Trayvon Martin: The teenager who was killed, walking back home

Source: BBC

Civil rights groups in the US have expressed dismay after neighbourhood watchman George Zimmerman was found not guilty of murdering black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida last year.

Rights leader Jesse Jackson said he was “stunned” and that the Department of Justice (DoJ) should intervene.

Meanwhile Mr Zimmerman’s family and lawyers have said they now fear he could face revenge attacks.

The case sparked a fierce debate in the US about racial profiling.

Prosecutors had argued that Mr Zimmerman opened fired on 26 February 2012 because he assumed that Trayvon Martin, who was African-American and was wearing a hooded sweatshirt as he walked in the rain, was up to no good.

But the defence said he shot Trayvon Martin in self defence after the teenager had punched their client, slammed his head into the pavement and reached for Mr Zimmerman’s gun.

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