George Zimmerman Still Faces Hate Crime Violations For Shooting Trayvon Martin?
George Zimmerman may already be destitute and homeless due to the shooting of Trayvon Martin, a Federal Justice Department investigation into whether or not Zimmerman committed civil rights violations has the potential to put him behind bars.
In a related report by The Inquisitr, Robert Zimmerman is planning a Zimmerman family reality TV show and a line of self-defense products called Brand Z. A producer named Beth Marshall is working on a series of plays as a tribute to Trayvon Martin, and she claims Martin would be still be alive today if he was white like her own son.
The issue at hand is whether or not Zimmerman committed a hate crime. In order to successfully prosecute a federal criminal civil rights case, prosecutors would have to prove racial profiling was the motive for following Martin around the neighborhood, and that he also shot the younger man because he was African American.
Before Eric Holder resigned, he claimed the investigation investigation was still ongoing, and that federal officials were examining a computer that potentially held evidence to suggest George Zimmerman could have intentionally acted with the intent to deprive Trayvon Martin of his civil rights.
“That investigation’s ongoing,” Holder said. “There are active steps that we are still in the process of taking. There are witnesses who we want to speak to as a result of some recent developments.”
Attorney Benjamin represents Trayvon Martin’s parents, as well as the family of Michael Brown, and he says, “Trayvon’s parents continue to hope and pray for justice, and they won’t have any comments until they hear officially from the Justice Department.”
George Zimmerman’s lawyer, Mark O’Mara, believes the 40 witness statement collected by investigators are enough evidence to drop the civil rights violations case.
“I was watching the whole case pretty closely for two years, and they didn’t do anything except take those 40 statements,” O’Mara said. “[The witness statements] suggested that George acted in very non-racist ways. He took a black girl to the prom. His best buddy was a black guy. He mentored two black kids. He sought justice for a black homeless man beaten up by a white cop’s son. To those who have seen civil rights investigations and civil rights violations, it looked as though the Department of Justice was just placating pressure that existed by suggesting there was an ongoing investigation.”
According to the Washington Post, experts consider it unlikely the computer will turn up much evidence in regards to a potential hate crime, this past Wednesday a spokeswoman for the Justice Department said the investigation “is active and ongoing.” But other unnamed sources within the Justice Department claim the civil rights violations case targeting Zimmerman will likely be closed, and it’s a matter of wanting to “dot their i’s and cross their t’s.”
