The US Justice Department says it will not be filing charges against George Zimmerman for fatally shooting African American teenager Trayvon Martin three years ago in Florida.
Federal prosecutors have concluded there is not enough evidence to prove Zimmerman, a half white, half Hispanic volunteer neighborhood watchman in Sanford, Florida, deliberately violated Martin’s civil rights, US law enforcement officials said Tuesday.
Martin, 17, was shot and killed on February 26, 2012 by Zimmerman, a half white, half Hispanic volunteer neighborhood watch captain.
The shooting death sparked protests and intense discussions over US race relations because Martin was unarmed while walking to his home with candy and an iced tea in his hands.
In July 2013, a court in Florida acquitted Zimmerman in the fatal shooting of the black teen.
Zimmerman claimed he had acted in self-defense in the shooting of the teenager during a nighttime confrontation.
In an interview with Press TV on April 16, 2012, Malcolm X’s grandson, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, commented on the murder of Trayvon Martin, saying blacks are murdered with impunity in the US because the system is unjust.
“There are hundreds of black Americans who are being murdered in the United States every year with impunity. And police officers serve no time. They always get off,” Shabazz stated.
He said this occurs because there is institutionalized racism in the US.
Shabazz was beaten to death in Mexico City on May 9, 2013. An autopsy found that the 28-year-old died of deadly blows to the head, face and torso.
AHT/GJH