ORLANDO, Fla. — On the fourth day of George Zimmerman’s attempt to sell the gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin, the online account he was using to auction the item off was deleted.

Saturday morning, Zimmerman’s account on UnitedGunGroup.com appeared to have been deleted from the website, and with it went his controversial auction. It was not known who deleted the account.

Zimmerman was acquitted of murder after shooting and killing Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, during a struggle in 2012 in a Sanford neighborhood. Zimmerman said he was defending himself when he shot Martin.

Zimmerman had listed the gun used in the shooting for auction on UnitedGunGroup.com Thursday after his first listing Wednesday on GunBroker.com was removed by the website’s curators.

United Gun Group, which said it was founded after Facebook’s decision to ban the sale of guns, agreed to allow Zimmerman to host the auction on its website. The website said it “exists as a pro-Second Amendment platform for law-abiding citizens to exercise their constitutional rights.”

“Unless the law has been violated, it is the intention of United Gun Group to allow its members to use any of the available features,” United Gun Group said. “We will not act like Facebook and dictate to our members. What is lawful in the real world will be lawful on (United Gun Group.)”

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Bids were up to $66 million for the gun early Saturday morning before the auction disappeared from the Internet, but it appeared that Internet trolls were placing phony bids to raise the price.

Leading “bidders” included posters identified as “Racist McShootFace,” “Donald Trump,” “shaniqua bonifa” and “Tamir Rice,” the name of a black 12-year-old who was shot and killed by Cleveland police in 2014 while playing with a pellet gun.

Zimmerman had said some of the proceeds from the gun sale would go toward fighting alleged violence against law enforcement by the Black Lives Matter movement and to stop anti-firearm rhetoric made by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

The attempted sale drew condemnation from proponents for gun control.

But Martin’s family released a statement Thursday saying the Trayvon Martin Foundation is focused on ending “senseless gun violence.”

“We are laser focused on furthering that mission,” it reads. “As such, the foundation has no comment on the actions of that person that murdered Trayvon.”

It was not known who deleted Zimmerman’s account and auction on Saturday.


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