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George Zimmerman, the Florida manacquitted in the 2012 death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, is suing Martin's family, prosecutors and others involved in the case for $100 million. In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, he claimed that the case relied on false evidence and cites "malicious prosecution" by prosecutors.

Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer, is represented by Larry Klayman, a former U.S. federal prosecutor and the founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch. They allege that the prosecution's key witness, Rachel Jeantel, was an "imposter and fake witness" and that Benjamin Crump, the Martin family's attorney, defamed Zimmerman in the process.

According to the complaint, the Sanford Police Department proved Zimmerman acted in self-defense when he shot and killed Martin, closing the investigation in March 2012. Crump then released audio, allegedly of Martin and his girlfriend, 12-year-old Diamond Eugene, talking just before he was killed by Zimmerman.

Prosecutors and police at the time described the shooting as unjustified, and Martin became a national figure, sparking protests across the country. Zimmerman's acquittal served as a catalyst for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Klayman said 18-year-old Rachel Jeantel appeared in court two weeks later, posing as Eugene and providing incriminating false statements against Zimmerman. They also allege that Jeantel lied repeatedly in court, while Martin's supposed "real girlfriend," Brittany Diamond Eugene, "refused to bear false witness" against Zimmerman.

The suit alleges that Martin's parents, attorney and several others involved in the case knew about the "imposter witness."

The allegations and lawsuit follow the release of "The Trayvon Hoax: Unmasking the Witness Fraud that Divided America," a book and film by director Joel Gilbert. Gilbert used Martin's phone records to allege that Rachel Jeantel was not his girlfriend and was not on the phone with him before his altercation with Zimmerman.

The film was set to screen at the Coral Gables Art Cinema on Thursday following a press conference with Klayman, Zimmerman and Gilbert. However, the cinema canceled the event Wednesday afternoon following outrage on Twitter.

Zimmerman is also suing Crump and the publisher HarperCollins,accusing them of defamationfor Crump's recent book, "Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People." He claims they published false, misleading and slanderous statements that damage Zimmerman's character.

According to the suit, the case "caused Zimmerman to suffer great mental anguish," requiring professional treatment by psychologists for PTSD, anxiety, depression, insomnia and weight gain. Zimmerman also continues to face numerous death threats and financial loss, the suit alleges.

The lead defendant in the suit,Martin's mother Sybrina Fulton, has become a national advocate against gun violence in the wake of her son's death. She is running for Miami-Dade County Commissioner.

"I have every confidence that this unfounded and reckless lawsuit will be revealed for what it is another failed attempt to defend the indefensible and a shameless attempt to profit off the lives and grief of others," Crump said in a statement obtained by journalist Stephanie Wash on behalf of himself and Martin's parents.

"This plaintiff continues to display a callous disregard for everyone but himself, revictimizing individuals whose lives were shattered by his own misguided actions," Crump continued. "He would have us believe that he is the innocent victim of a deep conspiracy, despite the complete lack of any credible evidence to support his outlandish claims."

"This tale defies all logic, and it's time to close the door on these baseless imaginings," Crump added.

Klayman, HarperCollins and a representative for the Trayvon Martin Foundation did not immediately respond to CBS News' request for comment.

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George Zimmerman suing Trayvon Martin's family, attorney ...

Jordan Casteels exhibition Within Reach is currently hanging on the second floor of the temporarily shuttered New Museum. The situation is somewhat paradoxical, given that the shows most prominent theme is closeness something thats been severely disrupted by the coronavirus crisis. Yet that also makes it a good time to look at Ms. Casteels work however we can in a digital walk-through and in the catalog and think about the vision of community it offers.

This is the artists first solo museum show in New York and it includes works from her noted series Visible Man (2013-14) and Nights in Harlem (2017). In large, expressive portraits, Ms. Casteel celebrates the people around her, black and brown folk who have historically been excluded from art institutions. Her subjects present themselves to her, and to us, posing as they want to be seen in a way that brings to mind Malians in the 1950s sitting for the photographer Seydou Keta. They invite us into their worlds, offering the audience a privileged view.

Back when you could still see it, the exhibition created a distinct sense of being let in on a casual but celebratory gathering, like a potluck or a block party. Its harder to feel that spirit online, but browsing images on the artists website and on her gallery page gives the closest sense of it. The New Museums video walk-through is more helpful as an introduction to her practice.

The artist honed her approach while getting her M.F.A. at Yale in 201214. She enrolled months after George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed African-American high school student, in Florida. He was acquitted of murder the following year after saying he acted in self-defense. The episode sparked a national conversation about a longstanding issue in American culture, and one that Ms. Casteel had already been thinking about: a lack of nuanced portrayals of black boys and men, who are haunted by stereotypes of them as menacing or carnal. She wanted to show their humanity.

