Spike Lee Apologizes For Trayvon Martin Re-Tweet

Do the Right Thing filmmaker Spike Lee is caught in the middle of a case involving social activism gone wrong. Lee re-tweeted a message that included the address of alleged Trayvon Martin shooter, George Zimmerman, to his 250,000 followers. Only, there was one problem: he had the wrong address.

Elaine McClain, 70, and David McClain, 72, have a son named William George Zimmerman, who registered at his parents' home in 1995 when he got out of college, according to Fox. He is not the same George Zimmerman accused of killing the unarmed 17-year-old Martin last month, creating a national controversy.

The elderly couple have been the victims of hate mail and press since Lee's re-tweet, and they temporarily moved to a hotel because they didn't feel safe.

Lee returned to Twitter to apologize for his mistake. "I deeply apologize to the McClain family for re-tweeting their address," Lee wrote. "It was a mistake. Please leave the McClains in peace. Justice in court."

It's not easy to prove defamation on Twitter in a court of law, Marc Rotenberg of the Electronic Privacy Information Center told USA Today. "If it was negligent as opposed to intentional, it's going to be an even more difficult case," he said.