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Probe into killing of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin | Probe into killing of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin |
(40 minutes later) | |
The US Department of Justice has announced an investigation into the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Florida. | The US Department of Justice has announced an investigation into the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Florida. |
Trayvon Martin, 17, was shot dead by George Zimmerman, 28, while Martin was walking through a gated community in a suburb of Orlando last month. | Trayvon Martin, 17, was shot dead by George Zimmerman, 28, while Martin was walking through a gated community in a suburb of Orlando last month. |
Mr Zimmerman says he acted in self-defence. | Mr Zimmerman says he acted in self-defence. |
The case has caused controversy in the US. Earlier on Monday rallies were held to demand Mr Zimmerman's arrest. | |
Students protested in front of a court building in Sanford, the community where the shooting happened, and on the campus of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. | |
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton plans a rally on Thursday at a Sanford church. | |
More than 480,000 people have also signed a global online petition asking for Mr Zimmerman, a neighbourhood watch volunteer, to be prosecuted. | |
Emergency calls | |
The justice department said in a statement that it would "conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence" before taking "appropriate action". | The justice department said in a statement that it would "conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence" before taking "appropriate action". |
The FBI and the local federal prosecutor will also assist in the investigation. | |
Mr Zimmerman, acting as a neighbourhood watch volunteer, had called police several times in the months before the shooting to report incidents. | |
Mr Zimmerman called police on 26 February, reporting there had been break-ins in the community, and that there was "a real suspicious guy" who "looks like he's up to no good". | |
When he said he was following the person he had identified as suspicious, the dispatcher said: "We don't need you to do that." | |
The release of emergency calls recordings, including two from neighbours during which screams and shots can be heard, had fuelled demands for a federal investigation. | |
The case has focused attention on a 2005 state law which allows deadly force if a person believes their life is in danger. |