End Of Days News
A jury in Sanford, Florida will begin deliberating in the second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman as early as this week, and authorities are preparing for a potentially violent response.
Deliberations in the trial are scheduled to begin this Friday, and a jury could conclude that Zimmerman, the Hispanic former neighborhood watch captain who fatally shot unarmed black teenager Travyon Martin in February 2012, is not guilty of second-degree murder.
But amid a racially-charged case that has attracted the attention of much of the nation, a not-guilty verdict could prompt people in Sanford and elsewhere to rise up, sparking fears that riots could emerge if the 12 jurors acquit the defendant.
In hopes of diminishing the likelihood of a possible riot, officials in Florida are asking that people try to hold back and not provoke others to engage in potentially violent mass action. In case those attempts prove futile, though, investigators with a local federally-funded fusion center are already combing through internet posts and other social media in an attempt to be on top of any activity before it gets out of control.
"With the verdict coming, we wanted to get ahead of the curve and not wait until something happened," Broward County Sheriff's Department spokesperson Keyla Concepcion told USA Today. "We want to get people talking now. We know the power of social media. We aren't sitting here with our arms crossed just waiting for something to happen."
