matthew shepherd was at a bar when his attackers found him. under the law, that changed in 2009 in their names, that fact about each of those cases would not be a barrier to federal assistance with those cases. it would not be a barrier to the federal opportunity, for the federal government having an opportunity to step in, to bring a case if local prosecutors had refused to do so on their own. because of that change in the law, so it no longer has to be a federally protected activity that you're doing when the crime happens, because of that change in the law, the justice department can now decide and is now deciding if it wants to bring a federal civil rights case, likely a hate crimes case, to try to convict george zimmerman, even though that jury and that florida state court found him not guilty. the justice department has put out a statement saying "experienced federal prosecutors will determine whether the evidence reveals a prosecutable violation of any of the limited federal criminal civil rights statutes within our jurisdiction. and wh

named for matthew shepherd. you have to show it was motivated by race.not negligence, not an accident, direct violence motivated by race. it's a high bar now that he's acquitted of second degree murder and manslaughter. >> does this bring in questions about the stand your ground law? >> they're going to continue to fight for repeal. this morning, i'm having members of the senate judiciary committee, and the fallout from the verdict. >> in many cases, it was not fully over. this week with george stephanopoulos coming up soon on abc. thanks again. social media exploding with reactions to the verdict. twitter offering an emotional release. and abc's rob nelson is covering that angle. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. after those six jurors acquitted him last night, millions of americans wasted no time having their say, nearly 4.5 million tweets were unleashed, even surpassing the numbers of the newtown school shooting. they showed an angrily divided country. wild protests following the verdict mostly fell short of what the police feared days ago. the

what they would have to prove is under the matthew shepherd and james bird act, the hate crime act many people call it, it was passed in 2009. they would have to prove that george zimmerman's actions were racially motivated, that he willfully injured trayvon martin because of his race, that part of it was because of his race. i don't know. when you look at that and you know when it's race based that the federal government does have jurisdiction, i think that it certainly is a possibility. and although the state did not use race as an element in this case, remember the state was precluded from calling it racial profiling. they did call it profiling, that george zimmerman profiled trayvon martin as a criminal. i don't think it's such a leap to argue, yes, he profiled him as a criminal because he was african-american because other african-americans in his view were the ones getting away, were the ones, you know -- criminals, the ones that were criminals in his community. so i don't think it's a stretch when people are arguing that it's an impossibility for the justice department to bring c

federal government should look at it and see what its laws provide, whether for example the matthew shepherd james bird hate crime act provides an opportunity for further federal prosecution in this case. because whether or not that trial was fair under the law juchts was not done in this case. >>woodruff: carol swain should the attorney general pursue a civil case in this matter? >> absolutely not. the state has tried the case. we have the rule of law and the attorney general should not pick and choose and when there's an outcome that doesn't fit the political narrative of the day where people have been racialized they should not jump into that and stir the pot. they should be educating people about the criminal justice system. they should be educating people not stirring the pot. >>woodruff: we are going to leave it there but we want to thank all four of you for joining us. carol swain, christina swarns, jelani cobb and jonathan turley. >> ifill: now, the latest efforts to improve factory conditions in bangladesh, and questions about just how effective they will be. jeffrey brown has the s

the matthew shepherd crime, that will give them the opportunity to look at the case with fresh eyes.ce. i love the law. i wrap myself in the cloak of justice. in doing that i have to support what this jury did. i don't have to like it. i have to support it. >> how about the stand your ground law? >> i think it's detrimental to the criminal justice system. i don't think it's necessary. traditional self-defense is what is the standard of justice and it should be across this nation. the thought that you don't have to remove yourself from a violent situation if you can. you can just escalate that violence is unheard of for me. the numbers have increased tremendously since stand your ground has been in place in florida. >> what about the african-american reaction to the verdict? is there justifiable outrage there? >> i think there's justifiable outrage because the case was sort of botched from day one. let me say it similar to what the president said. if there's anyone in this country that believes that trayvon martin, if he had been of age could have walked around the neighborhood with a

i also thank that this may be a hate crime and that the hate crimes law, the matthew shepherd hate crimeant aspects of federal law that may have been violated by george zimmerman, which could be investigated and should and could lead to an additional indictment. secondly, there is the wrongful death case, a civil proceeding, which the trayvon martin family, they have competent counsel in daryl parks and ben crump to bring that. this is not over. those who are activists, concerned justice has not been met, should absolutely continue disciplined and directed advocacy for this family. thirdly, i was offended by mark o'mara's statements. they were not only unprofessional and unbecoming a lawyer, who just succeeded in a case. they are insensitive and further drive a wedge. and i think spur us to say that we're going to insist that justice be done in this case. we have as a father a young boy. this is a boy who lost his life. not a grown man who lost his life not at the hands of another teenager, not of another boy, but of a man. an unarmed teenager. i think from the very beginning, but for be