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An online gun auction website yanked GeorgeZimmerman'sad to sell the pistol he used to kill unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, saying it wanted no part in the deal, but a second site offered to post it.

A listing for the weapon was removed from the GunBroker.com site Thursday morning, minutes after the auction was to begin, as negative traffic about the sale exploded online. In a statement posted on its website, GunBroker.com said listings are user generated, and that the company reserved the right to reject listings at its discretion.

Zimmermannever contacted anyone at the site and no one there "has any relationship withZimmerman," the company wrote in its statement.

It added, "We want no part in the listing on our web site or in any of the publicity it is receiving."

Hours later, United Gun Group tweeted that it would postZimmerman'sad. The new link was posted, along with a statement fromZimmerman. However, the site apparently went down a few minutes later. The site calls itself a "social market place for the firearms community."

Critics called the planned auction an insensitive move to profit from the slaying.

Zimmermanhad told Orlando, Florida, TV station WOFL that the pistol was returned to him by the U.S. Justice Department, which took it after he was acquitted in Martin's 2012 shooting death.

The auction for the 9 mm Kel-Tec PF-9 pistol was to begin at 11 a.m. EDT Thursday and end 24 hours later.

Zimmerman'slisting said a portion of the proceeds would go toward fighting whatZimmermancalls violence by the Black Lives Matter movement against law enforcement officers, combatting anti-gun rhetoric of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and ending the career of state attorney Angela Corey, who ledZimmerman'sprosecution.

The listing ended with a Latin phrase that translates as "if you want peace, prepare for war."

Zimmerman, now 32, has said he was defending himself when he killed Martin, 17, in a gated community near Orlando. Martin, who lived in Miami with his mother, was visiting his father at the time.

Zimmerman, who identifies as Hispanic, was acquitted in Martin's February 2012 shooting death. The case sparked protests and a national debate about race relations. The Justice Department later decided not to prosecuteZimmermanon civil rights charges

Lucy McBath, the mother of another black teenager shot by a white man during an argument at a Jacksonville convenience store in 2012, said the auction reflected a "deplorable lack of value for human life."

"I am deeply disappointed that the man who killed Trayvon Martin is trying to sell the very gun he used to cut that precious life short to raise money," McBath said in a written statement.

The slaying of her son, 17-year-old Jordan Davis, by Michael Dunn drew parallels at the time to the Zimmerman-Martin case. Dunn told police he had felt threatened by Davis. UnlikeZimmerman, Dunn was convicted of murder.

SinceZimmermanwas acquitted, he has been charged with assault based on complaints from two girlfriends. Both women later refused to press charges andZimmermanwasn't prosecuted. His estranged wife, ShellieZimmerman, also accused him of smashing her iPad during an argument days after she filed divorce papers. No charges were filed because of lack of evidence. They were divorced in January.

Orlando-based attorney Mark O'Mara has previously representedZimmerman. A receptionist in O'Mara's office said Thursday that he no longer representsZimmermanand had no comment.

Martin's parents declined to addressZimmerman'sactions in statements made through representatives.

Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, said through an attorney that she would rather focus on her work with the Trayvon Martin Foundation than respond to "Zimmerman'sactions."

Daryl Parks, whose firm represented the Martin family during the trial, is now chairman of Fulton's foundation. He says Fulton is pushing for policies that protect youth and address gun violence.

Fulton also founded the Circle of Mothers conference, a three-day event to help mothers who have "lost children or family members" to gun violence. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will be keynote speaker at the event in Fort Lauderdale starting May 20.

In the auction listing,Zimmermancited strong interest from collectors including "The Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC."

Smithsonian spokesman John Gibbons denied any interest.

"The Smithsonian has never expressed an interest in collecting this firearm and has no intention of collecting or displaying this firearm," Gibbons said.

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George Zimmerman says he's selling gun used to shoot and ...

The top bidder for a time was one "Racist McShootface," although other bids from a "Tamir Rice" -- the name of a Cleveland child killed by police last year -- also appear in the list of offers for the weapon Zimmerman used in his 2012 Sanford, Florida, confrontation with 17-year-old Martin.

