On Friday, a Florida jury found 37-year old Matthew Apperson, who was accused of shooting at George Zimmerman during what is being described as a road rage confrontation in May, 2015, guilty of attempted second-degree murder.

Apperson was also found guilty of shooting into an occupied vehicle and aggravated assault with a firearm, with sentencing set for October 17, Michelle Kennedy, a spokeswoman for the 18th Judicial Circuit, told CNN. The man now faces a minimum of 20 years behind bars as the crimes involved a fire arm, reported the Orlando Sentinel.

Zimmerman told the jury that a driver was flashing his lights and honking his horn before confronting him at an intersection on Lake Mary Boulevard, Florida, where they exchanged words. Then Apperson fired a gunshot that missed Zimmerman, who only suffered some minor abrasions from broken glass.

While Apperson claimed that he acted in self-defense after Zimmerman brandished a gun, the prosecution said that he wouldn’t have known, as Zimmerman’s Honda Ridgeline had tinted windows that were rolled up at the time. Zimmerman testified that he never flashed a gun. Assistant State Attorney Stewart Stone told jurors that Apperson set off the confrontation, chasing Zimmerman’s Honda, something that was caught on a nearby surveillance camera.

“George Zimmerman is no boy scout — I get that, and you get that,” Stone said. “But no matter how you feel about George Zimmerman, he can still be a victim of a crime, and he was in this case.”

Apparently, this wasn’t the first time that Zimmerman and Apperson clashed heads, as in September 9, 2014, the two men reportedly got into a heated argument while driving next to each other (again) on Lake Mary Boulevard, over the Trayvon case.

Zimmerman, who identifies himself as Hispanic, made national headlines when in 2013, a Sanford jury acquitted him of the 2012 shooting and killing of an unarmed 17-year-old black teenager, Trayvon Martin, on the ground of self-defense, sparking protests and a debate about race all over the country.

While testifying in court on the road rage case, Zimmerman raised a few eyebrows after Apperson’s lawyer, Michael LayFay, asked him if he “associated Mr. Apperson with the Black Lives Matter movement”.

“No, sir,” replied Zimmerman, according to transcripts acquired by WFTV.  “The Black Lives Matter Movement started with your very own case with Trayvon Martin, correct?” LaFay asked.

“First of all, they’re terrorists, not a movement, as you have said now,” Zimmerman replied. “I see them as terrorists, if you would like to address them correctly. I don’t believe the Black Lives Matter is a movement, sir, they’re terrorist cowards,” he said.

Photos Bob Kealing@Twitter

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