Justice Department declines to pursue charges against George Zimmerman

The Department of Justice just announced that they will not pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin.

Attorney General Eric Holder said they didn't find the “high standard for a federal hate crime prosecution.”

Here's more from HuffPo:

“The death of Trayvon Martin was a devastating tragedy. It shook an entire community, drew the attention of millions across the nation, and sparked a painful but necessary dialogue throughout the country,” Holder said. “Though a comprehensive investigation found that the high standard for a federal hate crime prosecution cannot be met under the circumstances here, this young man’s premature death necessitates that we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface. We, as a nation, must take concrete steps to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future."

The family of Trayvon Martin released this statement via USA TODAY:

"We remain poised to do everything in our power to help eradicate senseless violence in our communities, because we don't want any other parent to experience the un-explainable loss we have endured,'' the family said, referring to their continuing work with a foundation named for their son.

"We will never, ever forget what happened to our son, Trayvon, and will honor his memory by working tirelessly to make the world a better place."

Daryl Parks, an attorney for the Martin family, told USA TODAY the decision represented an "injustice.''

"Neither one of our systems was able to hold him (Zimmerman) accountable criminally for what he did."

The family can still sue Zimmerman if they want to, I guess we will see.