The acquittal of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch coordinator cleared of Florida charges that he murdered black teenager Trayvon Martin, spurred new calls for a federal civil rights prosecution and suggestions that the youth’s family may bring a lawsuit.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is pushing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to pursue a hate crimes case against Zimmerman, its head said yesterday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” A Martin family lawyer, Benjamin Crump, said Martin’s parents would investigate filing a lawsuit outside Sanford, Florida, where the criminal trial was held.
