The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has called on the Obama administration to pursue civil rights charges against George Zimmerman.
“BREAKING: Zimmerman acquitted on all charges.We will update you as we work to pursue civil rights charges against Zimmerman through the DOJ,” the official Twitter account of the NAACP tweeted Saturday evening after Zimmerman was acquitted of the murder of Trayvon Martin.
The NAACP also tweeted out a petition urging the Justice Department to “open a civil rights case against George Zimmerman.”
“Attorney General Eric Holder,” the petition reads, “The Department of Justice has closely monitored the State of Florida’s prosecution of the case against George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin murder since it began. Today, with the acquittal of George Zimmerman, it is time for the Department of Justice to act.”
“The most fundamental of civil rights — the right to life — was violated the night George Zimmerman stalked and then took the life of Trayvon Martin,” the NAACP wrote. “We ask that the Department of Justice file civil rights charges against Mr. Zimmerman for this egregious violation.”
“Please address the travesties of the tragic death of Trayvon Martin by acting today,” the NAACP wrote.
The head of the NAACP and Attorney General Eric Holder have both expressed their admiration for one another.
NAACP president Benjamin Todd Jealous wrote an op-ed for The Hill June 17 entitled “Attack on Holder is attack on civil rights,” which praised Holder, the head of the Obama administration’s Justice Department.
“Holder is among the finest attorneys general to ever serve this nation. But over the past four-plus years, he has faced one baseless allegation after another. We cannot fully know what motivates his detractors, but many seem to be obsessed by a coarse desire to politically damage the pro-civil-rights priorities set by his Department of Justice and the Obama administration. Efforts to assassinate his character and drive him from office represent more than a cynical campaign against a dedicated public servant; they are also an indirect attack on the civil and human rights of all Americans,” Jealous wrote with regard to nameless attacks on Holder that he did not describe at any point in his editorial.
“Just this month, he delivered remarks at the Medgar Evers Memorial Commemoration at Arlington National Cemetery. The attorney general’s very presence was a reaffirmation of the legacy of the civil rights hero. Just as Evers’s actions laid the foundation for so much of the civil rights progress in our nation, Holder is carrying the mantle of civil rights protection forward. The NAACP is most proud to have his back,” Jealous wrote.
“And it’s a privilege to join so many good friends, distinguished guests, and indispensable civil rights leaders – including the NAACP’s President, Ben Jealous,” Holder said in his remarks at the June 5 ceremony, which was also attended by President Bill Clinton.