The "Racist McShootface" bids were deleted Friday morning from the United Gun Group auction site, but the trolling prompted one apparently serious bidder to call the trolls "losers" and express hope that their "children get murdered."

"Obviously the jury didn't think it was murder," the bidder identified as Brez Morrell posted of Zimmerman's 2013 acquittal. "He did nothing wrong."

The $65 million bid was later replaced by one from a user named Craig Bryant. It was unclear if that bid was serious.

Zimmerman -- seen by some as a national pariah and by others as a hero -- announced plans to sell the Kel-Tec PF-9 weapon on Wednesday. The 9mm pistol carries a suggested price of $356.36 on the manufacturer's website.

On Friday afternoon, United Gun Group posted a statement to Twitter expressing condolences to Martin's family, but appearing to support the continuation of Zimmerman's auction.

"Unless the law has been violated, it is the intention of United Gun Group to allow its members to use any of the available features," the statement read.

On February 26, 2012, Zimmerman called 911 to report a "suspicious person" in his neighborhood. Police told him not to get out of the car or approach Martin, but he disregarded the instructions and a confrontation ensued.

Zimmerman said Martin attacked him and he shot the unarmed teenager in self-defense. The case shined a spotlight on Florida laws allowing the use of deadly force and on issues of race.

In his post introducing the auction, Zimmerman said he was "honored and humbled to announce the sale of an American Firearm Icon."

He said some of the proceeds would be used to fight Black Lives Matter violence against police, and to "ensure the demise of (State's Attorney) Angela Correy's persecution career and Hillary Clinton's anti-firearm rhetoric."

Zimmerman had first tried to sell the pistol through a site called GunBroker, but the website sent out a message Thursday afternoon saying it had rejected the idea.

"Our site rules state that we reserve the right to reject listings at our sole discretion, and have done so with the Zimmerman listing," a GunBroker statement said. "We want no part in the listing on our web site or in any of the publicity it is receiving."

Zimmerman told CNN he moved the auction to another website, giving a different reason than GunBroker did.

"Unfortunately, (the site) was not prepared for the traffic and publicity surrounding the auction of my firearm," Zimmerman said in a text. "It has now been placed with another auction house."

That site, United Gun Group, put out a statement Thursday night saying the gun would not be sold on its site, but the auction appeared to proceed anyway.

After initially saying the site would not allow the auction, founder Todd Underwood said in an email to CNN that an official response would be released Friday.

"I recently received it back from the Department of Justice," he said. "They took it after my trial, after I was exonerated."

Zimmerman told the station he has had death threats since he put the gun up for sale.

"What I've decided to do is not cower," he said. "I'm a free American. I can do what I want with my possessions."

In posting the weapon for auction, Zimmerman described the weapon as a "piece of American History."

"The firearm for sale is the firearm that was used to defend my life and end the brutal attack from Trayvon Martin on 2/26/2012," Zimmerman apparently wrote in the posts.

"The pistol currently has the case number written on it in silver permanent marker," he wrote.

Zimmerman said museums such as the Smithsonian Institution have "expressed interest in owning and displaying the firearm."

But the Washington-based Smithsonian denied it has any interest in the weapon.

"We have never expressed interest in collecting George Zimmerman's firearm, and have no plans to ever collect or display it in any museums," it said in a statement.

Family attorney Benjamin Crump told CNN's "New Day" Friday that Zimmerman "keeps appearing to reopen the wounds again and again."

"It's like he is shooting and killing Trayvon all over again four years later with this attempt to auction off this gun like it's some kind of trophy," Crump said. "I mean, it's offensive, it's outrageous and it's insulting."

The gun sale is not Zimmerman's first effort at auction.

CNN's Elan Bird, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Shawn Nottingham, Polo Sandoval, Justin Lear and Ralph Ellis contributed to this report.

Excerpt from:
George Zimmerman's gun may still be up for auction - cnn.com

Sanford, Fla., police Officer Timothy Smith holds up the gun that was used to kill Trayvon Martin, while testifying on June 28, 2013, the 15th day of George Zimmerman's murder trial. Zimmerman has listed the gun for sale online. Pool/Getty Images hide caption

Sanford, Fla., police Officer Timothy Smith holds up the gun that was used to kill Trayvon Martin, while testifying on June 28, 2013, the 15th day of George Zimmerman's murder trial. Zimmerman has listed the gun for sale online.

