Ever since his acquittal in the murder/manslaughter trial that held the nations attention for weeks, George Zimmerman has been in hiding. While there are a considerable number of people who think Zimmerman acted in a defensible manner, and are happy that he was acquitted, there are just as many, perhaps even more, who disagree vehemently with the “not guilty” verdict returned by an all-female, mostly white, jury in Florida. And some of those people just may wish George Zimmerman ill will.
So Zimmerman has not shown his face for a while. Except for last Thursday. That was when Zimmerman and another man stopped to help a family trapped inside a blue Ford Explorer SUV that had rolled over after traveling off the highway in Sanford, Florida.
USA Today reports that family was Dana and Mark Gerstle and their two children. And Mark Gerstle had agreed to appear at press conference to tell reporters what had happened and how Zimmerman had helped his family.
Zimmerman’s attorneys say they set up the press conference to allow the family to tell their tale and move on. It seems the family has been hounded by reporters ever since the incident. Zimmerman’s attorney Mark O’Mara said, “The family called because they wanted to address the media. I knew that if we did it in an organized way, it would help them get back to a normal life.”
“I told them if you address the media, you can give them the story they need and move on,” another spokesman said. “We were doing it to help them out because they are going to be harassed until someone gets their story.”
But today, before the press conference was set to begin, Mark Gerstle contacted the Zimmerman camp agin. He was backing out of the press conference.
“They called today and said they were more worried about blow back from saying anything that would be favorable to George, and decided they did not want to do any media,” O’Mara said.
The family said reporters had been camped out outside their home. They could not be reached for further comment.