Posted on March 26, 2012

New Black Panthers Offer $10,000 Bounty for Capture of George Zimmerman

Arelis R. Hernandez, Orlando Sentinel, March 24, 2012

Members of the New Black Panther Party are offering a $10,000 reward for the “capture” of George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who shot Trayvon Martin.

New Black Panther leader Mikhail Muhammad announced the reward during a protest in Sanford Saturday. And when asked whether he was inciting violence, Muhammad replied defiantly: “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”

The bounty announcement came moments after members of the group called for the mobilization of 10,000 black men to capture Zimmerman, who shot Trayvon in a gated Sanford community on Feb. 26.

Muhammad said members of his group would search for Zimmerman themselves in Maitland — where the 28-year old worked before the shooting, employees there told the Orlando Sentinel. {snip}

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Muhammad said the group’s national chairman, Dr. Malik Zulu Shabaz ofWashington, D.C.is receiving donations from black entertainers and athletes. They hope to collect $1 million by next week, Muhammad said.

The party said they would not release the names of donors nor would they provide documentation to support the existence of donations.

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The group called for Zimmerman’s arrest and threatened to find and detain him if police were not willing to do so. But group members didn’t call for the mobilization of thousands until Saturday.

Muhammed led the group in chanting “Justice for Trayvon!” and “Black Power!”

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Sanford resident James Tucker said the party’s message is about vengeance not justice and will rouse a “lynch mob” that could spiral out of control into a race riot.

“I’m as much for black power as anybody but this is going to alienate the white friends we need to get things done,” Tucker said, as he stood across the street from the demonstration.

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