Attorney General Holder vows thorough review in Trayvon Martin case

Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention in Washington, Monday, April 2, 2012. / AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Updated 1:51 PM ET

(CBS/AP) WASHINGTON - Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that the Justice Department will take appropriate action in the killing of Trayvon Martin if it finds evidence that a federal criminal civil rights crime has been committed.

The attorney general made the comments in an appearance before a civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton.

Holder said the department will conduct a thorough and independent review of the evidence in the Martin matter. One of the department's top priorities, said Holder, is preventing and combating youth violence and victimization.

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Fla. teen Trayvon Martin killed by neighborhood watch volunteer

The Justice Department launched an investigation of the Martin killing three weeks ago.

"I know that many of you are greatly — and rightly — concerned about the recent shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a young man whose future has been lost to the ages," Holder told the 14th annual convention of the National Action Network.

"If we find evidence of a potential federal criminal civil rights crime, we will take appropriate action," said the attorney general. "I also can make you another promise: that at every level of today's Justice Department — preventing and combating youth violence and victimization is, and will continue to be, a top priority."

Holder was interrupted at least half a dozen times by the audience during his speech with affirmations of "that's right" and "there you go," including when he said his department was working with the Department of Education, state, local, and community leaders and stakeholders to get rid of the school-to-prison pipeline.

His comments followed word Tuesday in Florida by the special prosecutor in the case that she would soon make an announcement. She has not given any more details.

Martin's parents were to speak later at a news conference at the meeting. Also Wednesday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and leaders of African American organizations planned to announce in Washington a national campaign against "stand your ground" self-defense laws.

At an earlier news conference in New York, Bloomberg said state and local lawmakers who had previously supported laws similar to Florida's were having second thoughts.

"You just cannot have a civilized society where everybody can have a gun and make their own decisions as to whether someone is threatening or not," Bloomberg said. He said America, "where there are more guns than people," is the only democracy with such laws.

Where is George Zimmerman?
New info expected in Trayvon Martin case

The attorney general says that Justice Department officials including Tom Perez, the assistant attorney general for the civil rights division, and U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill from Florida have traveled to Sanford to meet with the Martin family, members of the community and local authorities.

He says representatives from the department's Community Relations Service are meeting with civil rights leaders, law enforcement officers and residents to address community tensions.

Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman says he shot Martin in self-defense after following the teenager in a Sanford, Fla. a gated community outside Orlando on Feb. 26. He said he was returning to his truck when Martin attacked him and that he shot the unarmed teen during the fight. He wasn't arrested partly because of Florida's "stand your ground" self-defense law.

The lack of an arrest has led to protests across the nation and spurred a debate about race and the laws of self-defense. Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is Hispanic. Martin was black.

The former lawyers for Zimmerman say he's losing weight, suffering from high levels of stress and unable even to perform the simple task of buying a soda because of the intense public scrutiny he's under.

Hal Uhrig and Craig Sooner announced Tuesday they were no longer representing George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer, because they haven't heard from him since Sunday.

Knowledge of Zimmerman's whereabouts may be instrumental in deciding what happens next in this case, according to CBS News senior correspondent John Miller.

"The lawyers told us yesterday, appropriately or otherwise, that they think he's out of state, which means Florida authorities can't pick him up," Miller said Wednesday on "CBS This Morning." "They have to get local authorities there and maybe go for extradition."

Martin's shooting served as a theme for the three-day gathering of National Action Network activists. Charles Ogletree, a Harvard law professor, said at a panel following Holder's speech that Trayvon Martin is "a symbol of what's wrong" with the criminal justice system.

"I want to see the first black man who uses the `stand your ground' defense and see if it works. Or the first white victim of the `stand your ground' by a black defendant and see if it works," Ogletree said.

Laura Murphy, director of the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union, said she lived in a development that transformed from mostly black to mostly white. She said she sent emails to her neighbors when her son was home from boarding school that pleaded, "Please, do not call the police, because if you see a young black man walking around the neighborhood with a hoodie, that's my son."

She urged the audience to pack a Senate subcommittee hearing next week on proposed legislation that would ban racial profiling in law enforcement, among other things.

[curious2knownow]

Why is there an assumption of guilt in this matter. Anyone consider maybe Martin did attack Zimmerman and it was self defense? Couldn't it happen? Unfortunately, when the President of the US and it Attorney General make the assumption of guilt, so many will likewise follow. Does anyone remember when our great President went to the side of the black professor after he was arrested by the white cop? Does anyone remember the black professor apologizing and accepting responsibility? But our President still takes the side of his race over the trust he should be putting into our justice system. He has damaged the office of the President then has he has done here. I am ashamed of him.

