Sharpton: We Must Lower Legal Threshold for Federal Hate Crime

Wednesday on the “Tom Joyner Morning Show,” in discussing this week’s Justice Department announcement that there is not sufficient evidence to charge George Zimmerman with intentionally violating the civil rights of Trayvon Martin during the 2012  confrontation that tragically resulted in the shooting death of Martin, Al Sharpton said he is now planning to work to “lower the threshold” that legally qualifies who is prosecuted for a federal hate crime.

Sharpton explained, “The intent to prove that Zimmerman did it because of his race, that is the legal threshold,” adding, ” Unless we change that legislation, we end up where we are in terms of the Trayvon Martin case. Clearly I’m disappointed. Clearly I’m sure the family is. But clearly the Justice Department can not go beyond the laws as is written. As we fight these fights and continue to fight from Staten Island to Ferguson, we must change the threshold that you qualify a civil rights case for, or we will keep having these moments of activism that end up with cases of being disappointing.”

“We got to change things, not just be disappointed.” he concluded.

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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