It’s not just local eyes that are looking. It’s the international eyes that are looking too. Sometimes you can fall weak and can’t stand upon your own feet to fight a battle, but people look at that battle and fight it for you. And that’s what happened in Sanford.Sanford, Fla. resident Shantree Hall • Discussing the international scrutiny her town has received in the year since 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was killed at the hands of George Zimmerman—a story which, in the past year, has become a key talking point for the issue of race in the United States. Martin died one year ago this week, with many of the circumstances around his death, including the Skittles he had just bought from a local convenience store and the hoodie he was wearing, becoming catalysts for public protests. In the year since the shooting, Sanford has slowly started to heal and recover from the months of public scrutiny that followed the case, but Zimmerman’s case is still pending in court with a trial date set for June.
The department will conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence and take appropriate action at the conclusion of the investigation. The department also is providing assistance to and cooperating with the state officials in their investigation into the incident.Justice Department spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa • In a statement on the Trayvon Martin case, promising that the DOJ would take a close look into the controversial shooting of a Florida teen. The department will also send its Community Relations Service to Sanford, Florida, in an attempt to defuse tensions in the city. The city has faced growing calls of frustration that it has mishandled the incident, in which the gunman, volunteer neighborhood watch employee George Zimmerman, has not been charged with a crime.
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