President Barack Obama said in comments Friday at the White House that it's imperative every aspect of the tragic slaying of Trayvon Martin be investigated.
The president also said that if he had son, that child -- being an African-American youth – would look like Trayvon, 17, who was gunned down as he walked in a modest Sanford, Fla., neighborhood.
"If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," Obama said March 23 from the Rose Garden. "When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids."
Up to now, Obama had refrained from comment, leaving U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to follow up with an investigation.
George Zimmerman, 28, who volunteered in the gated community as a neighborhood watch guard, admitted shooting the unarmed youth in late February.
Zimmerman had been patrolling the neighborhood in his truck when he spotted Trayvon. He called 9-11 and was advised to remain in his vehicle while police arrived.
But Zimmerman ignored the advice and left the truck in pursuit of Trayvon. He told authorities that he shot the youth after Trayvon attacked him.
Meanwhile, the shooting has sparked public outrage that has spread like wild fire.
Questions have aboundded as to why Zimmerman – who is said to be of both white and Hispanic ancestry -- left his truck, and why he was carrying a gun.
The tragedy has also evolved into an issue of racial profiling, with reports further stating that other incidences of such profiling had occurred in the same community where Trayvon was slain.
