The US Justice Department and FBI are to investigate the shooting death of a black teenager in Florida by a Neighbourhood Watch volunteer who escaped arrest under a controversial self-defence law seen as a charter for vigilantes.
Trayvon Martin, 17, was walking through a gated community Orlando, when he was accosted by George Zimmerman, a 26-year-old Neighbourhood Watch “captain” on February 26.
The teenager, who was unarmed and had just been to a shop to buy sweets, died after being shot in the chest just yards from his father’s home.
Police refused to arrest Mr Zimmerman after he claimed that he acted in self-defence. They cited the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law enacted under Jeb Bush in 2005. The law - dubbed “Shoot First (ask questions later) by its critics - allows a potential crime victim “in fear of great bodily injury” to use deadly force in public places.
The case has an added racial element with the police describing Mr Zimmerman as white. His family says that he is Hispanic and insist that he is not racist.
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But Trayvon’s parents, who say the gunman would have been arrested if he were black, have mounted a protest, which has gained international attention and been backed by celebrities including the musician Wyclef Jean and Spike Lee, the film director.
Last night, three weeks after the killing and after 435,000 people signed an online petition calling for Mr Zimmerman’s arrest, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and FBI announced that they had opened an investigation.
“The Department will conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence and take appropriate action at the conclusion of the investigation,” it said.
The Justice Department said its investigation would examine the facts and circumstances of the shooting, and noted that with all federal civil rights crimes, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person acted intentionally.
“Negligence, recklessness, mistakes and accidents are not prosecutable under the federal criminal civil rights laws,” it added.
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The shooting happened at the Twin Lakes community in Sanford when Mr Zimmerman saw the teenager walking home from buying sweets and iced tea at a convenience store.
Mr Zimmerman, who was patrolling the predominantly white neighbourhood in his car, called the 911 emergency number and reported what he called “a real suspicious guy”.
“This guy looks like he’s up to no good, or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about,” he told dispatchers.“These assholes. They always get away.”
The dispatcher, hearing heavy breathing on the phone, asked Mr Zimmerman:“Are you following him?”
“Yeah,” he said.
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“Okay, we don’t need you to do that,” the dispatcher replied.
But several neighbours subsequently called 911 to report a scuffle between the two men. While some of the callers were still on the phone, cries for help followed by a gunshot can be heard in the background.
“I recognised that (voice) as my baby screaming for help before his life was taken,” Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, said.
The case has thrown a spotlight on the Stand Your Ground law, which expanded on the legislation, known as the Castle Doctrine, that allowed use of deadly force in defence of “hearth and home.”
Crucially, the law, which has been copied in 16 other states, overturned a doctrine that required the potential victim to retreat and avoid confrontation if possible.
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“No one could argue that Zimmerman could not have safely retreated and avoided this conflict, and I think that is the critical element here and why these laws are so dangerous,” said Ladd Everitt, spokesman for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, a Washington-based advocacy group. ““He (Zimmerman) does not have a duty to retreat in Florida.”
Ben Crump, the victim’s family lawyer, said that Mr Zimmerman should not be protected under the Stand Your Ground law.
“It’s illogical, you can claim self-defence after you chase and pursue somebody,” he said.“That’s a courtroom defence. That’s not something the police accept on the side of the street.”