Americans divided over Zimmerman verdict

A new poll shows that African Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of the non-guilty verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman, a white Hispanic who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager in February last year.

According to the Washington Post-ABC News poll, only a bare majority of whites say they approve of Zimmerman’s acquittal.

Since the jury’s decision was announced, hundreds of protests and demonstrations have been held across the United States calling for justice for slain Trayvon Martin.

Protesters say race played a key role in the shooting and in the trial of the killer who claimed at the court that he shot the 17-year-old in self-defense.

According to the survey, 86 percent of African Americans say they disapprove of the verdict – with almost all of them saying they strongly disapprove – and 87 percent saying the shooting was unjustified. However, only 51 percent of whites say they approve of the verdict.

Among all whites, one-third say the shooting was unjustified, one-third say it was justified and the rest say they didn’t know enough to have an opinion, the poll showed.

The fatal shooting occurred in a gated community in Sanford, Florida where Zimmerman, 29, was a self-appointed neighborhood watch. On July 13, the jury of six women found Zimmerman not guilty of both second-degree murder and manslaughter.

The new poll showed that 86 percent of African Americans believe blacks and other minorities do not get equal treatment under the law while the number of whites saying so is less than half as large, at 41 percent.

Civil rights leaders and protesters have called on Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to file federal charges against Zimmerman.