Thursday, March 29, 2012

spike lee tweet

spike lee tweet

spike lee tweet, 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 has more than 200,000 followers on Twitter.
“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.”
Spike Lee apologized on Wednesday for retweeting a tweet thought to contain Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman's address that turned out to be an elderly couple's residence.
Lee wrote:
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
Lee retweeted the erroneous information to his 240,000-plus followers last Friday. The original tweet--posted the same day by Marcus Davonne Higgins, a 33-year-old from Los Angeles, using the Twitter handle @Maccapone--was sent to several celebrities including Lee, 50 Cent and LeBron James. Higgins urged friends on Facebook to "REACH OUT & TOUCH" Zimmerman.
The couple--David McClain, 72, and his 70-year-old wife Elaine--had been living in fear after their Sanford, Fla., address, via Lee, was widely disseminated.
Lee's tweet sparked outrage among critics who said he was encouraging vigilante justice.
Famed director Spike Lee was forced to apologize after retweeting an incorrect tweet thought to reveal the address of George Zimmerman, who fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

The Sanford, Fla. address Lee tweeted out to his more than 250,000 followers actually belongs to an elderly couple, David McClain, 72, and his 70-year-old wife Elaine, who subsequently received threats and hate mail directed at Zimmerman, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The negative attention, along with a few visits from reporters seeking Zimmerman, forced the bewildered couple to temporarily move into a hotel.The Smoking Gun originally traced the tweet back to a California man, who sent the erroneous address to other celebrities including 50 Cent, LeBron James and Will Smith last Friday.

Lee’s blunder sparked a backlash of criticism accusing him of provoking vigilante justice. Before apologizing, Lee responded to some of the dozens of attack tweets and said to one, “I want justice, not a lynch mob. Wake the hell up.”

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