• By
  • Jared A. Favole
Associated Press
In the Rose Garden on Friday, President Obama said the country needs to do soul searching on the death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, saying: “You know if I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

President Barack Obama on Friday called for a full investigation into the shooting of an unarmed African-American teenager in Florida, saying the U.S. needs to do some “soul searching” to determine what led to his death and wading into an issue that has prompted sharp backlash throughout the nation.

The president, speaking in the White House Rose Garden, said what happened to Trayvon Martin is a “tragedy” and “I can only imagine what these parents are going through.”




Mr. Martin was shot to death last month by a neighborhood-watch captain in Florida. His death has raised widespread questions about Florida’s laws and raised concerns that his shooting was possibly racially motivated.

Mr. Obama, who was in the Rose Garden to announce his nominee to head the World Bank, said he had to be careful with his remarks so as not to impair the investigations. He said he wants a thorough investigation into the incident, including an examination of a controversial law in Florida that gives people protection when they feel threatened.

The shooting has caused widespread backlash against a 2005 Florida law, including marches and protests in cities around Florida and in New York. The shooting has also led to calls for the arrest of the George Zimmerman, the neighborhood-watch captain in Sanford, Fla., who shot Mr. Martin.

Mr. Zimmerman hasn’t been arrested, and analysts say it’s because of a 2005 Florida law called “Stand Your Ground” by supporters and “Shoot First” by critics. The law eliminates the need for people to retreat in the face of an attack and allows them to respond with deadly force if they believe they are in danger.

The president rarely comments on racially divisive issues. In 2009, the president caught a lot of criticism for saying police “acted stupidly” in arresting Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. in Cambridge, Mass. A neighbor told police she thought someone was breaking into the professor’s home. Mr. Gates told the arresting officer, a white man named Sgt. James Crowley, that it was his home.

Mr. Gates berated the officer and was arrested for disorderly conduct. Mr. Gates later accused the police of racism.

The president later said he regretted his remarks, and drank beer with Mr. Gates and Mr. Crowley at the White House to calm tensions.

Update: GOP presidential Mitt Romney also weighed in with a statement: “What happened to Trayvon Martin is a tragedy. There needs to be a thorough investigation that reassures the public that justice is carried out with impartiality and integrity.”



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