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On Tuesday, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division announced because an independent federal investigation found insufficient evidence, it would not pursue civil rights charges against Travyon Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman.
Prosecutors from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Decision, officials from the FBI and the DOJ’s Community Relations Department met with Martin’s family and their representative to inform them of the investigation’s findings and the Department’s decision.
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While announcing the decision, Attorney-General Eric Holder said:
The death of Trayvon Martin was a devastating tragedy. It shook an entire community, drew the attention of millions across the nation, and sparked a painful but necessary dialogue throughout the country. Though a comprehensive investigation found that the high standard for a federal hate crime prosecution cannot be met under the circumstances here, this young man’s premature death necessitates that we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface. We, as a nation, must take concrete steps to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future.
Zimmerman and his defenders at Fox news may make the mistake that this decision means the DOJ condones Zimmerman’s decision to chase and eventually kill Trayvon Martin because he dared to walk down a street in a hoodie and “armed” with snacks while black.
However, as the acting assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division pointed out the decision is based solely on the high legal standard that is applicable in these cases. Vanita Gupta’s words warrant repeating.
“Our decision not to pursue federal charges does not condone the shooting that resulted in the death of Trayvon Martin and is based solely on the high legal standard applicable to these cases.”
The legal standard for civil rights violations is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. It’s the highest possible standard to meet, when you compare say with civil law where a case succeeds based on a preponderance of the evidence.
In other words, the legal standard itself is enough to make it very difficult to prove a civil rights violation even under the most ideal investigation. In its earliest stages, the investigation in to Trayvon Martin’s death were far from ideal. Responding to a call by Zimmerman, police reportedly arrived at the scene within 2 minutes of the shooting. They took Zimmerman in for questioning, where he claimed he was just defending himself per the stand your ground law. Police released Zimmerman based on his claim and hoped the case would be closed. They didn’t even bother to check Zimmerman’s record of frequently calling police about supposedly suspicious people who, by coincidence were always young men of color. The fact that Zimmerman had a habit of limiting his descriptions of said “suspicious people” to their racial identity should have been enough to wonder if things really went down the way Zimmerman claimed.
As word spread about the shooting, there was a nation-wide call for Zimmerman’s arrest and a proper investigation.
It took six weeks before there was an investigation and before Zimmerman was arrested and charged with the murder of Trayvon Martin. By that time, the investigation was already compromised and with it, there was a reasonable suspicion that justice would ultimately be denied.
Since then Zimmerman has been free to have several brushes with the law involving guns, threatening his ex-wife, her father, and other women. The pattern is always the same, something involving Zimmerman, threats and guns, or Zimmerman throwing wine bottles, an investigation ensues, eventually the person he allegedly threatened changes their story and Zimmerman walks.
Zimmerman got away with killing Trayvon Martin and at this point all possible means to hold him criminally accountable for that crime are closed. He also got away with several incidents of domestic abuse as do many who fit the classic profile of a domestic abuser. As noted by Think Progress following Zimmerman’s latest alleged incident of domestic abuse.
While the decision to drop charges means a court will, once again, never decide whether Zimmerman is guilty of domestic abuse, the patterns of Zimmerman and his accusers fall in line with the typical behavior of domestic violence victims. Whether they feel intimidated by their abusers or pressured by loved ones, many victims of domestic violence choose not to press charges. Perpetrators, meanwhile, often move from one victim to the next.
We can smell the stench of injustice to Trayvon Marin and his family in this case. We can also smell the stench of a Teflon killer who is also a Teflon domestic abuser who will go on to abuse and possibly kill again. His next victim is out there, some where and probably doesn’t have a clue what’s coming.
Former contributor.
