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The NAACP launched a petition immediately after the Zimmerman verdict was announced, requesting that the Justice Department pursue civil rights charges against Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Within hours, over a hundred thousand people had signed onto the petition. That number has now jumped to half a million and counting.

The Department of Justice announced that it will consider whether or not to file federal criminal charges, and has already had an open investigation into the case since last year when Martin was killed. Martin’s own family is reportedly considering a filing a criminal suit.

GUEST: Earl Ofari Hutchinson, author and political analyst, his new e-book is called “America on Trial: The Slaying of Trayvon Martin.” He is Associate Editor of New America Media and host of the Hutchinson report on KPFK.

Click here to read Hutchinson’s article about the Zimmerman case.