The father of George Zimmerman, the man accused of shooting and killing an unarmed black teen in Florida, says the 17-year-old threatened to kill Zimmerman and then beat him so badly that it forced Zimmerman to shoot him.
"Trayvon Martin said something to the effect of, 'You're going to die now' or 'You're going to die tonight,' something to that effect," Robert Zimmerman told Orlando TV station WOFL. "He continued to beat George. At some point, George pulled his pistol. Did what he did."
A surveillance video from the Sanford police headquarters the night of the incident raises questions about the description of a beating.
It shows Zimmerman, his hands cuffed, exiting a patrol car and being led into the police station. First broadcast Wednesday by ABCNews.com, the video does not provide close-ups, but also does not show clear signs of Zimmerman having injuries.
Joe Oliver, a friend of Zimmerman's, said Zimmerman told him he was "cleaned up by cops at the scene" that night before being taken to the station.
Oliver also said it was discovered the next day that Zimmerman's nose was broken.
Craig Sonner, George Zimmerman's attorney, said Thursday the video does not support or contradict Robert Zimmerman's description. It is "very grainy," he said on NBC's Today show. Sonner also noted that the injuries Zimmerman sustained were "later cleaned up."
A police report says Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose and the back of his head when police arrived at the scene of the killing February 26. He was given first aid in the police car, the report says.
Sonner noted that at one point in the video, an officer appears to be looking at the back of Zimmerman's head.
As more details in the case surface, Sonner said, "I'm not going to litigate this case in the media."
Zimmerman has not been charged.
Asked whether Zimmerman is able to leave his home, given the death threats he has received, Oliver said no.
Martin's death has sparked outrage and protests across the United States, moved President Barack Obama to call it a tragedy and prompted a federal investigation.
Zimmerman's father vehemently defended the shooting in the interview with WOFL, but asked that his face be obscured because he says he fears for his safety.
Robert Zimmerman told the news station that Martin confronted his son first and pummeled his son continually.
"He was punched in the nose. His nose was broken," Robert Zimmerman said. "He was knocked to the concrete. Trayvon Martin got on top of him and just started beating him. In the face. In his nose, hitting his head on the concrete."
Robert Zimmerman was not there the night of the shooting and did not say how he knew the details of the altercation.
The elder Zimmerman's account was disputed by Martin's family attorney and several legal experts who looked at the video.
"The injuries that made it sound as though he really should have been on a stretcher are not apparent in this tape at all," said Marcia Clark, the former prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson trial. "He moves freely. He moves fluidly, not like someone who has just been through a beating in any way, shape or form, someone whose head has been pounded on the pavement as hard as described, someone whose nose was broken and bleeding. That tells you a great deal."
Sybrina Fulton, Martin's mother, said the video is another strong piece of evidence proving her son was killed unjustly.
"I believe that this video is the icing on the cake," she said. "This is not the first part of the evidence that they have had. They have had the 911 tapes and they also have witnesses. This is in addition to what the Sanford Police Department has always had. There is no problem with this case and he needs to be arrested."
George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, said he shot Martin in self-defense after the teen attacked him. Martin, who was walking through the gated community back to the house of his father's fiancee, was wearing a hoodie and carrying Skittles candy and a can of iced tea he had purchased from a nearby convenience store.
Authorities have said Zimmerman has not been charged because there are no grounds to disprove his account that he acted in self-defense.
Robert Zimmerman said his son is having a hard time dealing with the criticism.
"I never foresaw so much hate coming from the president, the Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP. Every organization imaginable is trying to get notoriety or profit from this in some way," Robert Zimmerman told WOFL. "But there's so much hate that I have never been involved in hate and George hasn't. It's really unbelievable."
Robert Zimmerman said his son, who is Hispanic, is not racist and race had nothing to do with the incident.
"He would do anything to help anybody at any time. He's colorblind when it comes to any race," Robert Zimmerman said.
Tracy Martin, Trayvon Martin's father, said Wednesday that the 911 tape shows Zimmerman was profiling his son.
In a recording of Zimmerman's call to police, some people have said they hear what sounds like a possible racial slur. CNN enhanced the sound of the 911 call, and several members of CNN's editorial staff repeatedly reviewed the tape but could reach no consensus on whether Zimmerman used a slur.
Angela Corey, the special prosecutor assigned to investigate the case, said Tuesday that investigators would look into the allegations that Zimmerman used a racial slur.
Martin, who lived in Miami, was visiting Sanford after receiving a 10-day suspension from school, a family spokesman has said. An empty plastic bag found in his book bag had been determined to contain marijuana residue.
Benjamin Crump, Martin's parents' attorney, said information regarding the suspension is irrelevant and amounts to a smear campaign against the teen.
Florida law allows the use of deadly force anywhere a person feels a reasonable fear of death or serious injury. It has been cited in a number of justifiable homicide cases in Florida.
But as more and more information surfaces, the picture of what happened between Martin and Zimmerman becomes more complicated.
Despite the twists and turns, Fulton, Martin's mother, says she still has faith in authorities investigating her son's case.
"I feel confident that they're going to do a thorough investigation," Fulton said. "We're trying to be patient, even though it's been over a month. We're trying to be patient, and we're trying to press on for justice."
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