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George Zimmerman, who in 2013 was acquitted of charges in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, is suing Martin's family and others for $100 million, theMiami Herald reports.

Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, is the lead defendant in Zimmerman's lawsuit filed in Polk County Circuit Court. Also being sued are the former prosecutors in the previous Zimmerman case, and Harper Collins, which published a book written by Ben Crump, the attorney who represented Martin's family.

Prosecutors during the 2013 trial said that Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, was not justified in shooting and killing the unarmed black teenager, while Zimmerman claims he was acting in self-defense. Thejury found himnot guilty of second-degree murder.

Zimmerman's new lawsuit, the Herald reports, cites "information in a documentary about the case that accuses the Martin family of engineering false testimony." He's reportedly seeking $100 million in civil damages and alleging defamation, abuse of civil process, and conspiracy.

Crumpin a statementdescribed the lawsuit as "reckless" and "another failed attempt to defend the indefensible and a shameless attempt to profit off the lives and grief of others."

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George Zimmerman is suing Trayvon Martin's family

George Zimmerman has filed a $100 million lawsuit against Trayvon Martins family six years after he was acquitted of killing the unarmed black teen in Florida.

The former neighborhood watch volunteer accuses Trayvons mother, prosecutors and others of conspiring to concoct a false narrative through imposter and fake witness Rachel Jeantel, who was on the phone with the teen just before he was shot.

The complaint, filed Tuesday in Polk County court in Florida where Zimmerman lives, also cites the documentary The Trayvon Hoax: Unmasking the Witness Fraud that Divided America, which makes similar accusations against the Martin family.

Because of the arrest, charges, prosecution and federal investigation, Zimmerman lives in constant fear of physical harm due to regular death threats, which often are expressed in rap music as well as online social media commentary, the suit says.

Zimmerman was charged with murder after fatally shooting Trayvon, 17, in Sanford, Florida, in February 2012. A jury acquitted him a year later, buying into his claim that he fired in self-defense after the teen attacked him.

Prosecutors maintained that the shooting was unjustified that Travyon was unarmed and carrying a drink and Skittles when he was gunned down.

Zimmermans suit lists Trayvons mother, Sybrina Fulton, as one of the many defendants. Fulton, who was thrust into the national spotlight following her sons death, is running for a seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission.

He is also suing Ben Crump, the lawyer who represented the Martin family, for defamation and book publisher HarperCollins for releasing Crumps book Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People.

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 Wednesday to the Miami Herald.

Zimmerman is represented by Larry Klayman, founder of conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch.

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George Zimmerman files lawsuit against Trayvon Martin family

"This tale defies logic," Trayvon Martin's family said on Wednesday after George Zimmerman filed a lawsuit against the family. Sybrina Fulton, mother of Martin, is seen here delivering a speech in 2017. Paras Griffin/Getty Images hide caption

"This tale defies logic," Trayvon Martin's family said on Wednesday after George Zimmerman filed a lawsuit against the family. Sybrina Fulton, mother of Martin, is seen here delivering a speech in 2017.

George Zimmerman is suing the family of the teenager he shot nearly eight years ago, seeking more than $100 million from Trayvon Martin's parents, their attorney and others. Zimmerman claims he was the victim of a conspiracy, along with malicious prosecution and defamation.

Martin's family has responded with a statement saying there's no evidence to back Zimmerman's contentions that he was the victim of a conspiracy.

Zimmerman was acquitted on all charges related to his shooting of Martin, who was 17 and unarmed when Zimmerman shot and killed him in a gated Florida community where Martin's father lived. Zimmerman claimed he shot Martin in self-defense during a scuffle. Zimmerman had faced charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the case, which also shed light on Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law.

Zimmerman and his lawyer, the controversial attorney Larry Klayman, allege that Rachel Jeantel, a key witness for the prosecution who testified about being on the phone with Martin just before the shooting, was an impostor. They accuse her of standing in for another teenager, Brittany Diamond Eugene, whom the suit describes as Jeantel's half sister who did not want to testify in the case.

In the lawsuit filed in Florida state court, Zimmerman and Klayman allege defamation by Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump. Their suit also names Martin's parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, along with Jeantel and Eugene. Also included: several Florida prosecutors, the state of Florida and its law enforcement department and HarperCollins, which recently published Open Season, Crump's book about violence toward black people.

Responding to the lawsuit, Crump's office released a joint statement in which the attorney and Martin's parents said:

"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."

Accusing Zimmerman of "revictimizing individuals whose lives were shattered by his own misguided actions," Crump, Fulton and Martin said there is no credible proof to back Zimmerman's claims.

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

Klayman, the founder of Judicial Watch whose other clients include the conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi, made headlines this year when a legal ethics panel recommended that he be suspended for misconduct regarding his actions toward a female client who had refused to enter into a romantic relationship with him.

