April 11, 2012
As controversy continues swirling around the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the family of George Zimmerman, the man who shot Martin, has demanded that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder explain why he has not pursued charges against the New Black Panther Party, which put a bounty on Zimmerman’s head and is now threatening to start a “race war.”
According to the Daily Caller, a letter from a family member asks Holder, who is black, whether he is racially biased, implying that that is why he has refused to seek charges against the racist group.
In another development, Zimmerman’s attorneys have dropped him as a client, at least for the time being while he is in hiding.
Zimmerman, who shot Martin on February 26, says the 6-foot-3-inch football player jumped him and tried to kill him.
The Letter
The Daily Caller reported on Tuesday that a member of Zimmerman’s family, whom the website did not identify, has flung down the gauntlet at Holder’s feet. The family member asked Holder in the letter, “I am writing you to ask you why, when the law of the land is crystal clear, is your office not arresting the New Black Panthers for hate crimes?”
The New Black Panther Party (NBPP) put a $10,000 bounty out for Zimmerman’s “capture” and has published posters saying that Zimmerman is wanted "dead or alive.” They hope they can raise the price for Zimmerman’s head to $1 million. The Zimmerman family member's letter continued,
The Zimmerman family is in hiding because of the threats that have been made against us, yet the DOJ has maintained an eerie silence on this matter. These threats are very public. If you haven’t been paying attention just do a Google search and you will find plenty. Since when can a group of people in the United States put a bounty on someone’s head, circulate Wanted posters publicly, and still be walking the streets?
The letter reiterates the government’s official definition of a hate crime, then says, “There is ‘no other explanation’ for Holder’s failure to authorize arrests of New Black Panther Party members,” the Daily Caller reported, “other than the fact that Holder himself is black." "I would surmise that, based on your own definition of a hate crime, you have chosen not to arrest these individuals based solely on your race,” the family member wrote to Holder, insisting too that there was “NO racial component” to the “tragedy” that occurred on the late February night when Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin. (Emphasis in original.)
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