Tragedy turns new page as Zimmerman charged with Trayvon Martin murder
George Zimmerman, the neighbourhood-watch “captain” who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager inside a gated community will face second-degree murder charges, a special Florida prosecutor announced Wednesday.
“It is the search for justice for Trayvon Martin that brings us here,” Angela Corey said in announcing the charges, adding she was equally concerned that the shooter, Mr. Zimmerman, get a full and fair trial after weeks of enflamed and bitter national debate. She said she had called the dead teen’s “sweet parents” to let them know of her decision to prosecute Mr. Zimmerman.
Mr. Zimmerman, 28, arrived at a Florida jail Wednesday night after turning himself in. He was logged into the jail in Sanford, hours after Ms. Corey announced the charge against him, and is expected to make his first court appearance on Thursday. His lawyer Mark O’Mara has said Mr. Zimmerman will plead not guilty. If convicted he could face life in prison.
Mr. Martin’s parents expressed relief Wednesday over Ms. Corey’s decision. They watched her announcement on television in Washington, along with Trayvon’s brother. As soon as Ms. Corey uttered the words “second-degree murder,” Mr. Martin’s parents grasped hands and their lawyer, Benjamin Crump, placed his hands over theirs.
Before the arrest, Mr. Martin's mother said: “That won’t bring Trayvon back but at least that would give us reassurance that the justice system is working.”
The charges come more than six weeks after the tall 17-year-old high-school student was shot. News of the shooting, little noticed at first, ignited a steadily rising and angry nationwide clamour for Mr. Zimmerman’s arrest, parried by defenders who said he was being publicly lynched without trial.
Even U.S. President Barack Obama was drawn into the debate, musing publicly that any son of his might have looked like the slain teenager.
Ms. Corey insisted her decision to press charges was solely based on the still-disputed facts surrounded the shooting.
“We do not prosecute by public pressure or by petition,” she told a Jacksonville news conference.
In addition to the Florida murder charge, Mr. Zimmerman could face additional federal charges.
“I know that many of you are greatly – and rightly – concerned about the recent shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a young man whose future has been lost to the ages,” Eric Holder, Attorney-General in the Obama administration said Wednesday in Washington. “If we find evidence of a potential federal criminal civil-rights crime, we will take appropriate action,” he promised.
Looming over the case of the neighbourhood-watch captain who claims he shot an assailant who attacked him, knocked him to the ground and punched him in the face, are larger, uglier issues that pervade American society.
Accusations of racial profiling, vigilantism and rush to judgment by the media have enflamed passions as the case gripped the nation.
Mr. Martin, a high-school junior with an interest in aviation, was serving a 10-day school suspension after drug traces had been found in his backpack. He was visiting his father at The Retreat at Twin Lakes, a gated community of about 250 homes, in the community of Sanford, north of Orlando. He planned to watch the NBA all-star game on television on Feb. 26 and was returning – in the rain, wearing a hoodie – from a nearby 7-Eleven store with a bag of Skittles and an iced tea.
He was on the phone to his girlfriend shortly after dusk when some sort of confrontation ended in gunfire.
Mr. Zimmerman, 28, an insurance agent and something of a law-enforcement wannabe – although never a police officer – held a “concealed carry” permit for the Kel-Tec 9mm automatic, carried in a holster on his waist. He had told his family he was going to the Target store when he saw Mr. Martin and thought him suspicious. Mr. Zimmerman called the 911 dispatcher and was told there was no need to follow the teenager. Mr. Zimmerman asked for police to attend and said he would await their arrival.
What happened next, in what seems to be a missing minute, remains disputed. At least seven people called 911 and background sounds indicate screams and a fight.
Mr. Zimmerman, who told Sanford police on the night of the shooting that he acted in self-defence after being attacked, was initially released. As the nationwide outcry grew over the case, Sanford’s police chief temporarily stepped down and Florida’s governor stepped in, appointing a special prosecutor three weeks ago.
Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law, which permits the use of lethal force in self-defence, not just in a citizen’s home but anywhere in public and requires no retreat from threat, may play a role in Mr. Zimmerman’s defence.
“If ‘Stand Your Ground’ becomes an issue, we will fight that defence,” Ms. Corey said.
For weeks, demonstrators by the thousands have protested Mr. Martin’s death on campuses and in cities across the United States. One congressman wore a hoodie in the Capitol in solidarity with the slain teenager while activists like Rev. Al Sharpton have seized on the case.
“We do not condone or support, in any way, any violence,” Mr. Sharpton said shortly before the charges were announced.
Ms. Corey praised her team of investigators and police adding she wanted to “thank all of those people across this country who have sent positive energy and prayers this way.”
Mr. Zimmerman, who launched a website seeking support and donations to a defence fund earlier this week, had been in hiding since a few days after the shooting.
Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee originally decided not to arrest Mr. Zimmerman, because, he said there was no probable cause to refute the gunman’s version of the encounter.
Audio tapes of the 911 calls and a video of Mr. Zimmerman being taken into custody the night of the hooting have been made public. But there are widely varying and contradictory conclusions as to what the evidence indicates.
