GOP lawmaker says Obama politicized Trayvon Martin case

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) on Sunday blamed President Obama and Democrats for politicizing the Trayvon Martin case.

King, speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” said that George Zimmerman, who a jury said shot and killed Martin in self-defense, should never have been prosecuted.

{mosads}“The evidence didn’t support prosecution, and the Justice Department engaged in this, the president engaged in this and turned it into a political issue that should have been handled exclusively with law-and-order,” King said.

The Justice Department is currently under pressure from some civil rights groups to bring federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman. After Martin was killed last year, Obama said that his son, if he had one, would look like Martin.

Appearing with King, Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) called the case an “American tragedy,” but didn’t say whether he believed the Justice Department should act.

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“No matter where you stand, this was a tragedy,” said Israel, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “What we need to do is come together as a nation of laws, of courts and of civil rights.”