A Florida man who was acquitted of murder in the racially charged shooting death of an unarmed black teenager will not face federal hate crime charges, US justice officials said on Tuesday.
US Attorney General Eric Holder said that while the killing of Trayvon Martin in February 2012 was a "devastating tragedy," there were insufficient grounds to charge gunman George Zimmerman with violating federal civil rights laws.
Holder said in a statement that "a comprehensive investigation found that the high standard for a federal hate crime prosecution cannot be met under the circumstances here."
Holder said Martin's "premature death necessitates that we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface."
"We, as a nation, must take concrete steps to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future," he said.
He insisted he had been following Martin on suspicion that the youth was involved in robbery, and that he shot him in an act of self-defense.
Exhaustive review
"After a thorough and independent investigation into the facts surrounding the shooting, federal investigators determined that there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt a violation of these statutes," it said.
"Our decision not to pursue federal charges does not condone the shooting that resulted in the death of Trayvon Martin and is based solely on the high legal standard applicable to these cases," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division.
He was arrested in January for aggravated assault before being told he would not face prosecution.
In September last year, Zimmerman was back in the headlines after a Florida man called emergency services alleging he had threatened to kill him in a road-rage altercation. The man declined to press charges over the incident.
In 2013, his then-wife Shellie Zimmerman called police, claiming her husband had threatened her and her father with a gun, but she also refrained from pressing charges.
Several months later, Zimmerman was arrested for domestic violence against a girlfriend who later changed her story and withdrew charges.
The Justice Department said it had also examined additional evidence gleaned from Zimmerman's subsequent encounters with Florida law enforcement before deciding to close the federal case against him.
US Military Declares End Of Troubled Gaza Aid Pier Mission US Woman Arrested For Sitting On 10-Year-Old Foster Son, Who Died 2 Days Later US Man Jumps In Ocean To Avoid Giving Girlfriend, Cops His Phone Password Travel Influencer Aanvi Kamdar Dies After Falling Off A Waterfall Near Mumbai Amid Huge Row, Karnataka Pauses Bill For Reservation In Private Sector Firms BJP Subtly Asking Ajit Pawar To Quit "Mahayuti": Sharad Pawar's NCP West Bengal Forms Seven-Member Panel To Review New Criminal Laws US Military Declares End Of Troubled Gaza Aid Pier Mission What Is PM SHRI? Which States Resisted Centres Showcase Schools Scheme Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.