A man makes a chalk drawing on the ground during a protest at a court verdict that found George Zimmerman not guilty of murdering unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin, in New York, yesterday.
Washington: Black leaders in the US expressed “outrage” yesterday over the acquittal of George Zimmerman on charges of murdering Trayvon Martin, demanding that authorities pursue a federal civil rights case against the teenager’s killer.
Benjamin Jealous, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) — the US’ largest black advocacy group — said the case in which Zimmerman, who is of mixed white-Hispanic parentage, followed then shot Martin dead met the benchmark for an inquiry by the Department of Justice.
Although the jury in Sanford, Florida, accepted Zimmerman’s argument that he acted in self-defence when he killed Martin on February 26 last year, he was caught on a recording of a call to police using the words “**** punks” and “these ****, they always get away”. “When you look at his comments and when you look at comments made by young black men who lived in that neighbourhood about how they felt especially targeted by him, there is reason to be concerned that race was a factor in why he targeted young Trayvon,” Jealous said.
Jealous released a statement immediately after Saturday night’s decision, which followed more than 16 hours of deliberations by the six-strong jury.
“We are outraged and heartbroken over today’s verdict.”
The Guardian
