The FBI and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), along with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), have agreed to investigate the senseless murder of 17-year old Trayvon Martin, who was gunned down in Sanford, Florida by a neighborhood watch volunteer because he felt threatened. Martin, who was walking to a house in a gate community to meet up with his father, was carrying an Arizona iced tea and a bag of Skittles. George Zimmerman, 28, was carrying a gun, and claimed self-defense. So, naturally, the local Sanford Police Department took his word over Martin’s, who couldn’t speak, because he was gunned down by Zimmerman, a man who was taller, 100 pounds heavier, armed with a gun, and apparently referred to Martin and black people as “these fucking coons.” The fact that Martin was black I’m sure had absolutely nothing to do with the police’s decision to not even test Zimmerman for drugs, alcohol, to smooth over his record, and to even correct a witness when they attempted to give testimony to officers.
“George Zimmerman, 28, a neighborhood watch volunteer with a long history of calling in everything from open garage doors to ‘suspicious characters,’ called police to say he had spotted someone who looked drugged, was walking too slowly in the rain, and appeared to be looking at people’s houses. Zimmerman sounded alarmed because the stranger had his hand in his waistband and held something in his other hand,” the Miami Herald reports:
Zimmerman said he had stepped out of his truck to check the name of the street he was on when Trayvon attacked him from behind as he walked back to his truck, police said. He said he feared for his life and fired the semiautomatic handgun he was licensed to carry because he feared for his life.
“The department will conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence and take appropriate action at the conclusion of the investigation,†the Justice Department said in a statement. “The department also is providing assistance to and cooperating with the state officials in their investigation into the incident. With all federal civil rights crimes, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person acted intentionally and with the specific intent to do something which the law forbids — the highest level of intent in criminal law.
“Negligence, recklessness, mistakes and accidents are not prosecutable under the federal criminal civil rights laws.â€
From the start, Trayvon’s family accused Sanford police of molding the investigation to fit Zimmerman’s account. Several witnesses said they heard cries that sounded like a boy wailing — howling silenced by the crack of gunfire — and were shocked to hear police later portray the cries as Zimmerman’s. One witness said police ignored her repeated phone calls.
The police chief was accused of telling lies big and small in ways that shielded Zimmerman. The family hired attorneys who helped devise a national campaign to demand a federal investigation.
Members of Congress and prominent black clergy members joined the chorus for a federal probe. At a rally outside the Sanford courthouse Monday, students called for Zimmerman’s arrest.
WKMG has the full 34-minute version of the Zimmerman 911 calls. Below is a short version from the Orlando Sentinel.