George Zimmerman (Photo : Reuters)
The Federal Government was investigating into the possibility of bringing hate crime charges against George Zimmerman in the matter of the death of a 17-year-old black teenager named Travyon Martin. It has now decided at the end of this investigation that it could not bring such charges against Zimmerman, reported the Orlando Sentinel.
The original incident took place on February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman, a white man armed with a gun, had killed Martin, an unarmed Black teenager. The police did not initially arrest Zimmerman for the incident.
This incident soon ballooned into a major national controversy when major leaders of the African American community, including Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, joined the call for Zimmerman's arrest. There even were protests as far away as in Europe.
A Florida jury tried Zimmerman on July 13, 2013. The jury found him not guilty of murder as they accepted Zimmerman's plea that he shot Martin in self-defense. It was after this finding that the Federal Government began looking into the possibility of prosecuting Martin for a hate crime.
In order to prove a hate crime the federal prosecution would have needed to show that Zimmerman had "willfully" killed Martin or that the killing was motivated by race. The Federal Government found that these requirements could not be met. The Attorney General Eric Holder said that the evidence in this case was inadequate and could not fulfill the "high standard for a federal hate crime prosecution"
Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta was quoted by USA Today as having said, "Our decision not to pursue federal charges does not condone the shooting that resulted in the death of Trayvon Martin and is based solely on the high legal standard applicable to these cases." Meanwhile protests, if they were to take place at all, are expected to be mild.
