SANFORD, Fla. >> Neighborhood watch
volunteer George Zimmerman was cleared of all charges today in the
shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager whose killing
unleashed furious debate across the U.S. over racial profiling,
self-defense and equal justice.
Zimmerman, 29, blinked and barely
smiled when the verdict was announced. He could have been convicted of
second-degree murder or manslaughter. But the jury of six women, all but
one of them white, reached a verdict of not guilty.
Martin's
mother and father were not in the courtroom when the verdict was read;
supporters of his family who had gathered outside yelled "No! No!" upon
learning of the not-guilty verdict.
The teen's father, Tracy,
reacted on Twitter: "Even though I am broken hearted my faith is
unshattered I WILL ALWAYS LOVE MY BABY TRAY."
Trayvon Martin's
brother, Jahvaris Fulton, said simply: "Et tu America?" — a reference to
the Latin phrase "Et tu, Brute?" known as an expression of betrayal.
The
jurors considered nearly three weeks of often wildly conflicting
testimony over who was the aggressor on the rainy night the 17-year-old
was shot while walking through the gated townhouse community where he
was staying and where Zimmerman lived. None of the witnesses who were
called had a clear view of their encounter.
Defense attorneys said
the case was classic self-defense, claiming Martin knocked Zimmerman
down and was slamming the older man's head against the concrete sidewalk
when Zimmerman fired his gun.
Prosecutors
called Zimmerman a liar and portrayed him was a "wannabe cop" vigilante
who had grown frustrated by break-ins in his neighborhood committed
primarily by young black men. Zimmerman assumed Martin was up to no good
and took the law into his own hands, prosecutors said.
