Oscar Grant Film 'Highlights Racial Tensions'

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

The mother of a young black man, whose high-profile death sparked protests similar to those over the killing of Trayvon Martin, has told Sky News that America is failing to tackle the problem of racial profiling.

Oscar Grant was shot and killed by a transport police officer in Oakland, California, on New Year's Eve in 2008 as he lay restrained on the ground.

His killing was filmed by passengers on a waiting metro train and it led to days of riots in the city east of San Francisco.

The officer, who claimed he was reaching for his Taser and grabbed his gun by mistake, was later cleared of murder, prompting more protests.

Now, with America again debating the role of race in the justice system, a movie about Oscar Grant's killing is about to be released nationwide.

Fruitvale Station, named after the metro stop where he died, stars Michael B Jordan and Octavia Spencer, and was lauded at the Sundance Film Festival.

Octavia Spencer (L) and Michael B Jordan (second L) star in the film

Oscar's mother Wanda Johnson says the film was painful to watch but contains an important message.

She told Sky News: "An African-American or a brown life doesn't matter to the judicial system so we want people to know that their lives, our lives, matter and that they are loved."

She said Oscar's family wanted the movie to be made, adding: "They say time heals wounds but it was still very fresh. I almost cried through the whole movie."

The officer who killed Oscar was released after serving 10 months in a county jail for involuntary manslaughter.

Oscar's family was represented by celebrated civil rights lawyer John Burris, who also appeared for police beating victim Rodney King and rapper Tupac.

He said: "Trayvon Martin's case has created this real fear among vast majority of the African-American community, particularly mothers, that their son could be accosted by some gun-toting vigilante and shot and killed and there'd be no justification and no vindication for it.

Trayvon Martin's death sparked protests across the US

"I'd like to think that's not true. I don't want that to be true but when you have evidence time and time again, you know it can be true."

Oakland is a city with a history of tension between the black community and police and it was the place that gave birth to the Black Panther movement.

A church stands where the Panthers first met and Reverend Daniel Buford, a friend of the Grant family, says little is changing in America.

He said: "Consistent with the framers' intent of the US Constitution, black people, at the time they wrote that document, were only considered to be three-fifths of a human being.

"I don't see where that has changed at all in the way the institutions deal with us, particularly regarding justice.

"White people have five-fifths of justice, we have three-fifths of it and that is what you get in the Trayvon Martin case and the Oscar Grant case."

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Obama: Trayvon 'Could Have Been Me' Years Ago

Barack Obama has said Trayvon Martin "could have been me 35 years ago" and urged Americans to do some "soul-searching" about the country's racial history.

The president took the rare step of speaking about his own personal experiences of racism, as he talked openly for the first time since a man was cleared of killing a black teenager in Florida last week.

In the aftermath of the acquittal of George Zimmerman, a neighbourhood watch volunteer, Mr Obama had issued only a statement urging calm.

But on live TV, he said: "When Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago."

The case, rife with racial overtones, have prompted protests across the US

The president said black Americans feel pain after the verdict because they view the case through "a set of experiences and a history that doesn't go away".

Mr Obama, the country's first African-American president, spoke emotionally about the kind of subconscious racial profiling that blacks, especially young black men, continue to suffer in the country.

"There are very few African-American men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed when they are shopping at a department store - and that includes me.

"There are very few African-American men who haven't had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars - that happened to me, at least before I was a senator."

George Zimmerman was acquitted by a Florida jury

Mr Obama said that violence would "dishonour" Trayvon's death.

Trayvon, 17, was shot to death by Mr Zimmerman, who describes himself as Hispanic, during a confrontation in a gated community in Florida in 2012.

Trayvon, who was unarmed and had been visiting his father, was followed by Mr Zimmerman. 

Mr Zimmerman said Trayvon assaulted him and he fired his gun in self-defence.

A jury last week agreed with his version of events and cleared him of second-degree murder charges.

The president declined to wade into the detail of legal questions about the case, saying: "Once the jury's spoken, that's how our system works."

But he said state and local laws, such as Florida's "stand your ground" statute, need a close look.

Mr Obama said it would be useful "to examine some state and local laws to see if they are designed in such a way that they may encourage the kinds of confrontation" that led to Trayvon's death.

He questioned whether a law that sends the message that someone who is armed "has the right to use those firearms even if there is a way for them to exit from a situation" really promotes the peace and security that people want.

