Mark O'Mara defends George Zimmerman's interview

Parents of Trayvon Martin upset over Zimmerman's 'God's plan' comment

SANFORD, Fla. – The lawyer for George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watchman who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, defended statements made by Zimmerman in his first sit-down interview with Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity Wednesday night.

Attorney Mark O'Mara said Zimmerman's statement about not regretting the events leading him to shooting and killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, that it was "all God's plan," has been misconstrued.

"That phrase is used by a lot of God-fearing God-believing people to explain away bad things," O'Mara said.

O'Mara also said differences in some details in the accoutns his client gave polic eand Fox News won't hurt his case.

"I had always said that if you have somebody gives 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 statements over a period of time and they are completely consistent, then it's a lie," O'Mara said in response a question about whether Zimmerman's credibility was hurt.

The state said Thursday morning that it will seek to use Zimmerman's interview against him, leaving many questioning why Zimmerman would suspend his right to remain silent. The answer: Money.

"He needs money, there's no question about that, he needs to survive between now and the day of his acquittal," O'Mara told Local 6. "George and his family and the defense fund is basically broke."

While Fox paid notZimmerman had hoped to have his newly re-created website, TheRealGeorgeZimmerman.com, shown during his interview, according to O'Mara. O'Mara said his client was disappointed when it wasn't shown or mentioned.

"My understanding is it was going to be spoken about, so there was a disappointment there," O'Mara said.

But there wasn't as much disappointment as Martin's family expressed in hearing Zimmerman attribute the tragedy to God's plan.

"We must worship a different GOD because there is no way that my GOD wanted GZ to murder my teenage son," Tracy Martin, Trayvon's father, said in a statement released by the Martin family attorneys.

Trayvon Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, called the idea "ridiculous" on NBC's "Today" show.

O'Mara responded, "She's allowed to have her opinion she's going through an amazing trauma I'm not going to contest anything she had to say."

Zimmerman sounded off again, with a 2-minute video post in both English and Spanish thanking his supporters on TheRealGeorgeZimmerman.com.


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