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Deputy: George Zimmerman used racial slur, insisted black man 'hit' him

 
George Zimmerman told Seminole County debuty that a man had twice hit him during an altercation at a bar, according to a report. [Associated Press file]
George Zimmerman told Seminole County debuty that a man had twice hit him during an altercation at a bar, according to a report. [Associated Press file]
Published Nov. 10, 2016

A Seminole County sheriff's deputy ordered George Zimmerman to leave a bar near Sanford on Wednesday night after he accused a black customer of hitting him, became belligerent and used a racial slur, according to an incident report.

No one was injured, and no one was arrested, the report says.

A bar video of the incident showed that the black man had extended his hand to Zimmerman, as if to shake it, and when Zimmerman refused, patted him twice on his left arm, the report said.

"It appeared as if he was attempting to engage in a friendly gesture with Zimmerman as a reasonable person would do," the report said.

Zimmerman told the deputy that the man had twice hit him and demanded that he be prosecuted, the report said.

Deputies had gone to the bar, Corona Cigar Co., in the Colonial Townpark development about 11 p.m. because of a disturbance involving two people who were with Zimmerman.

While a deputy was looking into that set of allegations, the bar's manager asked the deputy to order Zimmerman to leave because he had snatched a credit card from an employee, yelled at her and had been the center of several recent disturbances, the report said.

On his way out, Zimmerman used a racial slur, the manager told the deputy.

Zimmerman also insulted the deputy, according to the report. While filling out a written complaint about the black man, he described the deputy as "an incompetent officer under qualified (sic) to flip burgers" and threatened to file suit, the report said.

Zimmerman is the former Neighborhood Watch volunteer who was acquitted of in the slaying of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, during a confrontation in Sanford in 2012.