Just as quickly as the book deal between George Zimmerman trial juror B37 and a literary agent were announced, the deal has been called off. Yesterday, while appearing anonymously on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” juror B37 relayed her controversial intent to publish a tell-all book about her experience as a member of the jury in the high-profile, racially-charged case. A subsequent social media campaign ensued with many petitioning the literary agent who signed the juror to drop her from the agency.
Juror B37 admitted to Anderson Cooper that George Zimmerman, acquitted of the second-degree murder charge in the death of 17-year old Trayvon Martin, went “above and beyond” in his act of self-defense, shooting and killing Martin. Despite the admission, Yahoo! News reports that “the juror reached out to her on the advice of a producer from a morning show and that the juror had said she was planning to publish the book anonymously.”
The announcement prompted one Twitter user, Genie Lauren under the handle @MoreAndAgain, to Tweet out the literary agent’s contact information along with a Change.Org petition to keep from allowing the juror to profit from what many are protesting as an act of injustice. Due to the severe racial aspect of the case, the Zimmerman verdict has erupted protests and demonstrations nationwide with activist group NAACP calling for the Obama administration to intervene with federal civil rights charges of their own.
The petition quickly garnered over 1,000 signatures, an outcry the coincidentally-named Martin Literary Agency couldn’t ignore. The agency issued the following statement yesterday in response to the complaints,
“After careful consideration regarding the proposed book project with Zimmerman Juror B37, I have decided to rescind my offer of representation in the exploration of a book based upon this case.”
The Wall Street Journal then reported that juror B37 abandoned her idea for a book altogether, and issued a statement via the literary agency that read,
“Now that I am returned to my family and to society in general, I have realized that the best direction for me to go is away from writing any sort of book and return instead to my life as it was before I was called to sit on this jury.”
Stay tuned to BostInno for the latest updates on the Zimmerman case. While the trial may be over, protests are sure to continue, though hopefully violence can be avoided.
