Twenty-two days after 17-year-old Miami Gardens teen Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in Sanford, the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice announced late Monday night that they will be investigating his death at the hands of 28-year-old neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, according to the Miami Herald. The announcement was not on the Department of Justice website at the time of this posting.
Concurrently with the release, Gov. Rick Scott released a letter to Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey telling him to "please ensure that FDLE offers and provides the appropriate resources to the State Attorney's Office as they continue their investigation," according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Authorities thus far have refused to charge Zimmerman with any crime; he has said he was acting in self-defense, and the 911 tapes from the incident released late last week show Zimmerman telling dispatchers that there was "a real suspicious guy... It's raining, and he's just walking around looking about" in the neighborhood and that "these assholes, they always get away." (For the full tapes, check out this New York Times article.)
Despite being told to wait somewhere to meet with police and not to follow Martin, it appears Zimmerman did -- all we know for sure is that after someone yelled for help, Zimmerman shot Martin in the chest.
A Miami Herald story based on interviews with neighbors paints Zimmerman as "a mild-mannered neighbor who fixated on crime and focused on young, black males."
Zimmerman went door-to-door asking residents to be on the lookout, specifically referring to young black men who appeared to be outsiders, and warned that some were caught lurking, neighbors said...
Zimmerman called police 46 times since Jan. 1, 2011 to report disturbances, break-ins, windows left open and other incidents. Nine of those times, he saw someone or something suspicious.
