July 14, 2013

Obama on Zimmerman verdict: ‘A jury has spoken’ - Juana Summers - POLITICO.com

Obama on Zimmerman verdict: ‘A jury has spoken’ - Juana Summers - POLITICO.com'via Blog this'

“Experienced federal prosecutors will determine whether the evidence reveals a prosecutable violation of any of the limited federal criminal civil rights statutes within our jurisdiction, and whether federal prosecution is appropriate in accordance with the department’s policy governing successive federal prosecution following a state trial,” a department spokesman said. In the hours following the reading of the verdict, NAACP President Ben Jealous started a petition calling on the department to open a civil rights case against Zimmerman, who shot unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin as he walked through the Sanford, Fla., gated community where he was staying. “The most fundamental of civil rights — the right to life — was violated the night George Zimmerman stalked and then took the life of Trayvon Martin,” Jealous wrote in the petition addressed to Attorney General Eric Holder. “It feels so often that our young people have to fear the bad guys and the good guys, the robbers and the cops, and the self-appointed community watch volunteers,” Jealous said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared Sunday: “This isn’t over with.” “I think the Justice Department’s going to take a look at this,” Reid said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And I think that’s good. That’s our system. It’s gotten better, not worse.”