Spike Lee retweets incorrect address of George Zimmerman, violates Twitter rules

Filmmaker Spike Lee attends the "Red Hook Summer" premiere during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival held at Eccles Center Theatre on Jan. 22, 2012, in Park City, Utah.

/ Jemal Countess/Getty Images

(CBS News) Movie director Spike Lee is in hot water over a Twitter retweet that has left a Florida couple fearing for their safety.

Looks like the actor and director was a little too quick to retweet the home address of Elaine and David McClain, whose youngest son's name is very close to that of George Zimmerman - the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Florida.

The incident has set off a nationwide debate over race and justice. Zimmerman has claimed self-defense and has not been arrested.

Complete coverage of the Trayvon Martin shooting

To be clear, George Michael Zimmerman is the 28-year-old man who is in hiding for shooting Martin. William George Zimmerman is 41-year-old man who is the youngest son of the McClains, the Smoking Gun reports.

"My youngest son, his last name is Zimmerman and his middle name is George," McClain told WKMG local news. "He definitely owes us a big apology. All of this is really scary and it's a shame. There's no reason they put our address out there without checking to see who lived there."

According to Fox News, the couple is now living in a hotel because of hate mail, media and neighbors questioning them since the tweet went out.

The original tweet was sent out by Marcus D. Higgins, a 33-year-old Los Angeles man. Lee was one of the people Higgins tweeted to get the word out on March 23. 

"@SpikeLee EVERYBODY REPOST THIS George W. Zimmerman, [address removed], Sanford, Florida 32773," @maccapone wrote in a reply to one of Lee's tweets.

After the discovery the address was incorrect, Higgins apologized via Twitter and sent this tweet to Lee: "GOD BLESS YOU I KNOW YOU HATE ME BUT I DON'T HATE YOU I DID APOLOGY FOR RETWEET THE WRONG ADDRESS."[sic]

Lee, who has almost 250,000 followers on Twitter, has yet to release a statement or response to the case of mistaken identity. He is, however, retweeting racially-charged tweets directed at him in the fallout of events.

"People,The Thinking Behind Me Retweeting These Insane Racist Rants Is Because This Sickness Must Be Exposed.USA Post Racial Society?????????"[sic] @spikelee tweeted.

Now there is talk of Higgins and the retweeters violating Twitter's content boundaries and use, which states: "You may not publish or post other people's private and confidential information, such as credit card numbers, street address or Social Security/National Identity numbers, without their express authorization and permission."

According to Twitter's rules, an account "may be suspended for Terms of Service violations." The real-time micro-blogging service has no official statement regarding Lee's possible violation of terms. A spokesperson for Twitter told CBS News that the company does not comment on individual stories for privacy reasons.

The company did advise that anyone in the same predicament as the McClains should file a report, which will result in an investigation and "may result in the removal of content." More information can be found at the Twitter safety help page.

[VrLux]

"The original tweet was sent out by Marcus D. Higgins, a 33-year-old Los Angeles man."

Yea so Marcus, you're a P.I. or something ?! you're in Cali and you know people's addresses down there in Florida ??????

Stupid N**ger !

[JessetheJackoff]

Spike your a has been and gone so go sell some Nike's to Michael Jordan and Kobe (I want my beef) Bryant.

[JessetheJackoff]

And The New Black Panthers should all be taken into custody and prosecuted in Federal Court for Offering a Bounty for someone which by the way is illegal. Go figure only in the future did they say is where the sane will be crazy and the crazy will sane ? I do not think so but they do. Jesse Jackson, Spike Ugly Lee, Obama and Reverend Al who thinks he is the Reverend Ike so where ever he goes a red carpet is laid out for him------- Hesus H. Christ ?????

[Bojax39]

"The original tweet was sent out by Marcus D. Higgins, a 33-year-old Los Angeles man."

Moron

[JessetheJackoff]

The African Front is nothing More than Rednecks with Hoodies and they are trying to control their "Planet of The Apes." The leading Men For the Apes colonel of the "Army of Darkness," None other, than Barrack Hussein Obama and his sidekick Spike "Erkle My Middle Name is Spelled---Ugly Lee" They that created hatred will being suffering when the Evil One makes himself Known. And, Yes You Are Exposed Spike and Yes You Are Sick just look in the Mirrow.

[DevoutPlayerhater]

People understand the law. There is NO WAY that anyone in this COUNTRY could EVER prove that Spike Lee sent any Tweets. As far as we know, someone set up a bogus Spike Lee twitter account using his picture and purporting to be Spike Lee. They will NEVER succeed in a case against anyone tweeting the address. Plus, there is no violation because the address is a matter of PUBLIC RECORD. You can go to any website that host addresses and that information is there. It is not like the address was SECRET when it is ALREADY out on the Public Domain. Any lawsuit would be baseless, frivolous and without foundation. Unless someone actually saw spike lee sitting at a computer and actually typed the address, no lawsuit would ever be possible. Anyone in this world could have typed that tweet. It is impossible to prove by the preponderance of the evidence unless there is a witness that saw it actually being typed.

[promontorium]

You really are a scumbag. A website can have any policy it wants, it doesn't matter if vigilante justice is public record. p.s. Spike Lee admitted to doing it, so all your ******** is pointless.

[Bojax39]

Lee tweeted late Wednesday: "I Deeply Apologize To The McClain Family For Retweeting Their Address. It Was A Mistake. Please Leave The McClain's In Peace."


Mr Lee does not need your arguments, DevoutPlayerhater. He is more than willing to take responsibility for his actions. In fact he added a financial settlement to help the McClains get their life back together.

I wonder if you would be as willing to own up under like circumstances......

[aaoo1]

Spike Lee doesn't have any more right to appoint himself judge and jury--and perhaps executioner, if only by proxy--than Zimmerman did.

[Kimmii68]

Spike Lee should be prosecuted for this. He should be prosecuted for trying to give out the correct address for Zimmerman. He is racist. I think the black community has turned this into a racist issue and it is sad that the loud voices of one group of people has the potential to decide this case instead of true facts. Zimmerman is innocent until proven guilty yet this group of people feel they have the right to decide this case? If the situation were reversed the sad fact is nobody would be talking about it. It seems we are only concerned when a black person is killed and then it is always because he was black and not because he did anything wrong.

[audemus]

Lee should be at the very least sued. If some nut, inspired by this idiots' "brainstorm" harms theses people, Lee should be arrested as a co-defendant.

Even if he had the address correct, what a stupid,stupid thing to do.

[rcvrich01]

The point is this Spike was wrong and these negative comements are wrong, that is why we have this problem. It is call the blame game. Everybody fight and nothing getting resolved. Just a society of no all and crazy people. Did the USA not know this when they brought over all these European rapist, murderer, thieves, they forgot to think ahead as always. I think that we need to love one another and stop hating. I am not hating just stating history.No big words, just plan talking to all, no politcal view points, we are all human no one is right here. Name calling is for children not grown people. real talk

[Skruffy1]

Regardless of the skin color of anyone involved in this whole ugly mess... it is wrong for addresses of relatives of people who have committed criminal acts to be posted publicly.

[T-Fed]

I'm waitnig on the authorities to charge someone, i.e the Black Panthers for putting abounty on the head of GZ, or Spike for suggesting that the black community charge into the house he sent out as a Tweet and take matters into their own hands. Seems like the racial divides have grown even wider and deeper over the past three years. Wasn't O supposed to fix that? He looks like the son I never had? What was that comment supposed to do, calm things down or further incite violence by a bunch of mob mentality goons?