George Zimmerman's audaciousness made waves in December when he announced he was suing the family of Trayvon Martin for $100 million, more than seven years after heinously killing the Florida teen.

Now, Zimmerman is getting his name in the news for another lawsuit, this time suing 2020 Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg for defamation, Fox News reports. 

Both Warren and Buttigieg tweeted about Martin on February 5, which would have been his 25th birthday. Because of these tweets, Zimmerman is suing them for $265 million.

In a lawsuit filed in a Florida court on Tuesday, Zimmerman says Warren and Buttigieg "individually defamed and disparaged" him with the tweets "for political gain in misguided and malicious attempts to bolster their standings amongst African-American voters, all at Zimmerman’s expense."

Zimmerman shot and killed Martin during an altercation in February 2012 and was acquitted by a jury after claiming he acted in self-defense. 

In a statement to Newsweek, Zimmerman's attorney, Larry Klayman said it was, "high time that the cheap and harmful use of the race card by politicians of all stripes be made to cease and desist."


"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, Klayman said. "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 dishonestly use and manipulate Black voters to win the 2020 Democrat presidential primary."

The 30-page lawsuit includes a number of claims about how using the terms "white supremacy" and "gun violence" in association with what happened to Martin were unfair to Zimmerman and painted him in a negative light. 

Warren and Buttigieg are jockeying for support, particularly in the Black community, as they try to overtake the two candidates ahead of them in national polls: former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders.

In December, Klayman and Zimmerman tried to promote a documentary by suing Trayvon's father, Tracy Martin, and his mother, Sybrina Fulton, for defamation. He alleged at the time that the case against him was based upon false evidence conjured up by Trayvon's parents.  

Neither Warren nor Buttigieg have responded to the lawsuit. But the Martin family attorney, Benjamin Crump, released a statement last year condemning Zimmerman's repeated attempts to gain popularity from the shooting and continually profit off of it. 

“I have every confidence that this unfounded and reckless lawsuit will be revealed for what it is — another failed attempt to defend the indefensible and a shameless attempt to profit off the lives and grief of others," Crump said according to the Miami Herald. "This plaintiff continues to display a callous disregard for everyone but himself, revictimizing individuals whose lives were shattered by his own misguided actions. He would have us believe that he is the innocent victim of a deep conspiracy, despite the complete lack of any credible evidence to support his outlandish claims.”

elizabeth warrenGeorge ZimmermanLarry-KlaymanPete ButtigiegSybrina-Fulton