George Zimmerman will get back his gun after acquittal
George Zimmerman
George Zimmerman, whose acquittal following the killing of black teenager Trayvon Martin sparked protests across the United States, will get back his gun, his attorney said.
“Yes. [There's] even more reason now, isn't there? There are a lot of people out there who actually hate him, though they shouldn't," Mark O'Mara told ABC News.
The neighborhood watch volunteer, Zimmerman, was acquitted on Saturday in the killing of the unarmed 17-year-old last year.
O'Mara also said that his client plans to continue carrying the weapon and now wears a protective vest when he appears in public.
"I think that he feels truly in his heart that if he did not have that weapon that night he might not be here," he said. "[He] would have continued to get beat even though he was screaming for help."
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets across the country after Zimmerman was cleared of manslaughter and murder charges in the 2012 shooting death.
Police have so far arrested a dozen of protesters for blocking traffic in New York City.
"Trayvon Martin is just the tip of the iceberg. If you're going to solve this issue, you have to understand that people of color are killed on a regular basis," Rukia Lumumba, who works in juvenile justice, said.
"This is extremely hard to handle, and I fear for my son's life," she said
The Department of Justice says it is considering whether federal prosecutors should file criminal civil rights charges now that Zimmerman has been acquitted in the state case.
Meanwhile, White House spokesman Jay Carney says President Barack Obama won't involve himself in decisions by the Justice Department over the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
American political analyst Stephen Lendman told Press TV that Zimmerman is “free to kill again.”
“If you’re black, you’re wrong and if you’re white, you literally can get away with murder and that’s what George Zimmerman did,” Lendman, who also hosts the Progressive Radio News Hour, said on Sunday.
“He is free to kill again. Don’t bet he won’t end up doing it and if he does again, be acquitted by a jury representing him, not the rights of the victim,” he added.