George Zimmerman, currently on trial for second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, wept in court today as uncle Jorge Meza claimed — contrary to the testimony of Martin’s parents — that the screams audible in 911 calls were that of the defendant and not the victim.
George Zimmerman’s uncle is a Deputy Sheriff in Orange County, and Meza made a bizarre and perhaps implausible claim during his testimony.
Speaking to the 911 call and his nephew’s involvement, the Orange County law enforcement officer states that he overheard the call played on TV — and that while he was aware of George Zimmerman’s ongoing legal battle in the death of Trayvon Martin, he was unaware that the audio to which he was listening pertained to the case.
Despite both being a close relative of a man at the center of a massive media firestorm, Meza claims, he didn’t connect the 911 call playing on his television with George Zimmerman’s pending case.
And even then, Zimmerman’s uncle claims, he was able to pick out and identify his nephew’s alleged screams in the recording. Meza says that despite not knowing he was listening to 911 audio of his sister’s son, he told his wife that the man screaming on the tape was George Zimmerman.
Under oath in the Seminole County courtroom, Meza said:
It was George Zimmerman screaming for his life… I felt it inside of my heart that it is George.
Despite the fact that Meza is a sworn officer of the law and was testifying under penalty of perjury in the George Zimmerman trial, many on Twitter were skeptical of his claim:
Oh, come on, Uncle Zimmerman. You heard the scream and didn’t know it was even about him and thought it was George immediately? #farfetched
— John M. Phillips (@JohnPhillips) July 5, 2013
Lol Zimmerman uncle says he heard a scream on tv and said “That is George what are you watching ” to his wife.. Lol cmoooooooooonnn man — Jay (@_Jay_W_) July 5, 2013
West: #GeorgeZimmerman ‘s uncle heard screams, “immediately, without question in his mind” knew it was GZ. #TrayvonMartin — Jeff Weiner (@JeffWeinerOS) June 24, 2013
Others spoke of Zimmerman’s tears as Meza testified:
Video shows what appears to be #GeorgeZimmerman wiping away tears as his uncle begins to testify. Watch: http://t.co/HLJ864Z6ZP
— CNN Video (@CNNVideo) July 6, 2013
George Zimmerman is crying as he is listening to his uncle talk about hearing what he thought was George’s voice screaming for help.
— Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) July 5, 2013
George Zimmerman cried today ONLY because he forced his mother and uncle to lie on his behalf.
— Queen (@tsunami32010) July 6, 2013
At the end of today’s proceedings, George Zimmerman’s defense team moved for an acquittal, but the request was denied.