George Zimmerman is preparing to resume their effort to sue NBC News for libel following the network's extraordinary breach of trust when they edited Zimmerman's 911 call to make him look like a trigger happy racist.

Washington Post:

Here's how NBC News, in a March 27, 2012, broadcast of the "Today" show, abridged the tape of Zimmerman's comments to a police dispatcher on the evening of Feb. 26, 2012:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he's up to no good. He looks black.

The full tape went like this:

Zimmerman: This guy looks like he's up to no good. Or he's on drugs or something. It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about.

Dispatcher: OK, and this guy -- is he black, white or Hispanic?

Zimmerman: He looks black.

NBC Universal Media responded to the Zimmerman complaint by noting that other media outlets played up the racial angle of Zimmerman's deadly encounter with Trayvon Martin.

The company also noted the pivotal nature of the second-degree murder case: "[I]f Zimmerman is convicted, that fact alone will constitute substantial evidence that the destruction of his reputation is the result of his own criminal conduct, and not of the broadcasts at issue which, like countless other news reports disseminated by media entities throughout the country, reported on the underlying events."

Incredible. NBC News excused it's deliberate falsification of the tape by saying that everyone else was playing up the angle that Zimmerman was a racist. And they also claim vindication if Zimmerman was convicted? Obviously, that's not the case now.

According to Zimmerman attorney James Beasley, the case against NBC News was stayed pending the outcome of the criminal case. Now that's out of the way, and Beasley is ready to proceed. "We're going to start in earnest asap, we just have to get the stay lifted which is a ministerial act," says Beasley, a Philadelphia lawyer, via e-mail.

When asked how the not-guilty verdict affects the civil case against NBC News, Beasley responded, "This verdict of not guilty is just that, and shows that at least this jury didn't believe that George was a racist, profiling, or anything that the press accused George of being. That probably doesn't get you that much but it's simply time for us to start the case and hold accountable anyone who was irresponsible in their journalism."

"Irresponsible" is an understatement.