Trayvon Martin: DOJ Set to Announce No Charges Against George Zimmerman

While the public waits for a Justice Department announcement over two separate investigations spurred by the summer shooting of an unarmed teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, the department is going to first announce its findings in the killing of Trayvon Martin.

ABC News has learned Martin’s family will soon be notified that the Justice Department will not be filing charges against George Zimmerman, who shot the 17-year-old after a confrontation in 2012. Thursday marks three years to the day since Martin was killed.

Federal prosecutors concluded there is not sufficient evidence to prove Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman in Sanford, Fla., intentionally violated Martin’s civil rights, sources told ABC News.

George Zimmerman Found Not Guilty and Goes Free
PHOTOS: George Zimmerman Found Not Guilty
The case sparked intense discussions over race in America because Martin was walking to his home with only Skittles and an iced tea in his hands.

Florida prosecutors tried to convict Zimmerman of state-level murder and manslaughter charges, but in July 2013 a jury acquitted him, saying prosecutors didn’t have enough evidence to prove their case.

One juror -– the only minority on the all-female jury –- later told ABC News that “as the law was read to me, if you have no proof that he killed him intentionally, you can't say he's guilty."

"You can't put the man in jail even though in our hearts we felt he was guilty," she said. "But we had to grab our hearts and put it aside and look at the evidence."

In Sanford, race-related tensions had been simmering for nearly a century, but Martin’s death “was the proverbial ‘straw that broke the camel’s back,’” bringing “those issues to the surface,” the new Sanford police chief, Cecil Smith, recently told federal officials.

After Martin was killed, Holder sat down his own teenage son to explain that -– as unfair as it may be -– young black men must often interact with police in a different way than others, he told an NAACP convention in July 2013. It was “a conversation I hoped I'd never have to have,” Holder added.

As media attention mounted over Martin’s death, protests grew across the country calling for justice. The city of Sanford now says a police department had not been scrutinized like that by the press, religious organizations, social activists and the broader public since Los Angeles police beat Rodney King in 1991.

Zimmerman was not a police officer and the neighborhood watch program he was a part of was independent from local police.

Many accused Zimmerman of discriminating against Martin –- essentially taking action against the teenager and ultimately killing him because Martin was black. Zimmerman is Hispanic.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and FBI opened an investigation into the case, noting “experienced federal prosecutors” would determine “whether the evidence reveals a prosecutable violation” of federal law. In a statement, the department noted there are “limited federal criminal civil rights statutes within our jurisdiction.”

Privately and publicly, Justice Department officials have been telegraphing all along that they were unlikely to file charges against Zimmerman. And in November 2013, Holder said the case against Zimmerman “in substantial part was resolved” with his acquittal months earlier.

Nevertheless, federal officials have insisted their civil-rights probe would be thorough and complete. Several months ago –- nearly two years into the Justice Department’s investigation –- Holder said federal investigators were still seeking to interview certain witnesses “as a result of some recent developments.”

More recently, Holder has said he hoped to announce the findings of the Zimmerman and Ferguson-related probes before he leaves office, which could happen in a matter of weeks, depending on when the U.S. Senate confirms his successor.

Holder has said then when a decision is announced in the Zimmerman case, it will be accompanied by “as much information” as possible detailing the Justice Department’s findings.

In the Ferguson case, the department is currently conducting two probes into the matter.

A criminal investigation will try to determine whether then-officer Darren Wilson used unreasonable force and intentionally violated Michael Brown’s civil rights when he shot the unarmed teenager in August. The second probe - though not criminal in nature –- will look more broadly into whether the Ferguson police department has routinely engaged in a "pattern or practice" of unlawful and discriminatory policing.

A state grand jury in Ferguson, Missouri, declined to indict Wilson in Novembe4 2014. Many expect the Justice Department will not be able to bring federal charges against Wilson, but will take action against the police department.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/trayvon-ma...ge-zimmerman/story?id=29186648&cid=fb_abcn_sf

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No surprise here for me. I felt the entire time they were just grandstanding to prevent more riots or craziness from happening. Its amazing the reach and effect this case had on america as a country and the people involved in the incident.

