Colin Powell weighed in Sunday on the George Zimmerman trial, with the former secretary of state saying the jury rendered a “questionable judgment” when it acquitted the former neighborhood watch captain in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.
“I think that it will be seen as a questionable judgment on the part of the judicial system down there,” Powell said during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “But I don’t know if it’ll have staying power. These cases come along and they blaze across the midnight sky and then, after a period of time, they’re forgotten.”
Powell also addressed his party’s approach to voting rights, arguing that Republican-led efforts to reduce minority participation at the polls will backfire.
“These kinds of procedures that are being put in place to slow the process down and make it likely that fewer Hispanics and African-Americans might vote, I think are going to backfire,” Powell said. “Because these people are going to come out and do what they have to do in order to vote, and I encourage that.”
In a speech last week in Raleigh, N.C., Powell slammed the state’s sweeping new voting law last week. Pat McCrory, the GOP governor of North Carolina who signed the measure that will require government-issued photo IDs at the polls and reduce the early voting period in the state, was present for Powell’s tough remarks.
