Zimmerman’s parents claim that Roseanne attempted to incite a “lynch mob to descend” at their home and calling it “vigilante justice.”
According to the Orlando Sentinel , Roseanne Barr deleted the tweet, but not out of remorse. Instead Barr made a second tweet as a warning shot, “If Zimmerman isn’t arrested I’ll rt his address again — maybe go 2 his house myself.”
According to the documents filed in court on Monday, when Barr sent the Zimmerman’s address out to her followers she had collected an impressive 110,000 followers.
The suit claims that the Zimmerman’s were forced to flee from their home because of Roseanne’s tweet, due to the very public nature of their address and the danger that might occur. According to MyFoxOrlando , the Zimmermans are now seeking damages “in excess of $15,000” from Roseanne due to emotional distress and invasion of privacy.
The suit continues to claim that Roseanne Barr acted outrageously by tweeting the Zimmermans address:
Barr was “extremely and outrageously in making the tweets which were intended to cause severe emotional distress to Robert and Gladys Zimmerman and great physical harm, if not death.”
In addition to the intention of causing physical harm, the suit claims that, “The behavior of Roseanne Barr under the circumstances went beyond all possible bounds of decency and is utterly intolerable in a civilized community.”
Of course Roseanne Barr isn’t the only celebrity to use their Twitter as a sounding board directed at the Zimmermans. Famous director Spike Lee, who is known for speaking out about various issues, tweeted out an address he believed was George Zimmerman’s back in 2012. Unlike Barr, Lee saw his error and apologized for the mistake. After his apology Lee agreed to compensate the residents who lived at the actual address. As it turns out the address was not the residence of George Zimmerman.
[Image credit: Bing]
