She claimed to be seeking justice, and that’s exactly what 2012 presidential nominee* Roseanne Barr is now getting. Only in this case, the long arm of the law may come upside her head.
According to the Orlando Sentinel Barr has been named in a lawsuit filed by the parents of George Zimmerman, who say they were forced to flee their Lake Mary, Fla., home in the middle of the night and were unable to return after the comedienne posted their address on Twitter.
Robert Zimmerman Sr. and Gladys Zimmerman filed suit Monday in state circuit court, accusing Barr of trying to incite “a lynch mob to descend” and carry out “vigilante justice.”
The plaintiffs claim that Barr published their address on Twitter March 29, 2012, a month after their son George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin but before his arrest. Their son did not live with them, nor did they have anything to do with the shooting, the court papers further note. The couple is seeking unspecified monetary damages for emotional distress.
The suit also alleges that Barr violated Twitter’s terms and conditions, which prohibit publishing addresses and other confidential information. After the first tweet, the suit notes, Barr followed up with others, including:
If Zimmerman isn’t arrested I’ll rt (re-tweet) his address again — maybe go 2 his house myself.
Rene Stutzman, the author of the Sentinel argument, highlights a potential sticking point in the Zimmermans’ case, noting that in an interview in the same newspaper dated March 15, 2012, the couple acknowledged having vacated their home because of death threats. That was 14 days before the date on which they insist they were forced to leave their home because of Barr’s tweet.
Another elderly Florida couple who sued filmmaker Spike Lee after he erroneously tweeted their address as that George Zimmerman collected an unspecified amount after agreeing to settle out of court. The couple, David and Elaine McClain, filed a negligence lawsuit, claiming that Lee’s mistake resulted in a flood of death threats directed at them.
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* Peace and Freedom Party