 

I really don't like painting all thing political, but many otherwise minor events, including the Martin incident, became major stories to protect the boss from criticism. In this case "Obama's comment "If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon" was the catalyst, even swaying my initial thought, it might have been murder. I saw a picture of a young fellow, looked like a 12-13 kid and felt some White Guy could have been guilty. Of course the story quickly changed, but Obama's comment, had to be defended. My opinion only....

 

I thought this was old news.

 

It was " breaking " news at abc.

 

Ah, abc. AKA Already Been Covered.
'Nuff said?
Did i win???? Wheres my prize?

 

lol , that is pretty clever!

 

I did too.

 

while everything said here is bull(*)(*)(*)(*) (the story had legs long before the President said anything) the issue is an ongoing one. A man stalked and later killed a teenager because he perceived him to be a criminal (which he wasn't) and the only reason it was considered self-defense is because the prosecution and the police handled it badly from the beginning. >>>>>MOD EDIT: discuss the post, not the poster<<<<<

 

>>>>>MOD EDIT: discuss the post, not the poster<<<<< It was considered self defense because of his head being smashed over and over onto the pavement by a stranger in the neighborhood. A gunshot, single gunshot, stopped him from getting bashed to death.

 

If this particular case supposedly had legs, I'd suggest any story from Detroit/Chicago, would could have been a major one, if Holder/Obama/NY Times were to speak out. There are daily stories were a real child is killed, just going out for snack and is killed....That's tragic, whether it's Black on Black or any combination...

 

It is final. No charges.

 

Obama stuck his nose in to inflate passions just like Ferguson and Cambridge. He's a POS race pimp, not an executive.

 

As it should be, but not official yet, hopefully this story holds true.

LoL @ stalking.

One of the many lies, half truths and irrelevant comments laid out by the 'Zimmerman lynch mob'.

This thread will be another round of the sos if it survives the mods.

Enjoy!

 

What's bull(*)(*)(*)(*) here is this ^^

 

Apparently you thought wrong.

 

Come on now guys, the liberals took a thrashing on this for almost a year and were proven wrong, by an actual jury, is there any real doubt they'd be in to try and keep this hushed now? The whole point of the DOJ was their last hope of getting liberal 'justice', which apparently has nothing to do with actual justice that is decided by a jury of one's peers...

 

Indeed, the juror even confessed. "We thought he was guilty, the law said otherwise." Liberal justice is about hearts and feelings and emotionalism, which can never derive from a neutral and bi-partisan government. We must at all times resist those who would take us back to the days of the Witch Lynchings.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/24/no-federals-charges-against-george-zimmerman/23942297/

It's official. Zimmerman wont face Federal charges Justice Department says. No evidence Zimmerman violated Martins civil rights.

 

This is new. The Justice Department had been trying to get Zimmerman since his acquittal. They even had a toll free number set up in case someone remembered him saying the "N" word in the middle school cafeteria. He must really be clean if after all this time they finally gave up.

 

It. Was. A. Joke.

 

Did anybody expect any charges here? This was just lip service to those who were naive enough to buy into the false narrative. Is there any other way to bring attention to what some feel are social issues without these phony racial hoaxes? They do not work and just end up discrediting any legitimate concern people may have. Come on: Justice for Trayvon? Hands up don't shoot? ....did I mention

 

This is breaking news as of today.

To make it simple for the simple minded: Holder and Co. have decided George is not a racist and his offing TrayTray was not a hate crime.

Deal with it, Zimm haters.

One would hope this would be the end of it. Holder has ruled, and his ruling is IN FAVOR of Zimmerman.

But it won't quell the yammering and yapping. We won't be that lucky.

 

You
Are
Hilarious

 

Do you have information the Jury, the FBI and the DOJ do not have?

 

That pretty much summed it up in a nutshell.