193.4 - Update: Trayvon Martin killing

Update: Trayvon Martin killing

Next up, an Update on something we talked about a lot at the time, but haven't mentioned in a while.

The Department of Justice has announced that there will be no federal charges filed against George Zimmerman arising out of his shooting down of Trayvon Martin which was, if you can believe it when it seems so fresh in our minds, back in 2012.

Although it's disappointing, federal charges were always a long shot. Because no federal crime was involved, such charges would have to involve a civil charge, specifically, a civil rights claim - in other words, a charge that Zimmerman shot Martin out of racial animosity, or, more bluntly, because he was black.

Trayvon Martin

It seems abundantly clear that Zimmerman racially profiled Martin and regarded the color of his skin as marking him as suspect - and that he had some sort of animosity toward blacks, or at the very least young black males, in general (his own comments to the police dispatcher showed that). But the very high standard of actually showing that Zimmerman shot Martin because of racism was always a high barrier to get over.

Remember, showing that Zimmerman suspected Martin because he was black and that he followed Martin because he was black and that he confronted Martin because he was black would not have been enough. The government would have to show that Zimmerman actually pulled the trigger because Martin was black.

With Zimmerman's claims of self-defense hanging in the air and no witnesses to challenge those claims, the DOJ felt, understandably, it couldn't convince a jury of that.

And so even though it was a long shot, it's still sad to have to say that George Zimmerman walks again.

Sources cited in links:
http://www.aol.com/article/2015/02/24/justice-dept-no-federal-charges-in-trayvon-martin-death/21146221/