ladyatheist:

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the FBI will step in to investigate the killing of Miami Gardens teenager Trayvon Martin, the U.S. Department of Justice announced late Monday.

The announcement coincided with a statement from Florida Gov. Rick Scott asking the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to offer “appropriate resources” in the case.

The federal and state agencies are intervening in what attorneys call a botched investigation into the killing of the Michael Krop Senior High School student, who was killed Feb. 26 in Sanford, a town of 55,000 just north of Orlando. The teen, on suspension from school, was staying at his father’s girlfriend’s house when he stepped out to 7-Eleven to buy candy and iced tea.

A neighborhood watch volunteer with a long history of calling in everything from open garage doors to “suspicious characters” called police to say he spotted someone who looked drugged, was walking too slowly in the rain, and appeared to be looking at people’s houses. Zimmerman sounded alarmed, because the stranger had his hand in his waistband and had something in his other hand.

The unarmed teen carried Skittles and Arizona iced tea.

Volunteer George Zimmerman, 28, told police he had stepped out of his truck to check the name of the street he was on when Trayvon jumped him from behind and attacked him, police said. He said he feared for his life and fired a semiautomatic handgun he was licensed to carry, because he feared for his life.

“The department will conduct a thorough and independent review of all of the evidence and take appropriate action at the conclusion of the investigation,” the Department said in a statement. “The department also is providing assistance to and cooperating with the state officials in their investigation into the incident. With all federal civil rights crimes, the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a person acted intentionally and with the specific intent to do something which the law forbids – the highest level of intent in criminal law.

Maybe now we’ll see some real progress and (hopefully) some justice.