Eric Holder: ‘Trayvon Martin’s Death, An Unnecessary Shooting’
Attorney General Eric Holder has spoken publicly for the first time since the Saturday verdict in the Zimmerman trial saying, “Trayvon Martin’s death was an unnecessary shooting.”
In his first comments since George Zimmerman’s acquittal Holder stated, Martin’s death was a “tragic, unnecessary shooting”.
He added that the shooting death of the 17-year-old affords the nation the opportunity to discuss complicated and emotionally charged subjects.
The attorney general added that Martin’s parents have suffered a pain that no parent should have to endure and that the nation must not pass up the chance to better understand one another.
“I want to assure you that the Justice Department will continue to act in a manner that is consistent with the facts and the law,” said Holder.
The AP reports that mounting a federal case against Zimmerman could be tougher than the case the state of Florida made, which concluded Saturday with Zimmerman’s acquittal.
The Justice Department, headed by Eric Holder, opened a probe into Trayvon Martin’s death last year, but later stepped aside to allow Florida prosecutors to succeed.
“There are several factual and legal hurdles that federal prosecutors would have to overcome,” Alan Vinegrad, the former US Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, told the AP. “They’d have to show not only that the attack was unjustified, but that Mr. Zimmerman attacked Mr. Martin because of his race and because he was using a public facility, the street.”
The Miami Herald reports that new FBI documents released on Thursday would further complicate a federal case.
The documents, based on interviews of nearly three dozen individuals, fail to establish that racial bias was the motive in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
Meanwhile, Jay Carney, White House Press Secretary, told reporters during the daily briefing on Monday that Obama won’t involve himself in DOJ decisions regarding the Zimmerman case.
Obama urged Americans to enter into “calm reflections” following the Saturday verdict.
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