This evening, a six-person Florida jury found George Zimmerman not guilty.
Zimmerman, 29, said he was acting in self-defense when he shot the unarmed Trayvon Martin, 17, in the chest during an altercation in a gated community of Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26. 2012.
He was not charged for 44 tumultuous days in which the case generated large protests in several cities…. When the trial unfolded a year later, prosecutors argued the volunteer neighborhood watchman was a wannabe cop who “profiled” Martin as the teen walked back from buying Skittles at a 7-Eleven, and then followed him against the advice of the police dispatcher he called to report a suspicious person. […]
The defense told jurors that Zimmerman was just doing his civic duty when he was ambushed by Martin, punched in the face and slammed repeatedly into concrete before he fired a single shot that pierced the teen’s heart.
