Jesse Jackson
said Florida should be treated as an “apartheid state” if the Department of
Justice does not file charges against the acquitted George Zimmerman, with the
civil rights leader calling for a boycott of the state.
“No
doubt, the inclination is to boycott Florida, stop conventions, to isolate
Florida as a kind of apartheid state” if the Justice Department fails to lodge
charges, Jackson said.
Jackson
joins an increasing number of leaders calling on the Department Of
Justice to take action against Zimmerman, who was acquitted in
the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The department has said it is looking
into the case, but gave no indication if charges could be filed.
The
department noted:
“Experienced
federal prosecutors will determine whether the evidence reveals a prosecutable
violation of any of the limited federal criminal civil rights statutes within
our jurisdiction, and whether federal prosecution is appropriate in accordance
with the Department’s policy governing successive federal prosecution following
a state trial.”
Jesse
Jackson has been vocal about the Trayvon Martin trial, saying before the NAACP
national convention on Wednesday that the state’s Stand Your Ground law was
“making life dangerous for all of us.” In an interview with CNN, Jackson said
homicides against blacks have tripled since Florid instituted what is known as
the Stand Your Ground law.
Jackson
also criticized the jury that acquitted Zimmerman of killing Trayvon.
“The
jury was not representative,” Jackson said of the six women, five of whom were
white. “Now they are showing their own cultural biases.”
Jackson
predicted that Trayvon Martin would be remembered as a martyr for civil rights,
much like Emmett Till and Medgar Evers before him.
“Often
the blood of martyrs forces change in America,” Jackson said, telling the NAACP
convention, “The crucifixion of Medgar Evers drove the spirit of the 1963 civil
rights movement. Today that figure is Trayvon Martin.”
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