On Friday The Root reported a story via TMZ about George Zimmerman's visit to Kel-Tec factories, which manufactures the gun Zimmerman used to kill Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman was reportedly inquiring about a shotgun and even took pictures in celebrity fashion.
But even the lawyer who helped him get an acquittal for both second-degree-murder and manslaughter charges said that Zimmerman's visit to the factory wasn't a good idea, Yahoo reports.
"We certainly would not have advised him to go to the factory that made the gun that he used to shoot Trayvon Martin through the heart," Shawn Vincent, a spokesman for attorney Mark O’Mara, told Yahoo News. "That was not part of our public relations plan."
Kel-Tec released a statement saying that Zimmerman's visit was standard protocol.
Late Friday afternoon, Kel-Tec sent Yahoo News a statement "concerning this leaked bit of information by someone unassociated with Kel-Tec."
"He simply wanted to see the manufacturing facility," the statement said of Zimmerman's visit. "This is a common occurrence with our customer base that live close by or may be traveling through."
The statement implied that Zimmerman specifically inquired about a tactical shotgun he is apparently interested in purchasing.
"The Kel-Tec KSG is one of the most desired products in the industry, and can be very difficult to acquire due to supply and demand," the company said. "Many individuals like to come by the plant to actually see the product and how it is made."
Kel-Tec, one of the country's largest producers of handguns, said it did not want to gain recognition because of Martin's death.
"Kel-Tec's thoughts and prayers go out to everyone whose lives were forever changed," the statement said.
Read more at Yahoo News.
Jozen Cummings is the author and creator of the popular relationship blog Until I Get Married, which is currently in development for a television series with Warner Bros. He also hosts a weekly podcast with WNYC about Empire called Empire Afterparty, is a contributor at VerySmartBrothas.com and works at Twitter as an editorial curator. Follow him on Twitter.