US Attorney General Eric Holder says investigation continues

[FarhanYare]

-nues.

Trayvon Martin killing ‘tragic, unnecessary shooting,’ Attorney General Eric Holder says


Pete Yost, Postmedia News | 13/07/15 3:13 PM ET
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ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty ImagesAmericans angry at the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of black teen Trayvon Martin stand on train tracks to block trains in protest in Los Angeles, California July 14, 2013. .




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WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder said Monday the killing of Trayvon Martin was a “tragic, unnecessary shooting” and that the 17-year-old’s death provides an opportunity for the nation to speak honestly about complicated and emotionally charged issues.

In his first comments since the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Martin case, the attorney general said that Martin’s parents have suffered a pain that no parent should have to endure. He said the nation must not forgo an opportunity toward better understanding of one another.

On Sunday, the Justice Department said it is reviewing evidence in the case to determine whether criminal civil rights charges are warranted.

The Justice Department opened an investigation into Martin’s death last year but stepped aside to allow the state prosecution to proceed.

Holder said, “We are … mindful of the pain felt by our nation surrounding the tragic, unnecessary shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., last year.”


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“I want to assure you” that the Justice Department” will continue to act in a manner that is consistent with the facts and the law,” said Holder.

“Independent of the legal determination that will be made, I believe that this tragedy provides yet another opportunity for our nation to speak honestly about the complicated and emotionally charged issues that this case has raised,” Holder said in remarks to the 51st national convention of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

“We must not — as we have too often in the past — let this opportunity pass,” he said.

The Justice Department says the criminal section of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, the FBI and federal prosecutors in Florida are continuing to evaluate the evidence generated during the federal investigation, plus evidence and testimony from the state trial.

The NAACP and others are calling on the Justice Department to open a civil rights case against Zimmerman. Thousands of demonstrators from across the country protested the jury’s decision to clear Zimmerman in the shooting death of the unarmed black teenager.

Also on Monday, the White House says President Barack Obama won’t involve himself in the Justice Department decision on whether to pursue civil rights charges against Zimmerman. White House spokesman Jay Carney said it would be inappropriate for Obama to express an opinion on how the department deals with Zimmerman.

[FarhanYare]

i think frankly they should give up on ever getting zimmerman to serve sentence even if it is a short stay in jail 1-5yrs. Because, they gonna end up getting the same disappointing outcome, the white jurors will never find him guilty. With that said afro- americans should do whatever they can to abolish this babaric "stand your grand law" which by the way affects them the most as the justice system favours white majority. They should use Trayvon martin as a sacrificial lamp for a better cause, and stop this ever from happening again across all the other states that have similar laws to florida's "stand your ground law".

[BlackVelvet]

The fact that the victim was so young and black should be irrelevant really. It's the fact that someone who is unarmed can be pursued and killed in Florida and the perpetrator can claim to be acting in self defense and get away with the crime - that is the worrying part. The race factor does nothing but get people emotional and take focus away from the real issue.

Unless I have misunderstood this seems to be the actual law. Zimmerman was within the boundaries of the law when he followed someone and shot them...in self defense. I really hope I misunderstood.

[FarhanYare]

The fact that the victim was so young and black should be irrelevant really. It's the fact that someone who is unarmed can be pursued and killed in Florida and the perpetrator can claim to be acting in self defense and get away with the crime - that is the worrying part. The race factor does nothing but get people emotional and take focus away from the real issue.

Unless I have misunderstood this seems to be the actual law. Zimmerman was within the boundaries of the law when he followed someone and shot them...in self defense. I really hope I misunderstood.

how was he within the boundaries of the law? shouldn't it be the other way around? trayvon martin was within the boundaries of the law, zimmerman pursued him, and cussed him out.

[FAH1223]

The fact that the victim was so young and black should be irrelevant really. It's the fact that someone who is unarmed can be pursued and killed in Florida and the perpetrator can claim to be acting in self defense and get away with the crime - that is the worrying part. The race factor does nothing but get people emotional and take focus away from the real issue.

Unless I have misunderstood this seems to be the actual law. Zimmerman was within the boundaries of the law when he followed someone and shot them...in self defense. I really hope I misunderstood.

how was he within the boundaries of the law? shouldn't it be the other way around? trayvon martin was within the boundaries of the law, zimmerman pursued him, and cussed him out.