[Dcdennis1]

Holder and Obama should do nothing more than arrest the people that are fomenting the true racism here like Hashim Nzinga and the rest of rthe racist NBPP members, the offer of a $10,000 .00 bounty is a return to mob justice; that era is one I'd thought we'd as a nation left behind. I say this to the rest of the racist agitators like Al. Sharpton and Jessie Jackson and Louis Farrakan. I was willing to wait for ALL of the evidence In this like a normal rational person would but these morons that wish to incite a race war are using a tragedy that is a local issue and are in fact attempting to make it a national one, ok then if you Black Supremacists really and truly desire a race war I would remind you that the reason we haven't been invaded as a nation since the1800's is due to the fact that we have one of the largest standing armies in the world and most of them live outside the urban areas in the nation I refer to the nation's hunters and veterans. If you wish to pit gangbanger against people fighting for the homes and families well let the deaths and blood be on the hands of the very people that encourage the animals , namely the earlier mentioned four. I would also include Holder and Obama but well Holder doesn't know how to think on his own and Obama lives in a fantasyland.

[DenverBroncofan]

by reality_sanity April 11, 2012 2:31 PM EDT
Denver Bronco -- So given your last statement you DO NOT support the Rule of Law in this country. Why should anyone be required to respect any of your rights (even though we will because of the law); as you support denying the vast majority of this country the protections of the RULE OF LAW this country has been based in since it's founding.
================================================================

In this case there were no laws broken...this was nothing more than self defense which was then completely blown out of proprtion by the media.

[reality_sanity]

Upholding the rule of law DENVER means allowing a court of law to make that determination -- not an individual such as yourself. You are undermining the rule of law in this country by not allowing the legal system to determine guilt instead of you alone.

[TimeToEvolve]

Holder should investigate the corporate influence of the NRA. Also find out where the Shoot First legislation came from (ALEC) and who contributed to who and when. The AG should investigate Governor Bushoccio of Florida and expose the corporate takeover of the state governments.

The racist murderer Zimmerman is just a sick symptom of systematic corporate corruption.

[Ken Valley]

Another liberal racist is what I'm seeing you as! If you can pause for a moment and stop listening to the lynch mob, liberal media, maybe you'll learn something about critical thinking and the law! You're no different if you're labeling him a racist!

[DenverBroncofan]

Timetoevolve needs to focus on moving out of his parents basement. He is the true racist. As many wanted Zimmerman will be charged by the Special Prosecutor just announced on FOX. Good Luck finding him

[reality_sanity]

mrschweik & Jimbo_KK2

The Attorney General said the Justice Department will act in accordance with the law following an investigation. There is not a single item inappropriate in the Attorney General's comments assuming like most US Citizens you believe in the rule of law.

[reality_sanity]

The law does read that hate crimes that as the AG has already stated days ago have a higher threshold than state level offenses to even be considered for federal prosecution. It is also a mechanism to deal with historic issue of underserved members of communities that have been discriminated against with sloppy investigations or biased prosecutions.

[reality_sanity]

How many cases in this country has a non-white been released after committing a criminal act against a white person without a proper investigation? If it doesn't occur there is no need to provide protection for the same. Civil rights laws have been used to protect people based on national origin, gender, sexual orientation from discrimination under the laws of this country when they receive less than appropriate investigation and prosecution for crimes against them -- the protections are not only racial. They do tend to be oriented toward minorities capable of being intimidated by less that scrupulous people occupying positions of authority locally.

[reality_sanity]

mrschweik & Jimbo -- The Attorney General stated he would perform his job and only take actions appropriate under the law. I fail to see anything inappropriate in the Attorney General's comments.

[reality_sanity]

Jinbo, you stated earlier it was inappropriate for a person not charged with a crime to retain an attorney. You do not even know that persons under investigation with attorneys are not supposed to communicate with the prosecutor except though their attorneys. Now you claim to know the civil rights laws.

Jimbo as a legal scholar you have clearly failed. The civil rights laws establish protections for those who historically have been treated unfairly by the legal systems of various states. I have a feeling this case may NOT merit intervention by the federal government. However, the Federal Government is entitled to investigate any case it chooses to make that determination. Sanford has a history and a recent history of underserving (through documented sloppy police investigation) some members of it's own community in terms of legal protection after crimes have been committed.

[Ken Valley]

How can you say that you see nothing inappropriate? Eric Holder and the DOJ will investigate the incident for Trayvon, but failed to mention of any investigation on the New Black Panther party bounty on Zimmerman! Is that really Justice? All I'm seeing here are a biased and corrupted DOJ and the AG, whose main mission is to protect only black people--while ignoring Civil Liberty of people with lighter skin color! Eric Holder is no different than David Duke in the 1980s! He's a bigot and a racist!

[Bradleywilbanks32]

I think that what happen is a tragiv accident and both sides were a fault but there needs to be forgivness and praying for both people. I pray that someone told the young man about Jesus and I pray that the other would come to one if he doesn't know the Lord.

[jumkey]

Sure, let's ignore it because the victim is black.

If the situation (ie, race of the victim and perpetrator) were reversed the shooter would be in jail awaiting trial right now.

Jesus would want you to work to end racism, not make excuses for it.

[dkn1234]

What about investigating the actions of the black panthers?

[reality_sanity]

It's free speech (as reprehensible as free speech comes) until some one acts or credibly intends to act based on the threat. The same protections apply to the US Nazi's now "patrolling" in Sanford Florida (as well as the rest of us).

[reality_sanity]

The US Nazis have no more legal authority than anyone else and far less than the police. Your statement can be taken as a threat should any violence ensue from the vigilante rights you choose to illegally assign too an organization (ANY ORGANIZATION).