Trayvon's parents have said they were shocked at the verdict

Trayvon's parents said in a statement they were honoured by Mr Obama's "beautiful tribute" to their son.

"What touches people is that our son, Trayvon Benjamin Martin, could have been their son," they said. "President Obama sees himself in Trayvon and identifies with him. This is a beautiful tribute to our boy."

Meanwhile, Mr Zimmerman's brother, Robert, said he was "glad" Mr Obama had spoken out.

"No matter what you think of the verdict, there have to be things that bring us together," he told Fox News.

Sky News US Correspondent Amanda Walker said some Americans will feel Mr Obama has "gone too far" but added: "For many African-Americans there will be a sense of relief - relief that could calm the mood of a series of protests planned for the weekend."

Trayvon's parents have spoken of their shock at the verdict, and several protests have been staged across the US.

The Justice Department has said it plans to review the case to determine whether federal prosecutors should file criminal civil rights charges now that Mr Zimmerman has been acquitted.

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India: 25 Children Die After Eating School Meal

Some 25 children, aged between four and 12, have died after eating free meals at a primary school in eastern India.

Dozens more needed hospital treatment in Patna, the Bihar state capital, after they fell ill following a lunch of rice, lentils, soybeans and potatoes on Tuesday. 

Medical teams treating the children say they suspect the food had been contaminated with insecticide at the school in Masrakh village in the Saran district.

Poonam Kumari, local government administrator at the village, said: "It appears to be a case of poisoning but we will have to wait for forensic reports ... Had it been a case of (natural) food poisoning, so many children would not have died."

A family with their son who fell ill after consuming a free school meal

Bihar's education minister PK Shahi said a preliminary investigation suggested the food contained traces of phosphate used as an insecticide to preserve rice and wheat crops.

It was not immediately clear how chemicals apparently ended up in the food but one official said the food may not have been properly washed before it was cooked.

Local villagers said the problem appeared to be with a side dish of soybeans and potatoes, not grain. Children who had not eaten that dish were fine, although they had eaten the rice and lentils, several villagers said.

Sky producer Neville Lazarus, in New Delhi, said: "Masrakh is in one of the poorest of the poor states in the country and in a remote place, so there weren't proper medical facilities."

A woman cries after hearing that her grandson was one of the victims

The meal was cooked in the school kitchen, and police have seized all the ingredients used. The cook, who also fell ill after eating the food, was taken to hospital.

R K Singh, medical superintendent at the children's hospital in Patna, said: "We feel that some kind of insecticide was either accidentally or intentionally mixed in the food, but that will be clear through investigations.

"We prepared antidotes and treated the children for organic phosphorous poisoning."

Authorities have suspended a food inspector and registered a case of criminal negligence against the head teacher, who has fled.

Free lunches are used as a way of increasing school attendance

Mr Shahi said: "In spite of the cook's complaint (over the smell of cooking oil used for the food), the headmistress insisted on its use and the cook made the food. The children had also complained about the food to the cook."

The cook, Manju Devi, told Reuters: "I thought that this is locally-made oil as often there is an accumulation of residual waste at the bottom ... generally we get just about enough oil to prepare one meal, as there is no space for storage."

The father of an ill child, Raja Yadav, told reporters that his son was vomiting after returning from school.

"As soon as my boy returned from school, we rushed to the hospital with him. His condition was not good," he said.

Bihar state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has also ordered an inquiry, announced that families of the dead children will be offered financial compensation of 200,000 rupees (£2,200).

Angry parents take to the streets in protest at the tragedy

Twenty-one of the children who died have been cremated while a further four are due to be cremated as angry residents armed with poles and sticks took to the streets in the city of Chapra to protest against the state government over the children's deaths.

"Hundreds of angry people staged a protest in Saran since late Tuesday night, demanding stern action against government officials responsible for this shocking incident," district government official S K Mall said.

Lazarus described the situation as "tense", with locals saying there was a delay in getting medical help to the children, contributing to the high death toll.

Free meals are offered to impoverished students in state-run schools as part of government welfare measures in many of India's 29 states

The lunches are hugely popular with poor families and educators see the meals as a way of increasing school attendance and stemming malnourishment.

But children often suffer from food poisoning due to poor hygiene in school kitchens and the sometimes poor quality food.

More than 130 students were taken to hospital in the western city of Pune last year after eating lunch at school, the Times of India reported.

