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Obama seeks to inject calm into Martin case that inflamed passions, including his own
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- When President Barack Obama first addressed the death of Trayvon Martin last year, he did so passionately, declaring that if he had a son, he would look like the slain 17-year-old. His powerful and personal commentary marked a rare public reflection on race from the nation's first black president.
• But now, with the man who fatally shot Martin acquitted and the burden of any future charges squarely on his own administration, Obama is seeking to inject calm into a case that has inflamed passions, including his own. In a brief statement, the president called Martin's killing a "tragedy" but implored the public to respect a Florida jury's decision to clear George Zimmerman, the man charged in the teen's death.
• "I know this case has elicited strong passions. And in the wake of the verdict, I know those passions may be running even higher," Obama said Sunday. "But we are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken."
• The president's restrained response underscores the complicated calculus for the White House as it grapples with the fallout from the racially charged case. Obama faces inevitable questions about the verdict, given his previous statements on the matter and his own race. But as the head of a government considering levying federal charges against Zimmerman, he must also avoid the appearance of influencing an ongoing Justice Department investigation.
• "Barack Obama is a lawyer and I think his legal sense is that he should do nothing that would interrupt or disrupt any future matters involving George Zimmerman," said Charles Ogletree, a law professor at Harvard University and longtime friend of the president.
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California Zimmerman protesters block freeway, raid Wal-Mart; more than a dozen arrested in LA
• LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Protesters ran through Los Angeles streets Monday night, breaking windows, attacking people on sidewalks and at one point raiding a Wal-Mart store, while others blocked a major freeway in the San Francisco Bay Area in the third night of demonstrations in California over George Zimmerman's Florida acquittal in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
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