Online Racism and Anti-Semitism in the Aftermath of Trayvon Martin Shooting

The fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin, who was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman, has led to a flurry of racist and anti-Semitic remarks from extremists trying to exploit the incident to further their own hateful views. The remarks have been directed at both the victim and the shooter.

White supremacists are furious that Zimmerman, whose mother is reportedly Latino, is being described as a white man by the mainstream media.

An example of a Stormfront

In an article posted to the white supremacist Counsel of Conservative Citizens (CofCC) Web site, the author asserted, “Each time you see a ‘mainstream’ news outlet rant about the Zimmerman/Martin case...ask yourself why the media is called Zimmerman a white man instead of a Latino. Ask yourself if you think the story is really news or is it agitation/propaganda designed to advance a political agenda.”

Similarly, posters to the white supremacist Internet forum Stormfront, expressed both racist and anti-Semitic views. For example, “Thule Seeker” asserted, “[Zimmerman] can do us another favor by getting his jew-bean ass thrown in prison. Everyone always blames Whites for being racist but now the shoe is on the other foot. It will be nice for jews, beans and/or jewbeans to see one of their own go to prison for the very thing that us Whites are always accused of.”

Another Stormfront member, using the name “Richard Nixon,” wrote: “The anti-white Jew media will still try to spin this in an anti-white angle. And, of course, Blacks will find an excuse to riot, loot, a [sic] wreak overall havoc.”

On yet another white supremacist forum, Vanguard News Network, “Craig Cobb” wrote, “Ha ha the lying media calls a possible jew spic mix a 'white' just like the annual DOJ UNiform Crime Report files do! Probably in about 10 more years George Zimmerman will be as White in America as it gets--like our elite version of an Icelandic pale blue eyed platinum blonde.”

Some white supremacists, while describing Zimmerman in racist terms, lauded him for killing a black teen. On Stormfront, “Thin White Duke” argued, “Zimmerman should be praised as much as any mestizo in America should. Putting white nationalism aside for a moment, this man removed a violent person from a neighborhood voluntarily. If only we had more whites patrolling our neighborhoods and keeping the negroes in check like this mestizo did.”

Another Stormfront member, “Reference,” asserted, “Let's don't get bogged down in Zimmerman's ethnicity. Zim put down negritude while his neighbor ran into the house, locked the doors and called 911 - a completely useless neighbor IMO.”