Skip to footer

Justice Dept. won't file civil rights charges in Trayvon Martin case

Federal officials have been looking into the possibility that George Zimmerman violated Trayvon Martin's civil rights when the neighborhood watch volunteer shot and killed the teenager three years ago.

|
Joe Burbank, Orlando Sentinel/AP/File
In this 2013 file photo, George Zimmerman, acquitted in the high-profile killing of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, listens in court, in Sanford, Fla., during his hearing on charges including aggravated assault stemming from a fight with his girlfriend.
  • By Reuters

| Washington

The US Justice Department said on Tuesday it will not file civil rights charges against George Zimmerman, a Florida neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012.

The department said it had not found sufficient evidence that Zimmerman intentionally violated the civil rights of Martin, 17.

The announcement comes as the Justice Department also investigates Darren Wilson, a police officer who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in August.

Both incidents sparked nationwide outcry from civil rights advocates who have pressured the Obama administration to press charges against the two men for acting on racial bias.

Thursday will be the third anniversary of Martin's shooting.

"Though a comprehensive investigation found that the high standard for a federal hate crime prosecution cannot be met under the circumstances here, this young man's premature death necessitates that we continue the dialog and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

A source familiar with the investigation said it has been clear for some time that there would be no federal charges against Zimmerman. The Justice Department's civil rights division has been investigating for more than two years.

Zimmerman claimed he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot Martin in the chest during a confrontation in a neighborhood in Sanford, Florida, after following and stopping the teenager because he thought he was suspicious.

In 2013, he was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter.

A spokesman for Martin's family earlier said they were meeting with Justice Department officials on Tuesday.

Zimmerman's attorney, Don West, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Justice Dept. won't file civil rights charges in Trayvon Martin case
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2015/0224/Justice-Dept.-won-t-file-civil-rights-charges-in-Trayvon-Martin-case
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe