Spike Lee's Trayvon tweet forces couple out of their home

Film director Spike Lee, pictured cheering on his beloved New York Knicks (Getty Images)

An elderly Florida couple have become the latest innocent bystanders to be dragged into the controversy surrounding Trayvon Martin's death, after their home was wrongly identified as the residence of the teenager's killer, George Zimmerman.

David and Elaine McClain, both in their 70s, say they are afraid of violent reprisals after a Twitter message forwarded by, among others, the film director Spike Lee claimed that their address belonged to the country's most talked-about vigilante.

In fact, the couple live several miles from the gated community where Zimmerman, a self-styled neighbourhood watch volunteer, shot Trayvon, 17, last month. The first they knew of their sudden notoriety was when TV reporters began to appear on their doorstep. "We are keeping everything locked," said Mrs McClain, a school dinner lady, who said she had had threatening messages in the post. "Perhaps we should send a cease-and-desist letter to Spike Lee," she joked.

The couple later decided to move to a hotel for safety. It emerged that their home was wrongly identified as that of Martin's killer because Mrs McClain has a son, from a previous marriage, called William George Zimmerman, who lived there in the 1990s.

Lee has yet to comment, apologise or attempt to explain the mix-up.