Tragedy turns new page as Zimmerman charged with Trayvon Martin murder - The Globe and Mail
George Zimmerman, the neighbourhood-watch “captain” who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager inside a gated community will face second-degree murder charges, a special Florida prosecutor announced Wednesday.
“It is the search for justice for Trayvon Martin that brings us here,” Angela Corey said in announcing the charges, adding she was equally concerned that the shooter, Mr. Zimmerman, get a full and fair trial after weeks of enflamed and bitter national debate. She said she had called the dead teen’s “sweet parents” to let them know of her decision to prosecute Mr. Zimmerman.
Mr. Zimmerman, 28, arrived at a Florida jail Wednesday night after turning himself in. He was logged into the jail in Sanford, hours after Ms. Corey announced the charge against him, and is expected to make his first court appearance on Thursday. His lawyer Mark O’Mara has said Mr. Zimmerman will plead not guilty. If convicted he could face life in prison.
Mr. Martin’s parents expressed relief Wednesday over Ms. Corey’s decision. They watched her announcement on television in Washington, along with Trayvon’s brother. As soon as Ms. Corey uttered the words “second-degree murder,” Mr. Martin’s parents grasped hands and their lawyer, Benjamin Crump, placed his hands over theirs.
Before the arrest, Mr. Martin's mother said: “That won’t bring Trayvon back but at least that would give us reassurance that the justice system is working.”
The charges come more than six weeks after the tall 17-year-old high-school student was shot. News of the shooting, little noticed at first, ignited a steadily rising and angry nationwide clamour for Mr. Zimmerman’s arrest, parried by defenders who said he was being publicly lynched without trial.
Even U.S. President Barack Obama was drawn into the debate, musing publicly that any son of his might have looked like the slain teenager.
Ms. Corey insisted her decision to press charges was solely based on the still-disputed facts surrounded the shooting.
“We do not prosecute by public pressure or by petition,” she told a Jacksonville news conference.
In addition to the Florida murder charge, Mr. Zimmerman could face additional federal charges.
“I know that many of you are greatly – and rightly – concerned about the recent shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a young man whose future has been lost to the ages,” Eric Holder, Attorney-General in the Obama administration said Wednesday in Washington. “If we find evidence of a potential federal criminal civil-rights crime, we will take appropriate action,” he promised.
Looming over the case of the neighbourhood-watch captain who claims he shot an assailant who attacked him, knocked him to the ground and punched him in the face, are larger, uglier issues that pervade American society.
Accusations of racial profiling, vigilantism and rush to judgment by the media have enflamed passions as the case gripped the nation.
Mr. Martin, a high-school junior with an interest in aviation, was serving a 10-day school suspension after drug traces had been found in his backpack. He was visiting his father at The Retreat at Twin Lakes, a gated community of about 250 homes, in the community of Sanford, north of Orlando. He planned to watch the NBA all-star game on television on Feb. 26 and was returning – in the rain, wearing a hoodie – from a nearby 7-Eleven store with a bag of Skittles and an iced tea.
He was on the phone to his girlfriend shortly after dusk when some sort of confrontation ended in gunfire.
Mr. Zimmerman, 28, an insurance agent and something of a law-enforcement wannabe – although never a police officer – held a “concealed carry” permit for the Kel-Tec 9mm automatic, carried in a holster on his waist. He had told his family he was going to the Target store when he saw Mr. Martin and thought him suspicious. Mr. Zimmerman called the 911 dispatcher and was told there was no need to follow the teenager. Mr. Zimmerman asked for police to attend and said he would await their arrival.
What happened next, in what seems to be a missing minute, remains disputed. At least seven people called 911 and background sounds indicate screams and a fight.
Mr. Zimmerman, who told Sanford police on the night of the shooting that he acted in self-defence after being attacked, was initially released. As the nationwide outcry grew over the case, Sanford’s police chief temporarily stepped down and Florida’s governor stepped in, appointing a special prosecutor three weeks ago.
Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law, which permits the use of lethal force in self-defence, not just in a citizen’s home but anywhere in public and requires no retreat from threat, may play a role in Mr. Zimmerman’s defence.
“If ‘Stand Your Ground’ becomes an issue, we will fight that defence,” Ms. Corey said.
For weeks, demonstrators by the thousands have protested Mr. Martin’s death on campuses and in cities across the United States. One congressman wore a hoodie in the Capitol in solidarity with the slain teenager while activists like Rev. Al Sharpton have seized on the case.
“We do not condone or support, in any way, any violence,” Mr. Sharpton said shortly before the charges were announced.
Ms. Corey praised her team of investigators and police adding she wanted to “thank all of those people across this country who have sent positive energy and prayers this way.”
Mr. Zimmerman, who launched a website seeking support and donations to a defence fund earlier this week, had been in hiding since a few days after the shooting.
Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee originally decided not to arrest Mr. Zimmerman, because, he said there was no probable cause to refute the gunman’s version of the encounter.
Audio tapes of the 911 calls and a video of Mr. Zimmerman being taken into custody the night of the hooting have been made public. But there are widely varying and contradictory conclusions as to what the evidence indicates.
Tragedy turns new page as Zimmerman charged with Trayvon Martin murder - The Globe and Mail