A probe revealed that the food served to them was contaminated with E. coli bacteria, strains of which can cause food poisoning.

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Greece Passes Job Cuts As Thousands Protest

Greece's parliament has narrowly approved a new batch of austerity measures that will see thousands of public-sector job cuts.

The country has been kept out of bankruptcy since it started receiving rescue loans in 2010 from the International Monetary Fund and other euro nations.

However austerity measures demanded in return have caused a dramatic increase in poverty and unemployment.

The new legislation will put 12,500 public-sector staff, mostly teachers and municipal workers, in a program that subjects them to involuntary transfers and possible dismissals.

It will also pave the way for 15,000 layoffs by the end of next year.

City halls across the country have been closed this week, with uncollected rubbish piling up on the streets, and unions held a general strike on Tuesday against the proposed cuts.

Thousands of protesters chanted slogans before the vote

"I fully understand the hardship the Greek people are going through during the great crisis," Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said during the debate.

"But I am fully convinced that the path we have chosen is correct."

Some 3,000 people protested outside Parliament in central Athens ahead of the vote, chanting anti-austerity slogans in a third straight day of protests.

The crucial vote came hours before a visit to Athens by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, planned amid security measures that Greece's left-wing main opposition party denounced as "fascist and undemocratic".

The measures include a ban of all demonstrations in the city centre, including the area outside Parliament that has been the focus of past violent protests.

It was the first major test for conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras since a left-wing party abandoned his coalition government last month.

The government claims it has already made progress in stabilising the shattered economy.

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Panama: Cuba 'Owns' North Korean Ship Arms

Cuba has claimed it owns the arms found on board a North Korean ship that Panama has impounded.

Panama has called for UN investigators to inspect the shipment of missile parts found on the Chong Chon Gang as it tried to enter the Panama Canal last week.

The contraband munitions were hidden under thousands of bags labelled "Cuban Raw Sugar", Panama said.

Cuba claimed ownership in a statement on state television, saying the missile system parts were to be repaired and returned - without mentioning where they were being sent.

The weapons were hiding under thousands of bags labelled Cuban Raw Sugar

Cuba said the shipment contained "obsolete" weaponry "manufactured in the mid-20th century", including anti-aircraft missile arrays, nine disassembled missiles, two Mig-21 Bis and 15 engines.

"The agreements Cuba has signed in these areas are based on our need to maintain our defensive capacity to protect national sovereignty," the statement said.

"Cuba reiterates its firm and unwavering commitment with peace, disarmament, including nuclear disarmament, and respect for international law."

Portraits of Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung on board the Chong Chon Gang

Cuba is the only one-party Communist regime in the Americas, and a rare ally of similarly isolated Pyongyang.

North Korea's army chief of staff General Kyok Sik Kim visited Cuba last month and said the two countries were "in the same trench".

The shipment could constitute a violation of strict UN arms sanctions imposed on North Korea over its nuclear programme and further sour relations between the US and Cuba.

Panama's Security Minister Jose Raul Mulino said authorities believe the ship was returning from Havana on its way to North Korea.

He said the affair was now a matter for UN investigators.

President Martinelli inspecting the ship

"The Security Council will have to send experts," he said.

The US said it strongly supports Panama's actions over Chong Chon Gang.

"We stand ready to cooperate with Panama should they request our assistance," US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said.

Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli tweeted a photo of the weaponry with the message: "The world needs to sit up and take note: you cannot go around shipping undeclared weapons of war through the Panama Canal."

The IHS global information company identified the equipment as an RSN-75 'Fan Song' fire control radar, also known as the SNR-75 'Fan Song', for the SA-2 group of surface-to-air (SAM) missiles.

Panamanian authorities boarded the ship suspecting it was carrying drugs

The North Korean captain attempted to kill himself and violence broke out among the 35-strong crew as the ship was raided, according to Mr Martinelli.

It had been stopped because it was suspected of transporting drugs.

A Panama government spokesman said an examination of the ship by weapons specialists may take as long as a week.

Pyongyang has yet to comment on the case.

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India: 19 Children Die After Eating School Meal

Nineteen children have died and more are sick after eating free meals at a primary school in eastern India.

A Bihar state official said 28 children, aged between eight and 11 have been hospitalised in Patna, the state capital.

Ten of them are in serious condition.

They fell ill soon after eating meals in the school on Tuesday in Masrakh, a village 50 miles (80km) north of Patna.

The meal was cooked in the school kitchen.

