George Zimmerman will not face federal charges in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, nearly three years after the killing.
The Department of Justice said Tuesday it has closed its investigation into the death of 17-year-old Martin, who was shot dead by Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26, 2012.
Zimmerman was later acquitted for second-degree murder and manslaughter in July 2013 after a month-long trial that involved heated debate over Florida’s Stand Your Ground statute.
Prosecutors from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Community Relations Service, as well as FBI officials, met with Martin’s family and its representatives Tuesday to inform them of the findings of the investigation and decision to charge Zimmerman, the agency said.
“The death of Trayvon Martin was a devastating tragedy. It shook an entire community, drew the attention of millions across the nation, and sparked a painful but necessary dialogue throughout the country,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. “Though a comprehensive investigation found that the high standard for a federal hate crime prosecution cannot be met under the circumstances here, this young man’s premature death necessitates that we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface. We, as a nation, must take concrete steps to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future.”
Federal prosecutors would have had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman intended to kill Martin because he was black in order to bring federal hate crime charges against him.
“Although the department has determined that this matter cannot be prosecuted federally, it is important to remember that this incident resulted in the tragic loss of a teenager’s life,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division said. “Our decision not to pursue federal charges does not condone the shooting that resulted in the death of Trayvon Martin and is based solely on the high legal standard applicable to these cases.”
The Justice Department’s civil rights investigation into the shooting death of Michael Brown continue last August, as well as a separate one into the Ferguson Police Department, are still underway and are expected to conclude soon.
