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Inaction in Martin’s civil rights case called disappointing (Traydmark®)
The Florida Courier - Sharing Black Life, Statewide ^ | September 4, 2014 | Hazel Trice Edney, Trice Edney Newswire

Posted on 09/04/2014 1:37:29 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Activists say Holder dropped the ball on investigation of Sanford shooting.

The NAACP delivered 1.7 million signatures to the U. S. Department of Justice a year ago, requesting a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting death of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman in Sanford.

Despite the outrage and demands for justice after Zimmerman was acquitted of manslaughter, Attorney General Eric Holder has yet to announce a clear answer on his findings in the shooting of the unarmed 17-year-old who quickly became a household name across America.

Ben Jealous, the NAACP President who collected and electronically delivered the signatures says he’s disappointed at the delay, but is still awaiting Holder’s answer.

‘Keeping the faith’

“Attorney General Holder was very responsive when we initially reached out to ask for answers around Trayvon Martin,” says Jealous, now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

“It is disappointing that the investigation has gone on for so long without a conclusion when the injustice is so evident. However, I am keeping the faith. I’m encouraged by the swift response Holder’s Justice Department has had so far in Ferguson.”

Not guilty verdict

Martin was shot and killed by Zimmerman on Feb. 26, 2012. Despite national outcries, a jury found Zimmerman not guilty of manslaughter on July 13, 2013. The case largely centered on a debate over whether Zimmerman was defending himself although he was the one who confronted and pursued Martin against the advice of a 911 operator.

Using expletives, Zimmerman said on the 911 tape, “They always get away.”

For civil rights leaders and others, this statement was clear evidence that Martin, wearing a hoodie, was racially profiled by Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman. The unarmed teenager was walking home from a store with a bag of Skittles and an iced tea.

Response to Ferguson

After the controversial verdict in the criminal trial, justice seekers, largely led by the NAACP and ColorOfChange, then sought redress through the Justice Department, pushing for an indictment on a civil rights violation.

Holder promised a thorough investigation but has yet to announce a conclusion.

On Aug. 29, a group pushing for justice in the Aug. 9 Michael Brown killing by Ferguson, Mo. police officer, Darren Wilson, delivered more than 900,000 signatures on a petition, also in support of a civil rights charge.

Holder, who visited the Ferguson amidst unrest over the killing of Brown, who was also unarmed, has again promised a thorough investigation into the case in which witnesses said Brown had raised his hands when shot. A grand jury will determine whether to bring criminal charges against the officer.

Keeping hope alive

The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, says Holder’s silence on the Martin case could engender a lack of confidence in the Brown and other cases.

“We want an answer,” says Jackson. “The wheels of justice must move quickly or it will erode people’s confidence,” he said, adding he hopes Holder’s response on Martin “will come soon.”

The Trice Edney News Wire has attempted several times to attain the Justice Department’s status on the civil rights investigation in the Sanford case. However, Press Secretary Kevin Lewis had not responded to two phone calls and an email sent earlier this year. Lewis is the former Black Press liaison at the White House under the Obama Administration.

A ‘different’ Holder

On Nov. 4, 2013, Holder, questioned by reporters at an unrelated press conference, said the Justice Department had not yet decided whether to file charges against Zimmerman, but that the investigation was continuing.

Civil rights leaders acknowledge that Holder has not given an answer, but they are also hoping that both criminal and civil rights charges in the death of Michael Brown will bring change.

“Holder is different on this one,” says Barbara Arnwine, executive director and CEO of the Lawyers’ Committee on Civil Rights Under Law, one of the groups that called for the civil rights investigation in the Martin case.

“He’s not the same man he was at that time,” says Arnwine, pointing out that since the death of Martin, Holder has “spent two years investigating racial disparities in the criminal justice system” and has begun to push policy changes.

Ogletree, Crump respond

Still there are those who say more should have been done on all fronts.