Updated 6:15 p.m. ET

George Zimmerman, who fatally shot unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012 and was acquitted of all charges in the case, said Thursday that he was auctioning off the gun that he says he used in that incident.

The 9 mm pistol was initially listed for sale on GunBroker.com, posted by user "GZ1776." By Thursday afternoon, however, the listing for the auction, which was supposed to begin at 11 a.m., was no longer active.

In a statement on GunBroker.com, the company wrote that it reserves "the right to reject listings at our sole discretion, and have done so with the Zimmerman listing. We want no part in the listing on our web site or in any of the publicity it is receiving."

The statement also said:

"Late last night, George Zimmerman created a listing on our web site for the gun from the Trayvon Martin case four years ago. Mr. Zimmerman alerted news organizations that began reporting on the listing first thing this morning.

"Listings on the GunBroker.com web site are user-generated, exactly like social media posts. Mr. Zimmerman never contacted anyone at GunBroker.com prior to or after the listing was created and no one at GunBroker.com has any relationship with Zimmerman."

NPR's Greg Allen reports that the website pulled Zimmerman's Kel-Tec pistol before the auction began. Greg adds that Zimmerman told the Orlando Sentinel that the website was not "prepared for the traffic and publicity surrounding the auction of my firearm."

He then listed the gun for sale with another website, UnitedGunGroup.com, which the website confirmed on Twitter. That link is also not functioning.

"The firearm for sale is the firearm that was used to defend my life and end the brutal attack from Trayvon Martin on 2/26/2012," the original listing on GunBroker.com stated. It went on to say the gun is fully functional and had been returned to Zimmerman by the Department of Justice.

It concluded:

"I am proud to announce that a portion of the proceeds will be used to: fight [Black Lives Matter] violence against Law Enforcement officers, ensure the demise of Angela [Corey's] persecution career and Hillary Clinton's anti-firearm rhetoric. Now is your opportunity to own a piece of American History. Good Luck. Your friend, George M. Zimmerman ~Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum~ "

Angela Corey was the attorney leading the case against Zimmerman, who was charged with murder and manslaughter but acquitted after he claimed self-defense. Si vis pacem para bellum is Latin for "If you want peace, prepare for war."

In this photo provided by the Seminole County Sheriff`s Office, George Zimmerman poses for a mug shot after being arrested and booked into jail at the John Polk Correctional Facility Jan. 9, 2015, in Sanford, Fla. Florida officials reported that Zimmerman had been charged with aggravated assault and domestic violence with a weapon. Getty Images hide caption

Zimmerman spoke with Fox 35 Orlando, a local news station, and confirmed that he is auctioning off the gun he says was used to shoot and kill Martin.

He told the news station that he has received death threats, both before and after posting the listing.

"What I've decided to do is not cower," he told Fox 35 Orlando. "I'm a free American. I can do what I want with my possessions."

The station also spoke with an attorney for Martin's family, who said the Trayvon Martin Foundation is "laser focused" on ending gun violence and "has no comments on the actions of that person."

The auction was set to begin Thursday at 11 a.m., with a starting price of $5,000.

The site on which the gun was listed first, GunBroker.com, has made headlines in relation to the Martin case before. In 2012, shooting targets showing a hooded figure holding Skittles and iced tea the items Martin was carrying the night he died were reportedly advertised on the website.

GunBroker.com told Reuters the ads were removed as soon as the company was aware of them.

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George Zimmerman Auctioning Off Gun He Used To Kill ...

George Zimmerman has reportedly said he's sold the pistol he used to kill unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin during an altercation.

Zimmerman told Las Vegas TV station KTNV on Friday that he's accepting a bid for $250,000 after an auction for the gun closed this week.

A Daytona Beach, Florida, bar owner told the News-Journal newspaper that Zimmerman had accepted his bid for $150,000 but instead backed out for the higher bid. Denny Honeycutt told the paper that Zimmerman said the buyer was a woman who was giving the gun as a birthday present to her son.

