SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — The investigation into last month’s shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in an Orlando suburb is out of the hands of the beleaguered police chief and the county prosecutor with the Justice Department looking at possible civil rights violations and a grand jury perhaps considering charges.
Until admitted shooter George Zimmerman is led away in handcuffs, the parents of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and the civil rights activists and others who have rallied for their cause say they won’t be satisfied.
“We cannot allow a precedent when a man can just kill one of us … and then walk out with the murder weapon,” said civil rights leader Al Sharpton, flanked by Martin’s parents and a stage full of supporters at a rally in Sanford on Thursday night. “We don’t want good enough. We want George Zimmerman in court with handcuffs behind his back.”
Police Chief Bill Lee said earlier in the day that he was stepping down temporarily to try to cool the building anger that his department did not arrest neighborhood watch volunteer Zimmerman, who has said he shot Martin on Feb. 26 in self-defense. Hours later, the governor announced that the local state attorney, Norman Wolfinger, had recused himself from the case.
Martin’s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, believe Zimmerman should have been arrested. They claim he was profiling their son and acted like a vigilante.
The signs, chants and sentiments all came down to a demand for justice in the case. Another rally was set for the state capitol today and students at Martin’s Miami high school planned to walk out in protest in the afternoon.
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