Spike Lee retweets erroneous Zimmerman address

Filmmaker Spike Lee is among those who retweeted an address erroneously linked to George Zimmerman.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Director Spike Lee under fire for sending retweet over weekend


• The message said address was George Zimmerman's


• Residents say they're living in fear

(Entertainment News) -- A Florida couple said they were living in fear after director Spike Lee and others retweeted a message that erroneously listed their address as belonging to George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who claimed he killed teenager Trayvon Martin in self-defense last month.

Zimmerman, who is reported to be in hiding, actually lives more than 4 miles from David and Elaine McClain.

"My youngest son, his last name is Zimmerman, and his middle name is George," Elaine McClain told Entertainment News Orlando affiliate .

The couple say they received a letter addressed to George Zimmerman on Monday. On the back was a reference to Skittles.

Zimmerman fatally shot Martin, 17, on February 26 as the teen was walking back to his father's fiancee's house in Sanford. Martin was wearing a hoodie and carrying Skittles candy and a can of iced tea he had purchased from a nearby convenience store.

Elaine McClain said the couple called police after receiving the letter.

Lee, who has 250,000 Twitter followers, retweeted the address over the weekend, and it went viral. The man who initially sent the message, identified on his Twitter account as Marcus D. Higgins of Los Angeles, has since apologized.

Lee's representatives did not immediately respond to messages left Wednesday by Entertainment News.

"He definitely owes a big apology," Elaine McClain said. "All 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."

Attorney and TV personality Lisa Bloom told Entertainment News's Brooke Baldwin on Wednesday that the couple probably has legal recourse.

"This, in my opinion, is an invasion of their privacy and is defamatory to imply they had something to do with this incident, which they didn't."

A rapid remedy would include an apology from Lee and an offer to pay their security costs for a few days. "Make it right before this blows up to something bigger," Bloom said.