Justice Department closes Investigation of Trayvon Martin Case

The Justice Department announced today that they have closed the investigation into death of Trayvon Martin.

Three years to almost the day after teenager Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman the Justice Department announced to close the investigation. According to the announcement the independent federal investigation found insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman for the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida.  

Prosecutors from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, officials from the FBI, and the Justice Department’s Community Relations Service met today with Trayvon Martin’s family to inform them personally of the findings of the investigation and the decision.

This outcome is clearly not what the Martin’s family and its supporters hoped for.

“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,” said Attorney General Eric Holder.  

“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.”

The federal investigation sought to determine whether the evidence of the events that led to Martin’s death were sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman’s actions violated the federal criminal civil rights statutes. The independent investigation into the facts surrounding the shooting, federal investigators determined that there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt a violation of these statutes. 

George Zimmernman will not be charged for the killing of Trayvon Martin, but he keeps running into police. He was arrested and charged early January on Lake Murray for aggravated assault with a weapon after reportedly throwing a bottle at his ex-girlfriend.

Read the full statment at the Justice Department site.