Lawyer Behind Suit Against Trayvon Martin's Family Has Ties to Conspiracy Theorists
Larry Klayman made his name as an ultra-litigious, political gadfly who filed numerous cases against President Bill Clinton in the 1990s and then pursued debunked conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama鈥檚 birthplace.
Over the years, he has built a following among antigovernment extremists and conspiracy theorists, some of whom he has defended in court.
Klayman, 68, is once again back in the spotlight. He鈥檚 representing George Zimmerman in a lawsuit filed this week in Polk County, Florida, against the family of Trayvon Martin and others, alleging his client was defamed and subjected to 鈥渕alicious prosecution.鈥�
Acting as a neighborhood watchman in a gated community in Sanford, Florida, Zimmerman shot and killed Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in 2012. He claimed he was acting in self-defense, and 聽the following year of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. The shooting and acquittal sparked a national debate about racial profiling, Florida鈥檚 鈥渟tand your ground鈥� statute and gun laws. The case also drew strong reactions聽from extremists of all stripes.
Zimmerman鈥檚 lawsuit names Martin鈥檚 mother, Sybrina Fulton; his father, Tracy Martin; and the family鈥檚 attorney, Benjamin Crump, who published a book this year titled 鈥淥pen Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People,鈥� as defendants. It also names the book publisher, HarperCollins Publishers, members of the prosecution team in the Martin case, the state of Florida and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
In the suit, which seeks $100 million in damages, Zimmerman alleges a witness against him misrepresented herself and that Crump and Martin鈥檚 family knew about it.
The allegations are based on a film and book by , who once directed a film .
Gilbert is a frequent guest on Infowars and sometimes a fill-in for host Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist who once claimed the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School was a hoax. During one such stint, Gilbert interviewed Klayman about Robert Mueller鈥檚 investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Klayman also presided over a 鈥溾�� this year, an event hosted by Freedom Watch. In a June 27 press release, the gathering announced 鈥渢he criminal indictment鈥� of Mueller after hearing the testimony of former WorldNetDaily columnist Jerome Corsi.
Klayman did not return emails with questions about his reliance on Gilbert鈥檚 work in the Zimmerman suit or whether he researched the claims made by the director.
Klayman, founder of the group Judicial Watch, 聽antigovernment activist Ryan Bundy and sought to serve as an attorney for his father, Cliven Bundy. The Bundy family attained hero status within the antigovernment movement after a 2014 standoff with federal agents in Nevada聽(a dispute stemming from the elder Bundy鈥檚 refusal to pay federal grazing fees) and the 2016 seizure and occupation of a federal building 聽in Oregon.
Klayman pushed the conspiracy theory聽that the 鈥渄eep state鈥� efforts to hold the Bundys accountable were an attempt to get retribution for racist remarks that Cliven Bundy made to .
A judge in Nevada rejected Klayman鈥檚 bid to serve as the elder Bundy鈥檚 attorney in a case stemming from the Nevada standoff. An appeals court upheld the decision.
鈥淜layman has made misrepresentations and omissions to the district court regarding the ethics proceedings before the District of Columbia Bar; he has shown a pattern of disregard for local rules, ethics, and decorum; and he has demonstrated a lack of respect for the judicial process by suing the district judge personally,鈥� .
Klayman is also the organizer of a group called Reclaim America Now Coalition, which pitches itself as 鈥淭he Beginning of the Peaceful, Nonviolent Second American Revolution.鈥�
The group includes a number of far-right extremists. Along with Klayman, members include Pamela Geller, an anti-Muslim activist who rose to prominence fighting a mosque near ground zero in New York; former Graham County, Arizona, Sheriff Richard Mack, who runs the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, a radical group that claims county sheriffs are the highest law enforcement officials in the nation; and Brad Dacus, founder of the Pacific Justice Institute, an anti-LGBT hate group that once compared same-sex marriage to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis鈥� rise in Germany.
Photo via AP Images/Sait Serkan Gurbuz
