© The Associated Press/Gary W. Green/Orlando Sentinel/PoolGeorge Zimmerman, center, is directed by a Seminole County Deputy and his attorney Mark O'Mara during a court hearing Thursday April 12, 2012, in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
The neighborhood watch volunteer accused of killing Trayvon Martin slapped NBC News with a lawsuit Thursday, charging it portrayed him as a "racist and predatory villain" to boost ratings.
George Zimmerman's lawyers blasted the network for using "the oldest form of yellow journalism" in coverage of the racially charged case.
"They knew this tragedy could be, with proper sensationalizing and manipulation, a racial powder keg that would result in months, if not years, of topics for their failing news programs, particularly the plummeting ratings for the ailing
Today show," charged the defamation suit, filed in Seminole County, Fla., Circuit Court Thursday.
But NBC said it would contest the suit "vigorously" in court. "There was no intent to portray Mr. Zimmerman unfairly," the network said in a statement.
Zimmerman, charged with second-degree murder in the case, claims he shot and killed the unarmed black teen in self-defense.
Moments before the Feb. 26 shooting in a Sanford, Fla., gated community, Zimmerman, a member of his neighborhood watch group, called 911 to report a "guy" lurking around houses in the rain.
The lawsuit charges that NBC reporters "maliciously edited" the 911 recording to make it appear that Zimmerman was "racially profiling Martin."