The result was Visible Man, a series of nude portraits of some of her fellow students at Yale. In these riveting paintings, several of which are in the show, the men lounge in domestic spaces whose ordinariness underscores their vulnerability. Theyre surrounded by small markers of their identities, from a stack of books to a bottle of Jim Beam. Their genitals are artfully obscured to avoid voyeurism or sexualization. Instead, we must look at their faces and meet their forthright, honest gazes.

Jonathan (2014), which can be seen in the New Museum video, exemplifies Ms. Casteels fruitful experiments with color in the series. Lit by a nearby lamp, his body glows with patches of red, green and yellow. In other paintings, the mens skin ranges from salmon pink to ghostly turquoise, complementing their vibrant surroundings. With these choices, she evokes predecessors like the African-American painters Beauford Delaney and Bob Thompson. She also challenges the concept of blackness, exploring how identity is shaped beyond the shade of ones skin.

Ms. Casteels project of portraying black men and boys expanded after she left Yale. She devoted a series to portraits of brothers and cousins sitting together in twos or threes. But her big breakthrough came during a residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem. She would walk around and introduce herself to men who hung out on the neighborhoods streets, asking them to pose for her. If they agreed, she would take dozens, sometimes hundreds, of photographs of her subject and then, back in the studio, let the pictures guide the painting, not as one-to-one representations but as reference material. In time, she would begin to depict women too, often local business owners, and the occasional scene devoid of people.

Nights in Harlem includes some of Ms. Casteels best work. Her renderings are incisive but also empathetic and warm. Her compositions demonstrate how a neighborhood and its public spaces can serve as a kind of home. Stanley (2016), for instance, cozies up in a nook bounded on one side by what looks like a construction wall, while the three men in Cowboy E, Sean Cross, and Og Jabar (2017) command a flight of steps. (I love the way one mans leg is cut off by the frame, as it might be in a snapshot.) Many subjects are not centered, as if to let their surroundings complete the picture, and in pieces like Yvonne and James (2017), the glow of electric light creates an almost beatific effect that amplifies the warmth the couple exudes. Its not hard to understand why Ms. Casteel calls this one of my favorite paintings of all time.

Although her models remain still, Ms. Casteels paintings never feel static. In part thats because she rarely renders a figure or an object in a single shade. Her brush strokes have become more fluid over the years, and her pictorial choices more confident, imbuing her latest portrait series, of her students at Rutgers University-Newark, with impressive kinetic energy. For example, the right foot of Noelle (2019) melds with the blankets it rests on and becomes an abstract wave of yellow and brown. In Serwaa and Amoakohene (2019), a young man and his mother sit proudly and comfortably with their arms resting on each other in a living room awash with color and pattern. You half expect them to spring to life and start talking.

This approach links Ms. Casteel to one of her primary inspirations, Alice Neel, who used composition and color to heightened emotional effect. But whereas Ms. Neels portraits aim for psychological penetration, Ms. Casteels tend to only hint at whats beneath the surface. Like the photographs theyre based on, they appear to capture a moment in time, a social exchange or relationship, more than the essence of a person. At her strongest, Ms. Casteel seems to be painting her way toward intimacy, balancing her artistic vision with her subjects self-presentation. Occasionally that productive tension goes missing, resulting in a work, like Shirley (Spa Boutique2Go) (2018), that feels emotionally thin.

Still, its important to note that Ms. Casteel is only 31 young to be having a museum exhibition that caps off a dizzyingly successful period since her graduation. Many of the almost 40 paintings in Within Reach are recognizable from the regular gallery shows shes had in New York City since 2014, and nearly every piece comes from a private collection. This casts a slight hyped-up, market-driven pall over the presentation.

Ms. Casteel is at a crucial moment when she needs to experiment and develop, not become boxed in. So its encouraging to see the inclusion of works from an ongoing series, begun in 2017, in which she paints scenes shes observed on the subway. Theyre not posed, and they often dont show peoples faces, only gestures and quiet moments. The figures anonymity gives the scenes a heightened emotional power in our age of social distancing. Taken alongside Ms. Casteels portraits, they offer another way of arriving at what may be her true subject, and a message to carry with us until safer times: Getting close to other people within reach, you might say is a way of choosing to live in the world.

Jordan Casteel: Within Reach

New Museum, 235 Bowery, Manhattan; 212-219-1222, newmuseum.org.

Original post:
Jordan Casteels Portraits Are More Than Meet the Eye - The New York Times

NORTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA (WDTV) -- Testing, applications and acceptance letters. Students are facing a new reality when it comes to college admissions.