The state education minister said a preliminary investigation suggested the food had traces of phosphorous, which is used to preserve rice and wheat.

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Shark Attack: Teenage Girl Killed Off Reunion

A 15-year-old girl has died after a shark tore her in two while she was swimming off a beach on the French island of Reunion.

The victim is understood to have been just three to five metres from the shore at the bay of Saint-Paul, northwest of the island, when she was attacked at around 2.30pm local time.

"Part of her body was carried away by the shark," said Gina Hoarau, director of public safety in Saint-Paul.

"The conditions of the attack are surprising. You wouldn't think that a shark would get this close to the shore," she added.

The teenager, who lives in mainland France with her mother, was on holiday visiting her father who works at a yacht club in the area.

She was snorkelling in an unsupervised area where bathing is forbidden due to high shark numbers, officials said.

A friend who was with her at the time of the attack managed swim back to shore and emergency services including lifeguards, firefighters and a police helicopter were called to the scene.

It is the second deadly shark attack this year off the French island, situated east of Madagascar, and brings the total of shark-related deaths there since 2011 to five.

But it is the first time in at least three decades that a swimmer, rather than a surfer, was the victim.

Local authorities this month renewed safety warnings after an increase in shark numbers.

A mayor and French politician, Thierry Robert, last year described a marine reserve near the bay of Saint-Paul set up six years ago to safeguard coral reefs as "a shark's larder".

There has been little shark fishing off the island since 2009 because of a toxin currently found in their flesh that causes food poisoning.

Locals claim tiger and bull shark populations have multiplied as a result.

In May, a 36-year-old French man on his honeymoon was killed off the popular beach of Brisants de Saint-Gilles on the west of the island while surfing.

A spate of shark attacks last year off Reunion Island prompted France to hire a team of professional fishermen to kill around 20 of them but Paris has refused to mount a more widespread cull.

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Mexico Zetas Drug Cartel Leader Captured

Mexican marines have captured the leader of the brutal Zetas drug cartel, officials have announced.

Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, known as El Cuarenta or Z-40, was caught before dawn in Nuevo Laredo in northern Mexico, government spokesman Eduardo Sanchez told reporters.

Trevino Morales, 40, was in a truck with his bodyguard and an accountant when he was arrested on a dirt road in the town on the US border.

Eight guns and $2m (£1.3m) in cash was seized from the vehicle, Mr Sanchez said.

Trevino Morales has been charged with murder, torture, kidnapping and other crimes.

Trevino Morales was captured in the border town of Nuevo Laredo

His capture is a victory for President Enrique Pena Nieto, who came into office promising to drive down crime levels, but has struggled to do so.

The Zetas, founded by deserters from an elite army unit, have carried out some of Mexico's bloodiest massacres, biggest jail breaks and fiercest attacks on authorities.

The gang earned its notoriety for brutality by becoming the first to publicly display their beheaded rivals - most infamously two police officers in April 2006 in the resort city of Acapulco.

A Mexican marine with a vast Zetas cache of arms, cash and drugs

The severed heads were found on spikes outside a government building with a message signed "Z'' that said: "So that you learn to respect."

Trevino Morales took control of the Zetas following the death of one of its founders, Heriberto "The Executioner" Lazcano, in October 2012.

Mexican troops killed Lazcano in a gunfight in the northern state of Coahuila.

But just hours later, gunmen burst into a funeral home and stole his body, which has never been recovered.

The body of Lazcano was stolen by armed gang members

Trevino Morales' brutality is well-known among his men, his rivals and Nuevo Laredo citizens.

One technique favoured by Trevino Morales was the "guiso", or stew, which saw enemies placed in 55-gallon (250-litre) drums and burned alive.

Others who crossed the commander would be beaten with wooden planks.

"If you get called to a meeting with him, you're not going to come out of that meeting," said a US law-enforcement official in Mexico City, who spoke to AP news agency on condition of anonymity.

Trevino Morales, 40, is expected to be succeeded by his brother, Omar, a former low-ranking turf boss seen as far weaker than his older brother.

Marines caught nine Zetas members in a bust in October last year

Miguel Angel Trevino Morales began his career as a teenager in the Los Tejas gang, which controlled most crime in Nuevo Laredo, his home town.

He soon graduated from washing cars and running errands to running drugs across the border, and was recruited into the Gulf cartel, which absorbed Los Tejas.

