Two Florida men, Greg Cimeno and William Filene, caused a controversy by dressing up as George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, respectively. The two men carelessly mocked the tragic 2012 slaying that divided the nation. Cimeno wore a black t-shirt with the words "Neighborhood Watch" writing on it, and Filene, a white male, wore black face and gray hoodie with a bullet hole in it. The distasteful display echos other insensitive exploitations, like the Martin-inspired video game, Angry Trayvon.
The controversial picture was posted to Caitlin Cimeno's Facebook page, with the caption:
“Happy Halloween from Zimmerman & Trayvon.”
The page has since been deleted but The Smoking Gun is reporting on a conversation that took place in the comments section.
After posting the pic, Greg Cimeno (dressed as Zimmerman) wrote:
“Anything for the laugh.”
A Facebook friend voiced their disapproval, saying:
“Not too funny,”
Greg Cimeno wrote back:
“Not too funny. It’s f--king hilarious!!!”
They also did some further digging into Catlin's account, uncovering a photo that she posted of a black women wearing a t-shirt that read, “Black Girls Rock.” The photo came equipped with the caption:
“First of all, sorry Hun but mommy lied to you & secondly if I was wearing a shirt that said something like the truth 'white girls rock' I would be stared at and called a racist cracker.”
The two "classy" costumes further exploit the tragedy. Earlier this year a cell phone app called Angry Trayvon featured a hooded black man named Trayvon, who roams the streets killing bad guys. The game is developed by Trade Digital, Inc. The official synopses for the game reads:
"Trayvon is angry and nobody can stop him from completing his world tour of revenge on the bad guys who terrorize cities everyday."
The description ends with the disclaimer:
"This game is fiction and does not represent any real persons."