Look up the "Stand Your Ground" law. Florida has this law.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-your-ground_law

[BlackVelvet]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati ... d/2517507/

Last year, a Florida task force headed by the lieutenant government reviewed the state's "stand your ground" law, but in a final report, the task force only made minor recommendations that required no action from the legislature. No changes were made to the law this year.

"The liberal activists tried to use that tragedy (the shooting death of Trayvon Martin) as an opportunity to take our rights as Americans," said Florida House Speaker Rep. Will Weatherford, a Republican, on the attempts to change the state's stand your ground law. "We stood our ground on Stand Your Ground."

Across the country, at least 22 states have "stand your ground" laws, with varying degrees of requirements for when citizens may use deadly force to protect themselves. Before these new laws were put in place beginning in 2005, people who felt threatened outside their home were required to flee from an attacker before they were allowed to use force to defend themselves.

The new laws make clear, however, that if someone feels threatened either inside or outside their home, they do not have to run away and are legally justified in using force to protect themselves.

"If (my family and I) are walking through the mall and someone attacks us, I should not have to retreat. I should be able to defend myself in any place or forum that I need to," said Florida Rep. Carlos Trujillo, a Republican, on Sunday in an interview with CBS Miami.

Some states just allow people to defend themselves in their homes or businesses, while others extend the law to cars or any place someone "has a right to be." Florida's law falls into this second category. (See chart)

The Zimmerman case drew national attention to the "stand you ground" laws, which were promoted by the National Rifle Association and the American Legislative Exchange Council through model legislation and advocacy.

In a study of "stand your ground" laws commissioned by the National Bureau of Economic Research, researchers found that in states with "stand your ground" laws, the number of homicides had significantly increased from the years before the law was enacted. They found that the provision that allows self-defense "in any place a person has a legal right to be" is the driver of the increase in homicides. The increase in homicides, they argue, negates the claim that these laws reduce crime.

[BlackVelvet]

But then the kid didn't attack Zimmerman did he? So how exactly did this guy get off? He wasn't standing his ground, he ran into conflict and chose to use deadly force. Why did race even matter?

[FarhanYare]

But then the kid didn't attack Zimmerman did he? So how exactly did this guy get off? He wasn't standing his ground, he ran into conflict and chose to use deadly force. Why did race even matter?

exactly! waa waxaan layaabe what were those red neck jurors thinking when they were deliberating. aniga xitaa when she said " we the jury find zimmerman not guilty" i was expecting her to state what he wasn't guilty of e.g second degree murder

[hargaysaay]

I really dont get why we should give a fuck about this incident Involving a young African American Sub-urban Miami Teenage Killed by a cop wanna be Hispanic
its totally non of our business, now if you are so concerned about the racial inequalities and how the justice system favors one group and lets down the other
then you should know this has being going on ever since US was established, to go frenzy and passionate about it just because its trending is meaningless

[FAH1223]

But then the kid didn't attack Zimmerman did he? So how exactly did this guy get off? He wasn't standing his ground, he ran into conflict and chose to use deadly force. Why did race even matter?

Zimmerman said he was defending himself and therefore he is protected by stand your ground. We still don't know why Zimmerman was following Martin despite getting orders from the dispatcher multiple times not to follow him. We still don't know how a man 30 lbs heavier and bulkier could not physically defend himself against a lanky 17 year old teenager. We still do not know why he followed him in the first place. The jury probably felt they didn't have enough evidence to put the guy in jail (him confessing he killed Martin is evidence enough but he's protected by that law and the defense was good at their narration).

And this isn't about race but there's no doubt that the racial undertones are present here. You can kill dogs like Mike Vick and go to jail but a black's life isn't worth anything.

[Murax]

No Federal case against Zimmerman. The standard of proof for a civil rights suit is much higher than a normal criminal case. Zimmerman is off scott free.

[BlackVelvet]

The jury probably felt they didn't have enough evidence to put the guy in jail

Zimmerman was following Martin despite getting orders from the dispatcher multiple times not to follow him

a man 30 lbs heavier and bulkier could not physically defend himself against a lanky 17 year old teenager (who was unarmed)

confessing he killed Martin is evidence enough

Brain explosion


They really need to amend this stand your ground law - it is absolute bull crap to call killing random people self defense as long as it is in your neighbourhood.