Forney City Manager Brian Brooks is usually busy with budget issues in July, but this week he has been handling media calls about George Zimmerman, recently acquitted on a murder charge in the high-profile Trayvon Martin case in Sanford, Fla.
On Sunday, Zimmerman was stopped by a Forney police officer on U.S. 80, about 20 miles east of Dallas. He was headed west in a 2008 Honda SUV with Florida license plates.
Brooks declined to identify the officer, but the 12:45 p.m. traffic stop was recorded by the officer's dash-cam video camera. It ended with Zimmerman getting a warning and being sent on his way.
A Florida jury earlier this month acquitted Zimmerman in the fatal shooting of Martin, an unarmed black teenager.
Brooks said that in the video, Zimmerman told the officer that he had a gun in the glove box of the SUV.
Zimmerman opened the glove box, the officer looked inside and, satisfied, the officer thanked him, Brooks said.
"I think that was all in the normal protocol for people with handgun permits," Brooks said. "They know what to do."
Brooks said the officer asked Zimmerman if he had any "warrants or outstanding issues."
At one point, the officer asked Zimmerman where he was headed, and the response was "nowhere in particular."
Brooks added that Zimmerman asked the officer if he recognized him and the officer said "no." But the officer did a double take when he realized who he was.
The officer ran a check on Zimmerman's license plates, but "everything was OK," Brooks said.
The city manager said he did not know how fast Zimmerman was driving, but the speed limit is 60 mph.
"Admittedly, a lot of people go over 60, so this was nothing out of ordinary," Brooks said. "It's kind of funny, but a lot of people are saying, 'Why didn't he get a ticket?' And I've been saying, I don't know, it's the officer's discretion.
"I know I've been pulled over and told to slow it down. I was grateful. You don't question it."
Bill Miller, 817-390-7684 Twitter: @Bill_MillerST
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