Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Justice Department Could Charge George Zimmerman With Hate Crime In Shooting Of Trayvon Martin
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 25, 2012
Modified Mar 25, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published Mar 25, 2012
Modified Mar 25, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Experts are still analyzing the 911 call made by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman on the night he fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin—but if the U.S. Justice Department decides there is significant evidence that the shooting was racially motivated, then they can prosecute Zimmerman despite the Sanford Police Department dropping the case. Particularly important is whether Zimmerman used the racial epithet "f*cking c**n" to describe Martin in his 911 call before the shooting: “It sounds pretty obvious to me,” Donald Tibbs, a Drexel University law professor who has closely studied race, civil rights and criminal procedure, told the Post. “If that was a racial epithet that preceded the attack on Trayvon Martin, we definitely have a hate crime.”
Zimmerman is under intense scrutiny from all sides: Chris Tutko, director of Neighborhood Watch for the National Sheriffs' Association, said Zimmerman broke some cardinal rules, including approaching a stranger he suspected of wrongdoing. "If you see something suspicious, you report it, you step aside and you let law enforcement do their job," Tutko told Orlando Sentinel. "This guy went way beyond the call of duty. At the least, he's overzealous." And though Zimmerman broke no laws by carrying a gun—because he has a concealed-weapons permit—police departments and sheriff's offices advise volunteers never to carry weapons: "There's no reason to carry a gun."
The Post describes him as a paranoid police wannabe who was a nuisance to 911 operators, and spent his time tracking down stray dogs and "suspicious" children. The new Black Panther Party has now offered a bounty of $10,000 for his “capture:” “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” leader Mikhail Muhammad said. “If the government won’t do the job, we’ll do it.”
Zimmerman has been in hiding since the incident—his attorney says he broke his nose during the confrontation with Martin, and friends are worried about his safety following numerous death threats. Friend Joe Oliver said Zimmerman "couldn't stop crying" for days after he shot Martin; Oliver added that Zimmerman probably said "goon" in the 911 call. "I don't know of anyone younger than 40 who uses 'coon' as a racial epithet anymore," Oliver said.
Oliver and legal advisor Craig Soner both claim it was Zimmerman who was screaming, not Martin, in the 911 calls. This account is in sharp contrast to witnesses who have criticized how Zimmerman acted the night of the shooting: Mary Cutcher told Dateline that she and her roommate ran out after hearing the shot. She said she saw Zimmerman with "his hands pressed on [Martin's] back," and claims he "never turned him over or tried to help him."
Zimmerman did leave a voicemail for friend and former neighborhood watch captain Frank Taaffe, one of the few people who has been publicly defending Zimmerman. "I know you don't have to, and I appreciate it, and you're truly setting an example for me for the future of doing the right thing even when it's tough, and I appreciate it," Zimmerman said.
Meanwhile, the White House and Newt Gingrich continued to exchange barbs over President Obama's comments on Martin. In his first comments on the incident, Obama said on Friday: "When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids. If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon." Gingrich responded by saying he was appalled by the president's statements: "It's not a question of who that young man looked like," Gingrich said. "Any young American of any ethnic background should be safe, period. We should all be horrified, no matter what the ethnic background...Trying to turn it into a racial issue is fundamentally wrong."
Some even went one further and called Obama the most racist president ever. And today, White House senior adviser David Plouffe responded: "Speaker Gingrich is clearly in the last throes of his political career," he said on ABC’s “This Week.” "You can make a decision whether to go out with some shred of dignity or say these irresponsible, reckless things, and he's clearly chosen the latter path, and that's unfortunate for the country."
Tagged
black panthers
death
george zimmerman
hate crime
murder
newt gingrich
president obama
trayvon martin
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Former NYPD detective in custody after George Washington Bridge shooting
Police say a Rockland County man was fatally shot during what appeared to be a road rage incident on Tuesday night.
By
Charles Lane
Published Oct 21, 2026 at 4:26 p.m. ET
NYPD officer faces disciplinary trial 10 years after killing Delrawn Small
Officer Wayne Isaacs will go on trial in January on a charge that he used improper force when he shot and killed Delrawn Small in East New York in July 2016.
By
Ben Feuerherd
News
NYPD officer faces disciplinary trial 10 years after killing Delrawn Small
Officer Wayne Isaacs will go on trial in January on a charge that he used improper force when he shot and killed Delrawn Small in East New York in July 2016.
By
Ben Feuerherd
NYC adult daycare operators charged with committing over $500K in Medicaid fraud
By
Caroline Lewis
Port Authority eyes $117M fix to Manhattan roadway where falling debris smashed cars
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Bronx couple starved their 3-year-old to death, indictment says
By
Catalina Gonella
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .