[00:00.400]From VOA Learning English,
[00:06.620]this is "In The News."
[00:08.860]Americans continue to react to the decision
[00:12.640]in the murder trial of George Zimmerman.
[00:16.230]Last week, a jury in the southern state of Florida
[00:20.910]found that he was not guilty
[00:23.650]in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
[00:28.470]The unarmed teenager was killed last year
[00:32.750]in a struggle with the defendant.
[00:35.500]At the time, George Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch volunteer
[00:40.830]in his community in Florida.
[00:43.710]Trayvon Martin, an African American,
[00:46.700]was walking to the home of his father's girlfriend
[00:50.540]at the time of the killing.
[00:52.680]George Zimmerman is a white Hispanic man.
[00:56.760]He called police to report Trayvon Martin
[01:00.540]as a suspicious person in the neighborhood.
[01:03.780]He followed the teenager, although police told him not to.
[01:08.700]The two fought.
[01:10.300]Mr. Zimmerman says he acted in self-defense
[01:14.290]after he was attacked by the young man.
[01:17.470]Under Florida law, people can use deadly force to fight back
[01:23.200]if they feel their lives are in danger.
[01:26.930]Soon after the six woman jury reached its decision on Saturday,
[01:32.300]people used social media and public protests
[01:36.630]to express their opinion about the verdict.
[01:40.280]"No justice. No peace. Trayvon! Justice for Trayvon!"
[01:43.950]Many protests have been held across the United States since the trial.
[01:49.870]Hundreds of people demonstrated in Chicago, Illinois.
[01:54.250]They expressed opposition to what activist Dickey Gaines says
[01:59.380]was a predetermined verdict -- one reached before the trial.
[02:05.000]"Because there was a lot of people across this country
[02:08.690]that was in favor of George Zimmerman being acquitted
[02:14.220]by virtue of them donating money to his defense,
[02:17.350]so that was a clear indication early on people
[02:21.490]was in support of him being acquitted in this case."
[02:25.590]Casey David Cole Senior was one such supporter.
[02:30.170]He spoke to reporters near the Sanford, Florida courthouse,
[02:34.050]where the trial took place.
[02:36.240]"I'm here to express my opinion.
[02:38.430]I believe that George Zimmerman is an innocent man."
[02:41.880]For Chicago protester Bryan Burroughs,
[02:44.880]the case is clear in his mind.
[02:47.570]"Trayvon Martin was guilty of nothing
[02:49.010]but being black in a mostly white neighborhood."
[02:51.550]Activist Dickey Gaines says the ruling has not changed his belief
[02:57.020]that George Zimmerman targeted the teenager because he was black.
[03:02.400]"He focused on Trayvon because of Trayvon's skin color."
[03:06.080]Hans von Spakovsky works for the Heritage Foundation
[03:09.870]research group here in Washington.
[03:12.110]He says the legal action against Mr. Zimmerman should end now.
[03:18.380]"If the Justice Department continues to pursue this case when,
[03:22.160]one, he's been found innocent and,
[03:23.810]two, we know there's no racial animus
[03:27.040]which is necessary for a civil rights violation,
[03:30.330]that once again makes it look like politics
[03:33.310]is driving the prosecution, not justice."
[03:35.600]Racial inequality in the United States goes back centuries.
[03:41.090]The issue of slavery was a major reason
[03:44.980]for the nation's civil war in the 1860s.
[03:49.010]But discrimination continued after black slaves were freed.
[03:54.730]And racial tensions still exist.
[03:58.560]Greg Carr is chairman of Afro-American Studies at Howard University,
[04:05.440]a historically black college here in Washington.
[04:09.020]"One thing that's tangible that can come out of this verdict
[04:12.560]is a renewed commitment to addressing people,
[04:16.340]and not looking to the courts -- not looking to the law
[04:19.670]to somehow regulate or change people's hearts and minds."
[04:23.860]Mr. Carr warns that if a civil rights case
[04:27.400]were brought against George Zimmerman and lost,
[04:30.780]it would increase the distrust of many people.
[04:34.710]But if such a case were won, he says,
[04:38.410]Americans would look to the courts,
[04:41.240]not within themselves, for racial healing.
[04:45.270]And that's "In The News" from VOA Learning English.
[04:50.350]I'm Steve Ember.