As he unveiled Zimmerman's new lawsuit on Wednesday, Klayman said he would hold a news conference about the case on Thursday. That session will be held at a movie theater; Klayman is inviting journalists to view a new documentary about the Martin case that centers on the lawsuit's allegations.

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George Zimmerman Sues Trayvon Martin's Family For More Than ...

George Zimmerman has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the family of Trayvon Martin, one of their lawyers Ben Crump, several prosecutors, a book publisher and more for malicious prosecution, defamation, conspiracy, and abuse of process. Zimmerman was previously acquitted on homicide charges in 2013 for the fatal shooting of Martin; he claimed he was acting in self-defense.

Zimmerman is being represented by Larry Klayman, a conservative attorney who founded the right-wing activist group Judicial Watch. The suit accuses the various defendants of violating Zimmermans constitutional rights and claims it is based on facts recently discovered in a new book and film called The Trayvon Hoax, by Joel Gilbert, a noted conspiracy theorist whos pushed unfounded claims about Barack Obama, Paul McCartney, and Elvis, and appeared regularly on Alex Jones InfoWars.

Pulling from the book, the suit alleges that Martins mother and father, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, as well as Crump and several Florida prosecutors pushed a false narrative about the night that Martin was killed.Specifically, it alleges that witness Rachel Jeantel lied about being on the phone with Martin when the incident took place and that she provided false statements to incriminate Zimmerman based on coaching from others.

The suit goes on to claim that it wasnt Jeantel on the phone with Martin that night, but rather a Miami resident named Brittany Diamond Eugene who was switched out for Jeantel when Eugene refused to bear false witness against Zimmerman.

The suit also accuses Crump of making false statements about Zimmerman in his new book, Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People. It alleges that because of Crumps ties to the the Martin case, the title of the book is reasonably understood to refer to Zimmerman, creating the false implication that [Zimerman] participated and participates in the genocide of colored people. It also takes semantic issues with a line in the book that states law enforcement told Zimmerman not to pursue Martin and stand down until police arrived, but he did so nevertheless. For one, the suit alleges Zimmerman was not talking to a law enforcement officer but a non-emergency dispatcher, while it also cites a record of the call that says Zimmerman responded okay when asked not to pursue Martin.

The lawsuit claims Crump made this claims and HarperCollins published them with actual malice in order to sell books and justify its absurd, inflammatory, racial charged book title that suggested Plaintiff Zimmerman was at the forefront of this genocide.

In a statement provided to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Crump said, 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.

Klayman did not immediately return Rolling Stones request for comment.

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George Zimmerman Sues Trayvon Martin's Family for $100 ...

By Zachary Fagenson

MIAMI (Reuters) - Former Florida volunteer community watchman George Zimmerman, whose 2012 killing of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin drew attention across the United States, sued Martin's family and lawyers on Wednesday, saying they used a fake witness against him.

Zimmerman is seeking at least $100 million in damages from Martin's parents, state prosecutors and two women, who are accused in a Polk County, Florida, lawsuit of helping provide false statements to investigators and during the trial, according to court papers.

On Feb. 26, 2012, Zimmerman, who was then a neighborhood watch captain in a gated community in Sanford, Florida, fatally shot Martin after the teen's trip to a convenience store to buy snacks. The incident helped spark the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Zimmerman was arrested and charged. During the 2013 trial, prosecutors argued Zimmerman profiled, pursued and confronted the black youth. Zimmerman claimed he shot Martin in self defense and was found not guilty by a jury.

The lawsuit accuses Martin's parents and the family's attorney Benjamin Crump of orchestrating a campaign to force Brittany Diamond Eugene, 16, who was reportedly Martin's girlfriend, to make a recorded statement that implicated Zimmerman as the aggressor in the altercation with Martin.

Eugene was on the phone with Martin moments before the altercation with Zimmerman, the suit said.

The lawsuit also says that Eugene's half-sister Rachel Jeantel pretended to be Eugene when she was interviewed by prosecutors and provided false statements to incriminate Zimmerman based on coaching from others in court during his trial.

Crump said in a statement on behalf of himself and Martin's parents that he has confidence that the "unfounded and reckless" lawsuit will be revealed as "another failed attempt to defend the indefensible and a shameless attempt to profit off the lives and grief of others."

Martin's uncle, Ronald Fulton, 56, said the lawsuit was no more than a publicity stunt to promote a forthcoming documentary titled the "Trayvon Hoax" that alleges Jeantel was an impostor.

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"During the trial, most of the people they brought in were officers of Orange County, were they a hoax too?" he asked a Reuters reporter during a telephone interview.

(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing by Scott Malone, Chris Reese and Bill Berkrot)

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George Zimmerman, who fatally shot Trayvon Martin, sues ...