A local police chief and a Florida state prosecutor overseeing the case of an unarmed black teenager shot dead by a neighborhood watch captain stepped down on Thursday following withering criticism and national outrage that police have declined to arrest the shooter.
Sanford police chief Bill Lee’s resignation — which he called “temporary” — failed to appease civil rights and community leaders who are calling for the arrest of watch captain George Zimmerman, 28, who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and claimed self-defense.
Lee was under mounting pressure for days and suffered a “no confidence” vote from the city commission on Wednesday.
The shakeup at the state level was more surprising as Florida Governor Rick Scott replaced Tallahassee’s lead investigator and formed a task force to review Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law.
Police have said this law, which allows people to use deadly force when they perceive danger in any public place, prevented them from arresting Zimmerman, a white Hispanic who has disappeared from public view.
Zimmerman’s father has said his son has been unfairly vilified.
He called him a friend of minorities whose true nature was being distorted by national calls for his arrest and allegations that he pursued Martin just because he was black.
Coupled with at least two prior cases that stoked black anger toward the police, the response to the Martin episode had grown so intense Lee said that he had no option but to step aside as “my involvement in the matter is overshadowing the process.”
Similarly, Florida State Attorney Norman Wolfinger said he was stepping down “with the intent of toning down the rhetoric.”
Criticism of the investigation came on top of a history of racial tension in Sanford, a town of about 50,000 just north of Orlando.
Last year, a previous Sanford police chief was forced out of the job after a white police officer’s son was captured on video sucker-punching a black homeless man outside a bar.
Sanford police did not immediately arrest the officer’s son, Justin Collison.
However, after video of the attack surfaced on local TV and the Internet and provoked an outcry from Sanford civil rights leaders, Collison was charged weeks later with aggravated battery and disorderly conduct. He eventually pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.
The incident came five years after two white private security guards with ties to the police department shot and killed a black teenager.
The guards — one the son of a Sanford police officer and the other a department volunteer — said they opened fire in self-defense, claiming the teenager attempted to run them over. Evidence showed the teenager died from a gunshot to the back. The case was eventually dismissed due to lack of evidence.
The Martin case generated mostly local interest in the days following the Feb. 26 shooting. However, the case has steadily drawn the national spotlight, which has only grown in recent days since the state of Florida and US Department of Justice announced their own investigations and the city commission voted three to two in favor of a “no confidence” motion against Lee on Wednesday night.
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