Bail for George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed black teen Trayvon Martin in February, was revoked Friday afternoon. The judge ordered Zimmerman to surrender himself to the court within 48 hours after discrepancies over his finances and a second passport were uncovered.
Florida Judge Kenneth Lester said Zimmerman engaged in "material falsehood" by hiding the amount of money actually present in his bank accounts at the time bond was posted. Zimmerman also did not turn over a second passport he acquired two weeks after the trial.
Zimmerman declared himself financially indigent the day before the bond hearing when he actually had $135,000 in his bank account, much of which was donated to him on a fund-raising website Zimmerman himself set up. In taped conversations made while Zimmerman was in jail, he and his wife talk in code about the money and passport, kept in a safe deposit box.
Zimmerman, who claims self-defense in the shooting murder, was subsequently released on bail on April 23 and required to wear an electronic monitoring device.
The shooting took place on February 26 in the gated community of Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman was out on neighborhood watch patrol when he spotted Trayvon Martin, 17, walking through the area.
Martin was returning from the convenience store to his father's fiancee's house, who they were visiting. Zimmerman called the 911 operator, calling Martin "shady." The operator advised him to leave Martin alone. But a scuffle ensued in which Martin was shot and killed.
Zimmerman claims Martin beats him and pounded his head against the ground. Some evidence to this fact, such as pictures of Zimmerman's bloody head, are available. The drug THC was also found in Martin's body during an autopsy.
But the public became suspicious of the incident after police failed to arrest Zimmerman after he admitted to the murder.
The case has enraged racial discord to their highest levels since the Rodney King beating and Los Angeles riots in the early 1990s.
According to an April ABC-Washington Post poll, the percentage of whites who believe minorities are treated equally in the criminal justice system is at its lowest point in 20 years. African American numbers dropped from 19 to 10 percent between 1997 and the Martin shooting.
A trial for Zimmerman will not likely begin until 2013.
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