“The death of Michael Brown makes me angry and disappointed in the lack of progress since the death of Trayvon Martin,” says Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree, founder and executive director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice.

He says the greatest sign of hope will be the arrest and prosecution of the police officer who killed Brown.

Benjamin Crump, the attorney for the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, agrees with Ogletree.

“Every case is unique,” he said. “All I know about this case is that he was executed.”

Crump said he believes the shootings will diminish when “the shooters are held accountable for the killing of our children.”


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; Politics/Elections; US: Florida; US: Missouri
KEYWORDS: bencrump; blacks; darrenwilson; doj; ericholder; ferguson; florida; holder; jessejackson; michaelbrown; missouri; trayvon; trayvons; zimmerman
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Mr. Crump couldn't beat a mouse through a maze racing for a piece of cheese. George Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder, not manslaughter, wasn't he? And these people still haven't heard what NBC news did to that audiotape? Plus, Trayvon had a can of watermelon juice, not iced tea.
1 posted on 09/04/2014 1:37:29 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Lots of quota babies in law.

Holder is one.

Obama is one.

And the combined ability in law of both is 5 on a scale of 0 to 100.

Clarance Thomas would clean their clocks in any real debate.


2 posted on 09/04/2014 1:39:27 PM PDT by Da Coyote
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Since when is pounding somebody else's head into the pavement a "Civil Right"?

Even if he is a 'white Hispanic'?

3 posted on 09/04/2014 1:39:27 PM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Couldn’t find a compelling reason to justify smashing someone’s skull into mush on a sidewalk?


4 posted on 09/04/2014 1:40:06 PM PDT by TigersEye ("No man left behind" means something different to 0bama.)
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To: Vigilanteman

George Zimmerman’s Black Ancestry is Revealed
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2876811/posts

George Zimmerman: the black, Hispanic, Peruvian, kind-hearted non-white, not-racist poster boy
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2876692/posts

George Zimmerman Has ‘Black Roots’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2876518/posts


5 posted on 09/04/2014 1:40:21 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Uh, because there was no there there?


6 posted on 09/04/2014 1:43:27 PM PDT by rktman (Ethnicity: Nascarian. Race: Daytonafivehundrian)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Sucker punching the neighborhood watch is a civil right?


7 posted on 09/04/2014 1:45:08 PM PDT by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Facts don't matter once the media have dubbed him a "white Hispanic".

Just as the facts don't matter that BO is at least 1/8th Arab and possibly as much as 3/8th now that they have anointed him a Black Messiah who has less in common with black descendants of slaves than the descendants of their former ancestor's owners.

8 posted on 09/04/2014 1:51:42 PM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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Comment #9 Removed by Moderator

To: BenLurkin
Sucker punching the neighborhood watch is a civil right?

Apparently so. It is right there next to the right to attack shopkeepers and cops without repercussion.

10 posted on 09/04/2014 1:52:41 PM PDT by Ingtar (The NSA - "We're the only part of government who actually listens to the people.")
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Comment #11 Removed by Moderator

To: El Zoro

Welcome to the lazy folks nightmare.

12 posted on 09/04/2014 1:54:52 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet; All
Regarding federal civil rights laws dealing with race issues, please beware of the following.
FR: Never Accept the Premise of Your Opponent’s Argument

With all due respect to Trayvon Martin and his family and supporters, and freedman issues aside, the only race-based right which the states have amended the Constitution to expressly protect is voting rights as evidenced by the 15th Amendment.

In other words, any race-themed federal civil rights laws which do not deal with voting issues are constitutionally indefensible imo. Such laws were likely established by Constitution-ignoring lawmakers to win votes from low-information voters.

So perhaps Attorney General Eric Holder's inaction on this issue reflects awareness on his part of the federal government's constitutionally limited powers.

13 posted on 09/04/2014 1:58:40 PM PDT by Amendment10
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I’m afraid the morons were taken for a ride by an Attorney General who was never going to do anything more than use it to keep the slaves on the plantation.