"I thought he was a man of his word," Honeycutt told the paper.

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Sanford police officer Timothy Smith holds up the gun that was used to kill Trayvon Martin while testifying during George Zimmerman's murder trial in Seminole circuit court in Sanford, Florida, June 28, 2013.

Reuters/Joe Burbank/Pool

On Wednesday, the former neighborhood watch volunteer - who was acquitted in the 2012 slaying - said on his blog that the sale was successful, though he gave no details and said the buyer may choose to remain anonymous.

Details of the auction are unclear. The website believed to be the venue, United Gun Group, later said in a tweet that there were two auctions running simultaneously, one for pre-qualifed buyers and a "fake" one for the public. Bids on the fake site visible to the public went as high as $138,900 before it was deleted about midday Wednesday.

Zimmerman had set the minimum bid at $100,000. Zimmerman had told Orlando, Florida, TV station WOFL that the pistol was returned to him by the U.S. Justice Department, which took it after he was acquitted in Martin's 2012 shooting death.

Critics had called the auction an insensitive move to profit the slaying.

Zimmerman, who identifies as Hispanic and is now 32, has said he was defending himself when he killed Martin, 17, in a gated community near Orlando. Martin, who lived in Miami with his mother, was visiting his father at the time.

Zimmerman's acquittal sparked protests and a national debate about race relations. The Justice Department later decided not to prosecute Zimmerman on civil rights charges.

2016 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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George Zimmerman reportedly sells gun he used to kill Florida ...

Amid a storm of outrage and criticism, George Zimmerman on Monday explained publicly for the first time why he auctioned off the pistol he used to kill unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin during an altercation in 2012.

The former neighborhood-watch volunteer, who was acquitted of second-degree murder in July of 2013, said he auctioned off his 9-mm Kel-Tec PF-9 pistol for $250,000. He promised to use some of the proceeds to push back against the civil rights movement Black Lives Matter, which has risen in popularity in the wake of the deaths of Martin and other unarmed black victims of gun and police violence.

A Black Lives Matter community Facebook page has over 130,000 "likes" and uses as its cover page an illustration of an activist wearing a black hood, symbolic of the protests that erupted after 17-year-old Martin was killed by Zimmerman near his Florida home.

Speaking Monday to ABC Las Vegas affiliate KTNV-TV via Skype between puffs from a thick cigar, Zimmerman struck a pose of defiance, discussing the process of auctioning the gun and accusing Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton of pandering to the black community to get votes.

"I was tired of Hillary Clinton's anti-gun rhetoric," Zimmerman said of his rationale for auctioning off the pistol. "She has been stumping around for a false campaign for the Trayvon Martin Foundation. She lied, saying that I killed him when he was walking home in his daddy's neighborhood. Which if anyone watched more than seven minutes of the trial, they would know that is false."

The unarmed Martin was visiting his father's fiancee's neighborhood and was returning from a convenience store before the deadly encounter with Zimmerman, who claimed self-defense.

Zimmerman said he would use some of the proceeds to help police who were targeted by violence.

"I am going to donate to officers such as the deputy in Texas that was shot in the head at point-blank range for no other reason than he was in uniform," Zimmerman said, referring to Alden Clopton, a police officer who was shot four times ambush-style and survived.

"No one can replace his life. No one can replace the service he was doing to his community. My goal is to attempt to make his family as whole as possible again."

The gun's auctioneer did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for confirmation of the sale price.

Zimmerman has been savaged by critics from the moment he announced his desire to auction off the pistol. Shaun King, a prominent civil rights activist and surrogate of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, penned an op-ed in The New York Daily News calling Zimmerman "injustice in the flesh."

"He is the living, breathing, walking, talking personification of injustice. He is injustice in the flesh. It nauseates us. It infuriates us. It takes us somewhere, emotionally, where we don't want to go, but we can't help it," King wrote.

This is not the first time Zimmerman has provoked outrage since being acquitted of murdering Martin. In 2015 he generated headlines for retweeting an image of Martin's corpse.

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George Zimmerman Explains His Rationale for Auctioning ...