Trying to Fix Doing The Wrong Thing…
FLORIDA – Spike Lee has reached an agreement with the Florida couple forced to flee their home after the film director retweeted their home address and they fled to a hotel to avoid problems associated with the shooting of Trayvon Martin, it was announced Thursday.
Elaine and David McClain, in their 70s, left their Sanford, Fla., home after their address was tweeted by a man who thought he had found the home of George Zimmerman, the 28-year-old who shot Martin, 17. Lee then retweeted the McClains’ address to his followers on Twitter.
The McClains have a son, William George Zimmerman, who is not related to the George Zimmerman who shot Martin and whose arrest is being sought by Martin’s family and civil rights supporters.
“The McClains were very moved by Mr. Lee’s apology,” Morgan said. “They would like the Lee family to be left in peace,” Morgan said.
Earlier, Morgan had said that the McClains wanted to resolve the issues with Lee quickly to illustrate that whites and blacks could work together to settle their differences without escalating racial tensions. The shooting of Martin, an African American, by Zimmerman, the son of a white father and Latina mother, has become the latest racial battleground, sparking demonstrations around the country.
Zimmerman has told police that he fired at Martin in self-defense after the unarmed teenager attacked him that night.
The tweeting incident involving the McClains pitted privacy rights against social activism and was a sidelight to the furor over the shooting of Martin on Feb. 26. The shooting was originally propelled into the national arena in part by users of social media networks. (read more)
————– Original Story Below —————
Elaine McLain has retained Morgan and Morgan attorney’s at law in Florida for legal representation of her interests against Spike Lee’s erroneous tweet of her address. Good For Her.
ORLANDO – A couple who say they were forced to leave their home after director Spike Lee re-tweeted their address to his Twitter followers has hired the Morgan & Morgan law firm to represent them.
“At this point, they have retained us to protect their interests” and their safety, attorney Matt Morgan said of Elaine and David McClain, an elderly Sanford-area couple in their 70s.
The couple’s address was tweeted by a man who believed he had uncovered the address of George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last month.
The problem is, the address does not belong to Zimmerman, but to the McClains, who have a son named William George Zimmerman who lived there in 1995 and still lives in Central Florida.
He is no relation to George Zimmerman, 28, who killed Trayvon on Feb. 26, sparking national outrage and international interest. Zimmerman has claimed self defense and has not been arrested.
After Lee’s retweet, the couple’s other son says, the McClains have been forced to flee their home and live in a hotel given the rapidly spreading threats of violence against the real Zimmerman.
“At this point, they’ve had to move out of their home and their lives have been upended,” Morgan said.
Morgan declined Wednesday to discuss any possible future litigation on the couple’s behalf. Lee, who has more than 200,000 followers on Twitter, has since deleted his tweet.
“The first thing they’re hoping for is an apology and a retraction by Spike Lee,” Morgan said, adding that the couple hope their story can help “heal the divide between the white and black community.”
George Zimmerman is currently in hiding for fear of threats as the racially charged controversy grows. The New Black Panther Party recently announced a $10,000 bounty for his “capture.” (read more)
DOING THE WRONG THING
After everything that has happened in the case of Trayvon Martin, Spike Lee has come to terms and apologized via Twitter for tweeting an incorrect home address. It was one that ultimately led to the endangering of an elderly couple in Florida.
But, he left out one thing in that apology: he didn’t apologize for attempting to tweet George Zimmerman’s address, just for tweeting the wrong one. Basically, a half-apology.
Spike Lee @SpikeLee
I Deeply Apologize To The McClain Family For Retweeting Their Address.It Was A Mistake.Please Leave The McClain’s In Peace.Justice In Court