VIGILANTE JUSTICE, PART TWO

Spike Lee Does The Right Thing: Apologizes For Retweeting Wrong Address Of Trayvon Martin Shooter

By Linda Seccaspina

HERE’s THE STING OF SOCIAL MEDIA: instant reaction that disrupts innocent lives many miles away.

Director Spike Lee found himself eating his words Wednesday after he retweeted what he thought was the home address of Sanford, Fla. neighborhood watch shooter George Zimmerman.

The shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by the watch volunteer has triggered racial fireworks nationwide, with one extremist group even putting a $10,000 bounty on Zimmerman’s head.

But the tweeted address was actually that of David and Elaine McClain, both elderly school employees who had nothing to do with the assault. The couple had to flee their home after receiving threatening mail. The couple have since hired an attorney to represent them in the flap.

Mrs. McClain was once married to a man named Zimmerman and has a son named “William George Zimmerman” but he is unrelated to the man who shot Martin.

Smoking Gun traces the original tweet to Marcus Davonne Higgins, 33, of Los Angeles. He also sent the address out on his Facebook page saying, “FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT & TOUCH HIM.” Was Higgins intent to incite violence and does qualify as cyber harassment?

Director Lee retweeted the false information to his 240,000 followers.

On Wednesday, the Brooklyn, N.Y, resident finally apologized officially on the social media site: “I Deeply Apologize To The McClain Family For Retweeting Their Address,” Lee tweeted Wednesday. “It Was A Mistake.Please Leave The McClain’s In Peace. Justice In Court.”

Linda Seccaspina loves snark and scandal and can’t wait for Beyoncé to get busted for faking her pregnancy. She writes regularly for the dating site Zoomers. Follow her on Twitter @@Mcpheeeeee.