Holder: Trayvon Martin Killing 'Unnecessary'
The Department of Justice is considering bringing a federal civil rights prosecution of George Zimmerman following a jury's acquittal of him for murder charges.
Photo via European Parliment/Flickr.
The Department of Justice is considering bringing a federal civil rights prosecution of George Zimmerman following a jury's acquittal of him for murder charges.
Attorney General Eric Holder called the shooting of Trayvon Martin a "tragic, unnecessary shooting death" and said "we must not ... let this opportunity pass" in a speech to the Delta Sigma Theta sorority Monday in Washington, D.C., reports Fox News.
He followed that up Tuesday during a speech to the NAACP in Orlando by criticizing "Stand Your Ground" laws in about 30 states that allow people to defend themselves with deadly force in public rather than retreating. He said the laws undermine public safety.
The laws "sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods," Holder said, by "allowing and perhaps encouraging violent situations to escalate in public."
President Obama will not involve himself in the decision of whether to bring federal civil rights charges, White House Spokesman Jay Carney said Monday, reports the Boston Globe.
The DOJ faces an uphill battle in pursuing federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman because they would have to prove Zimmerman had a racial bias. Sanford Police Detective Chris Serino told FBI agents that he had "a little hero complex, but not as a racist."
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