It all starts before the application. The West Virginia Department of Education this morning announces SAT testing days scheduled in September to provide upcoming seniors with the chance to test before they apply.

While this will be a factor of WVU applicants.

"A majority of our West Virginia students have already completed an SAT in April of their Junior year," said George Zimmerman, Executive Director of WVU Admissions and Recruitment.

Students applying to Fairmont State University will not need to submit their scores.

"Per capita, Fairmont State has the highest percentage of West Virginians of any institution in the state," said Chris Sharps, Director of Fairmont State University Recruitment.

He says they will be working with local counselors to guide students through the application process.

WVU staff say their application process is student-oriented making it easy for students to apply.

"We are rolling admissions. That means there is no application deadline, per se, for students to apply to the University. A student can submit an application, send in their documents as they become available, whether that is testing or high school requirements," said Zimmerman.

FAFSA applications are still open and available for students. Sharps says they will help walk students through the process that have trouble.

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Applying to colleges during the pandemic - WDTV

Tekashis legal team claimed via TMZ that his social media activity would be monitored, but it seems hes back up to his trollish antics. Tekashi is having fun online poking at his snitching reputation and took it to another level on Tory Lanezs Instagram Live show, Quarantine Radio, on Monday (April 13). Tory was in the middle of a broadcast with his fans when he noticed the 23-year-old had left him a message in the comments section.

Tekashi jokingly threatened to rat Tory out if he didnt play some of his new music. Lemme play this new s**t or ima snitch on [you], he wrote. You not even from America, [you] from Canada. Tory read aloud the message to his viewers and began laughing. 6ix9ine, guidelines! Tory reminded him. He jokingly added, Hold on, before 6ix9ine comes here, we got to make sure that we dont get any more fives. We dont need anymore fives."

Tory then attempted to gas Tekashi up to go live, but he didnt take up the offer.

RELATED: Tekashi 6ix9ine Addresses His Snitch Reputation On Instagram

While Torys response was good-natured as he took Tekashis trolling in jest, some parts of the Twitterverse are tired of his shenanigans. Hes already doing too much with the snitching thing, one person commented on Twitter. That wasnt even funny, a second chimed. This s**t so lame. I hate the fact n***as still rocking with master splinter, a third added. If u play the game, play by the rules.

See what else people are saying about Tekashis sudden appearance on Quarantine Radio.

The new thugs dont do enough. 6ix9ine just doing what he wants to do and George Zimmerman still roaming. Im fed tf up forreal.

My thoughts are that you should stop talking about that multicolor-haired fool.

hes already doing too much with the snitching thing

I can't co sign the snitching. I'm diffrent. Carry on

this shit so lame. I hate the fact n*ggas still rocking with master splinter. If u play the game play by the rules

6ix9ine Stops by Tory Lanez's 'Quarantine Radio' to Tease New Music and Joke About Snitching https://t.co/4lPNAOAYMT

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Tekashi 6ix9ine Popped Up On Tory Lanezs Quarantine Radio With This Threat, And The Internet Is Fed Up - BET

Patrick Mahomes is a name that's been in sports headlines for decades. However, Patrick Mahomes II took that name and made it a global headline. Mahomes has only been in the NFL for three seasons and has worked his way to becoming the NFL MVP, NFL Offensive Player of the Year, two-time Pro Bowl selection, Madden 20 Cover, Super Bowl MVP, and Super Bowl Champion.

He's the fourth African American quarterback to win the AP MVP award. In a matter of three years, Mahomes has worked his way from a backup quarterback to the face of the entire NFL franchise. But these are all things you already know about Patrick Mahomes, the football player. At the end of the day, Patrick Mahomes II is still a human being outside of a helmet, shoulder pads, and a uniform.

After George Zimmerman was acquitted from second-degree murder and manslaughter for the death of Trayvon Martin, Patrick Mahomes II made tweets in support of Zimmerman being acquitted. For a very controversial case like Zimmerman and Martin, not many people were in support of Zimmerman, which is not good for Mahomes' reputation.

One night, Patrick Mahomes II was dropping off his girlfriend, however, they were met with unexpected guests of Michael Blake Pinkerton and Billy Ray Johnson who robbed the NFL star of his wallet. Pinkerton will serve 12 years for 3 charges of aggravated robbery and Johnson was charged with tampering of evidence and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.

At the NFL Combine, reigning Heisman trophy winner and NCAA National Champion, Joe Burrow's hands were measured at just 9 inches, which is considered "tiny" hands for an NFL quarterback. Patrick Mahomes II, Super Bowl Champion and MVP,joked along with Joe Burrow, stating that having small hands in the NFL is no problem.