Originally, the Zetas acted as the armed wing of the Gulf cartel, but the two groups split in recent years, sparking brutal turf wars in northern Mexico.

The US State Department had offered a $5m (£3.3m) reward for Trevino Morales, while Mexico had a £1.5m bounty.

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Five Jamaican Athletes Fail Drug Tests

Five Jamaican athletes, including Asafa Powell, have tested positive for banned performance-enhancing drugs, according to the country's anti-doping authority.

Herb Elliott, chairman of the Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO), confirmed the body had received "reports of adverse analytical findings from 'A' samples."

He said: "The process of the result management has commenced in accordance with the JADCO anti-doping rules.

"We cannot disclose any further information until the athletes have responded to notification of the 'A' sample."

Sherone Simpson won a silver medal at London 2012

Sprinter Asafa Powell was revealed to be one of the athletes after his management company confirmed he had failed a drugs test.

And Olympic relay silver medallist Sherone Simpson also admitted she had tested positive for a stimulant after last month's national championship.

Powell's agent Paul Doyle confirmed the former 100m world record holder had tested positive for a banned substance.

The 30-year-old has won gold medals in the 4x100m relay at the Olympics and World Championships and is a former world record holder.

In a statement, Powell said: "I can confirm that a sample I gave at the national trials in June last year this year has returned 'adverse findings'.

"The substance oxilofrine (methylsynephrine) was found, which is considered by the authorities to be a banned stimulant.

"I want to be clear in saying to my family, friends, and most of all my fans worldwide that I have never knowingly or willfully taken any supplements or substances that break any rules.

Tyson Gay revealed he had tested positive for an unknown substance

"I am not now - nor have I ever been - a cheat."

Simpson, 28, was a member of the Jamaica team that finished second in the 4x100m relay at London 2012.

In a statement, she said: "This is a very difficult time for me.

"I was notified on July 14, 2013, that my urine sample taken at the National Senior Championship, June 21, 2013, after the 100m finals returned a positive analytical finding for a stimulant, oxilofrine (methylsynephrine).

"As an athlete, I know I am responsible for whatever goes into my body. I would not intentionally take an illegal substance of any form into my system."

Last month, Jamaica's most successful female athlete Veronica Campbell-Brown tested positive for a diuretic, which can be used to mask the use of performancing-enhancing drugs.

The twice Olympic 200 metres champion has been suspended by the Jamaican Athletics Administrative Association pending the outcome of a disciplinary panel hearing.

It comes after former double sprint world champion Tyson Gay announced on Sunday that he had tested positive for a substance he could not identify and was withdrawing from next month's world championships in Moscow.

The American, who had the year's fastest 100 metre time of 9.75 seconds, said he was notified by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on Friday that his A sample from an out-of-competition test on May 16 had returned a positive.

He said: "I don't have a sabotage story. I don't have lies... I basically put my trust in someone and I was let down.

"I made a mistake."

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Zimmerman Verdict: Clashes In Los Angeles

By Tom Parmenter, in Washington DC

Clashes have broken out between police and protesters in Los Angeles in the wake of George Zimmerman's acquittal, US media reports.

Police officers have fired non-lethal rounds at the demonstrators on one of the city's busiest roads, the reports said.

The LAPD said protesters were throwing bottles at the officers.

Protesters have been marching on I-10 highway in the Crenshaw area of the city, causing traffic chaos.

Mr Zimmerman, a neighbourhood watch volunteer, was cleared on Friday of the second degree murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida.

The decision sparked two nights of protests in towns and cities all over the US.

Protesters have been demonstrating on the I-10 highway

While many people believe the jury got it right in deciding that Zimmerman acted in self-defence when he shot Trayvon Martin, many others believe it has again exposed deep racial divisions.

Some of the biggest demonstrations were staged in New York where thousands of people gathered in Union Square and then later in the world famous Time Square.

New Yorker Stacey Ann Chin said: "I have a black child growing up in New York City.

Mr Zimmerman (R) was acquitted over Trayvon's death

"And I felt like I had to get out of my house today, and motivate the household and get everyone out to come and show a presence, some evidence of resistance, some evidence of our displeasure or our aghast, unbelief about what has happened. "

Carmella Alston, also from New York, said : "I just know that my ancestors, my great-grandmothers, my grandmothers all marched before with Malcolm, Martin, Reverend Jesse Jackson, and even marched with Al Sharpton.

