Summary: Late Saturday night, the jury in George Zimmerman’s second-degree murder trial acquitted him of all charges in the death of Trayvon Martin. The verdict required 15 hours of deliberation over the course of two days The not-guilty verdict that sounded so final, so utterly unequivocal, in Courtroom 5D of the Seminole County courthouse Saturday night has quickly given way to a kaleidoscope of demonstrations across the country, debate about wrongful-death lawsuits and Web-site-crashing demands for the filing of federal civil rights charges. Within hours of the verdict , the Justice Department released a statement saying its civil rights division still had an open investigation into Martin’s death, launched more than a year ago. Working with the FBI, federal prosecutors are reviewing evidence gathered during a Justice Department investigation — and revealed during the Seminole County trial — to see whether the case fits within “the limited federal criminal civil rights statutes. Supporters of Martin’s family who had gathered outside the courthouse yelled out “No! No!” “Today, justice failed Trayvon Martin and his family,” said Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the NAACP in a statement. “We call immediately for the Justice Department to conduct an investigation into the civil rights violations committed against Trayvon Martin. This case has re-energized the movement to end racial profiling in the United States.” “We are outraged and heartbroken over today’s verdict,” said Benjamin Todd Jealous, President and CEO of the NAACP. Sound Off Tonight On CPT 424-222-5255