It's rare for an NFL team to have a franchise quarterback like Alex Smith, to use their first round pick on a quarterback, but the Chiefs reaped the benefits of that decision three years later. After a disappointing loss to the Colts in the 2014 AFC Wildcard game, Smith was traded to the Redskins and Mahomes became the starter.

Everyone knows how much of a successful NFL head coach that Bill Belichick is. Whatever playersother NFL teams reject, it's common for that player to receive a call from Belichick. Belichick has been a fan of Mahomes since he's entered the league, and whatever Belichick wants, he gets, which could be a problem for the Chiefs' franchise one day.

Related:20 Things People Dont Know About Tom Brady And Bill Belichicks Relationship

Kliff Kingsbury was Mahomes' head coach at Texas Tech, but is now the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. Another product of Kliff Kingsbury is Cleveland Browns' quarterback, Baker Mayfield. As of right now, Kyler Murray is the franchise Quarterback for the Cardinals, but don't be surprised if Mahomes one day decides to move to Glendale, Arizona to play for his college coach.

Aside from being Mahomes number one fan, Mahomes' girlfriend, Brittany Matthews, was a stellar soccer player at UT Tyler. Matthews finished her college career as the UT Tyler Patriots' second all-time leading scorer.After college, she signed to play professionally in Iceland for UMF Afturelding/Fram.

Patrick Mahomes and Brittany Matthews have been dating since the two were together at Whitehouse High School. The power couple both went to college and played professionally in their respective sports of football and soccer. The athletic couple motivates the NFL quarterback and certified personal trainer to new heights.

Patrick Mahomes II's father was a professional baseball pitcher mostly for the Minnesota Twins, however, he played for other organizations such as the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, and Pittsburgh Pirates. Mahomes II grew up in the headlines and bright lights right by his father's side.

On October 30, 2016, after Texas Tech's double-overtime win over TCU, Pat Mahomes was taken into custody and booked into Fort Worth city jail. Mahomes was causing a disturbance and "acting belligerent" in the stands whentaken into custody, and was charged withpublic intoxication.

In high school, football, baseball, and basketball. During Mahomes II's freshman year at Texas Tech, he served as a dual-athlete in football and baseball. However, he quit during his sophomore year to focus on football. In 2014, Mahomes as a top prospect for the MLB draft, but wasn't expecting to be selected so high because of his commitment to Texas Tech.

In 2013, Mahomes II was named the MaxPreps Male Athleteof the Year in Texas, however, the only FBS schools that offered Mahomes a scholarship were Texas Tech, Houston, and Rice and some interest from Oklahoma State. Not a single school from the outside of the state of Texas offered Mahomes a scholarship.

As of a stellar season that Patrick Mahomes produced in the 2019-20 NFL season, it's safe to say that he has earned his way into a max contract. Rumor has it that the Chiefs are considering a contract that could make Mahomes the highest-paid quarterback in the NFL with a contract that would pay Mahomes as much as $400 million.

Related:18 Surprising Facts About The Kansas City Chiefs

Patrick Mahomes II is the mobile quarterback that every NFL team dreams of. He's not necessarily the fastest quarterback, but his strong body is able to take hits as well as throw the long ball. Last season, Mahomes suffered through a dislocated kneecap, which could be potential issues in Mahomes' future if he continues to be a dual-threat quarterback.

Mahomes suffered through ashoulder injuryduring his time at Texas Tech. His shoulder injury caused him to be sidelined for some weeks as a matter of pain tolerance. Hopefully, these injuries do not occur during Mahomes' NFL career because that could affect him reaching his full potential.

Related:20 Things You Might Not Know About Chiefs Quarterback Patrick Mahomes

Patrick Mahomes II's younger brother, Jackson Mahomes, has announced to the world that he is gay. Since then, Jackson has been receiving "hurtful" messages on social media, especially anti-LGBTQ+ remarks. Jackson Mahomes has created his ownidentity through dancing videos on TikTok without any inclusion of Patrick Mahomes, however, he receives thousands of hateful messages in his DMs, and he reads every single one of them.

Sources: USA Today Sports, Getty Images, AP Images, ABC, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report

Next:Lamar Jackson v Patrick Mahomes: 18 Facts Most NFL Fans Dont Know

NextSaying Goodbye: 14 Rumored Names Vince Might Be Forced To Release Next

Alexis Pitchford is a sports writer and student-athlete at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). Her expertise as a collegiate basketball player and media studies major is exemplified in her work. Pitchford is a copy editor and writer for the Carolinian and contributor for Unwrappedsports.com.Twitter// @AlexisPitchford

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16 Facts About Patrick Mahomes That The Chiefs Dont Want You To Know - TheThings