"And I didn't think at this age I will have to be going through this as well."

US President Barack Obama has called for "calm reflection" in the wake of Mr Zimmerman's acquittal.

There have been protests across the US at the verdict

"The death of Trayvon Martin was a tragedy. Not just for his family, or for any one community, but for America," Mr Obama said in a statement.

"I know this case has elicited strong passions. And in the wake of the verdict I know those passions are running even higher. But we are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken."

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Moscow Bus Crash: 18 Killed And 25 Injured

Eighteen people have been killed and another 25 injured in a road crash outside Moscow, Russian officials said.

A truck, a bus and several other vehicles were involved and the dead includes a young girl, said the interior ministry.

The accident took place when a truck carrying gravel turned onto a main road and ploughed into the bus, which was broken in two by the force of the collision.

Helicopter teams and 30 ambulance crews were sent to the scene. The number of dead was revised upwards after several of the injured died in hospital.

The crash occurred near Oznobishino, about 25 miles south of Moscow city centre.

Officials said some injuries were serious as bus passengers were also hit with gravel being carried on the truck.

Moscow deputy mayor Pyotr Birukov said that the truck's driver, a 46-year-old Armenian who survived the crash, had been fined for traffic offences six times over the last year.

 Moscow authorities said the city would observe a day of mourning on Monday in memory of the victims.

Russia has one of the world's worst road safety records with some 25,000 people losing their lives in traffic accidents every year, although the government is trying to improve the situation with measures including a zero-tolerance ban on drink driving.

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Trayvon Martin: George Zimmerman Acquitted

George Zimmerman has been acquitted of all charges over the death of black teenager Travyon Martin in Florida.

Mr Zimmerman was freed after the jury deliberated for more than 15 hours over two days in the second-degree murder trial.

The jurors notified the judge on Saturday night, shortly before 10pm local time, that they had reached a decision.

Minutes later the verdict was announced. Mr Zimmerman stood impassively as the verdict was read out.

Supporters of Trayvon Martin outside court after the verdict was reached

The parents of the teenager were not in court for the verdict.

But outside the court supporters of Trayvon reacted with disappointment and anger.

Some chanted and held up a large banner saying "End racial oppression", while others yelled "No" in disbelief at the acquittal.

The six-member, all-woman jury began deliberating at 2.30pm on Friday after spending part of the day listening to the defence closing arguments and a rebuttal from the prosecution.

Trayvon Martin was shot dead in a gated community

The jurors considered nearly three weeks of often wildly conflicting testimony over who was the aggressor on the rainy night the 17-year-old was shot while walking through the gated townhouse community where he was staying.

Mr Zimmerman's lawyers said the case was classic self-defence, claiming Trayvon knocked Mr Zimmerman down and was slamming the older man's head against the concrete footpath when Mr Zimmerman fired his pistol.

"We're ecstatic with the results," defence lawyer Mark O'Mara said after the verdict.

"George Zimmerman was never guilty of anything except protecting himself in self-defence."

The teen's death drew protests in cities across America

Another member of his defence team, Don West, said: "I'm glad this jury kept this tragedy from becoming a travesty."

Prosecutors called Mr Zimmerman a liar and portrayed him was a want-to-be police officer and vigilante who had grown frustrated by break-ins in his neighbourhood committed primarily by young black men.

They said Mr Zimmerman assumed the teen was up to no good and took the law into his own hands.

The case divided public opinion in the United States, with even President Barack Obama commenting on the shooting. Congressman Bobby Rush wore a 'hoodie' in the House of Representatives in support of Trayvon.

Further criticism came from the 44-day delay before Mr Zimmerman was arrested.

After hearing the verdict, Judge Debra Nelson told the defendant he was free to go and the GPS tracking tag unit would be removed.

Trayvon Martin's father was not in court for the acquittal verdict

"You have no further business with this court," judge Debra Nelson said.

Mr Zimmerman later hugged his family and his wife, Shellie, smiled and cried.

Fearing further social unrest over the controversial shooting, the police chief in Sanford, where Martin was shot and where the trial was held, urged peace.

State Attorney Angela Corey said she believed second-degree murder was the appropriate charge because Mr Zimmerman's mindset "fit the bill of second-degree murder."

"We charged what we believed we could prove," Ms Corey said.

Second-degree murder is classed as a death that does not include specific intent to kill, and the trial centred on the state's controversial self-defence rule of "Stand Your Ground".

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