CBC wants Trayvon Martin's death investigated as potential hate crime - POLITICO.com

CBC wants Trayvon Martin's death investigated as potential hate crime - POLITICO.com

"The Congressional Black Caucus wants the Justice Department to investigate the shooting death of a 17-year-old, unarmed black Florida high school student as a potential hate crime.

“This case compromises the integrity of our legal system and sets a horrific precedent of vigilante justice,” Congressional Black Caucus Chair Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) said in a statement. “Members of the Congressional Black Caucus stand together in the name of justice for Trayvon. As a nation we cannot, should not, and will not ignore, Trayvon’s brutal murder and the inconceivable fact that his killer remains free. Contrary to the flippant way this case has been handled, his life had meaning and purpose. Trayvon had a family, friends and a future all taken away because of the color of his skin.”

George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain and criminal justice student in Sanford, Fla,. shot Trayvon Martin on February 26 as he was walking home from a neighborhood 7-11 to his father’s house. Before the shooting Zimmerman told a police dispatcher there was “a real suspicious guy” who looked “like he was up to no good or on drugs or something” in his neighborhood. He told the dispatcher Martin had “something in his waistband.” At the time, Martin was carrying Skittles and an iced tea he had just purchased. Against the dispatcher’s advice, Zimmerman pursued Martin on foot, and eventually shot him.

Zimmerman, who has not been charged with a crime, told police he was acting in self-defense after Martin started to fight him. The case has drawn national outrage, driven by an apparent history of racial bias by local police. A change.org petition asking for Zimmerman’s prosecution has drawn more than 420,000 signatures and an attorney for the Martin family has asked for an FBI investigation.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Trayvon Martin' s family. But obviously we're not going to wade into a local law-enforcement matter,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said when he was asked about Martin’s death at today’s briefing."