This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/world-us-canada-17441277
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Trayvon Martin: Probe into killing of Florida teenager | Trayvon Martin: Probe into killing of Florida teenager |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| The US Department of Justice has announced an investigation into the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Florida in February. | |
| Trayvon Martin, 17, was killed by neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, 28, while walking through a gated community in a suburb of Orlando. | |
| Mr Zimmerman says he was acting in self-defence. | |
| Rallies were held on Monday to demand his arrest, and an online petition has more than 500,000 signatories. | |
| 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. | 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 Tuesday at a Sanford church. | |
| More than 500,000 people have signed a global online petition asking for Mr Zimmerman, a neighbourhood watch volunteer, to be prosecuted. | |
| Emergency calls | 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 a federal prosecutor in Florida will also assist in the investigation. | The FBI and a federal prosecutor in Florida will also assist in the investigation. |
| It has emerged that Mr Zimmerman, acting as a neighbourhood watch volunteer, had called police several times in the months before the shooting to report incidents. | |
| The incident sheds light on Florida's seven-year-old self-defence law, which critics say is too lenient. | |
| The law, nicknamed a "stand your ground" or "shoot first" statute, gives protection from criminal prosecution or civil liability to people who claim self-defence after a shooting or violent incident. | |
| One of the most expansive of such laws in the US, it states that people have no duty to retreat from a place they are legally allowed to be, and have the right to use deadly force if they believe they are threatened with death or serious harm. | |
| Call logs and recordings show that Mr Zimmerman called police on 26 February, reporting there had been break-ins in the community. | |
| He told police 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." | When he said he was following the person he had identified as suspicious, the dispatcher said: "We don't need you to do that." |
| Using a expletive, Mr Zimmerman expressed his frustration, saying "these assholes always get away". | |
| 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 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. | The case has focused attention on a 2005 state law which allows deadly force if a person believes their life is in danger. |