14 posted on 09/04/2014 2:00:10 PM PDT by cripplecreek ("Moderates" are lying manipulative bottom feeding scum.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
The case largely centered on a debate over whether Zimmerman was defending himself although he was the one who confronted and pursued Martin against the advice of a 911 operator.

This article has more holes than a block of Swiss cheese...and repeating lies does not make them true.

15 posted on 09/04/2014 2:03:55 PM PDT by JPG ("So sue me". OK, we will.)
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To: cripplecreek
Just like Mr. Obama, he's not a decedent of American slaves. Eric Himpton Holder, Jr. was born in the Bronx, New York, to parents with roots in Barbados.
16 posted on 09/04/2014 2:04:43 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself.)
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To: JPG

1. ‘George Zimmerman (GZ) racially profiled Trayvon Martin (TM)’ There is no evidence of this.

2. ‘GZ disobeyed an order by the police’ * The civilian dispatcher, Sean Noffke, testified that he did not give GZ an order and, in fact, he, like his fellow dispatchers, are trained not make comments that sound like commands. * Noffke also testified under cross that, as a result of his asking GZ which way TM was going, GZ could have reasonably interpreted this as being asked to follow Martin. * It is also not a crime in Florida to disregard a comment made by a civilian dispatcher.

3. ‘GZ got out of his car’ Not a crime on public property and not negligent either.

4. ‘GZ followed TM’ Again, anyone can follow anyone on a public street unless the followee has obtained a restraining order against the follower and even there, the RS only places time, place, and manner restrictions on the person enjoined.

5. ‘GZ wasn’t really injured’ * Under Florida’s self-defense laws, one doesn’t have to be injured AT ALL to use deadly force * No one is required to refrain from defending himself while another is engaged in or attempting to commit a felony.

6. ‘TM is dead through no fault of his own’ * If you believe that TM assaulted GZ, then he IS dead as a result of his own actions.

7. ‘GZ could have left’ * Under Florida law, there is not a duty to withdraw rather than use deadly force * TM was straddling GZ so how the latter was supposed to leave the scene is unanswered.

8. ‘GZ was armed and TM wasn’t’ * One’s fists can be considered weapons and can result in severe bodily harm or death. * GZ was legally carrying a weapon * There is no requirement under the law that the same weapon be used by the assailant * A homeowner can kill an intruder whether or not he has been threatened * Those that attack cannot feign surprise if they are met with superior firepower.

9. ‘Stand Your Ground!’ * SYG is NOT at issue in this trial. * The defense is a classic self-defense case.

10. ‘Black men NEVER get to use SYG!’ * Wrong http://tinyurl.com/nboht35

11. ‘GZ is a man and TM was a boy!’ * As if ‘boys’ don’t commit murder, rape, and assault everyday in this country.


17 posted on 09/04/2014 2:08:43 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself.)
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To: JPG
This article has more holes than a block of Swiss cheese...and repeating lies does not make them true.

Humans are strange animals.

Some of us keep repeating a story even when we know it is not true, but the fairy tale we must believe to justify our own shortcomings.

With their last breath, such people will whine that their lives were no good because of 1)Whitey or 2)bad parents or 3)their ex or whoever they want to blame. It's extra special ugly when a whole group of people get together and feed each others' delusions.
18 posted on 09/04/2014 2:10:10 PM PDT by Nepeta
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Bottom line: Martin is dead and Zimmerman is alive. Zimmerman did what he had to do and the outcome speaks for itself.


19 posted on 09/04/2014 2:14:42 PM PDT by Dr. Thorne ("Don't be afraid. Just believe." - Mark 5:36)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Nice list, Vet.

The agenda-driven-cash-car must not be stopped; facts are irrelevant; stick it to the man.

20 posted on 09/04/2014 2:23:25 PM PDT by JPG ("So sue me". OK, we will.)
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