RALEIGH, N.C. _ A high-profile attorney representing the family of a 20-year-old man who police say was shot and killed by a homeowner likened the case to the Florida shooting of Trayvon Martin in a news conference Thursday morning.
Attorney Justin Bamberg referred to Chad Copley, the man charged in the Raleigh shooting, as "George Zimmerman 2.0." Zimmerman was a self-proclaimed neighborhood watchman who was charged with killing Martin _ an unarmed, black 17-year-old _ during a 2012 altercation in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman was found not guilty.
Copley has been charged with first-degree murder in the early Sunday shooting in North Raleigh of Kouren-Rodney Bernard Thomas. Police say Copley shot Thomas with his shotgun from inside his garage.
Flanked by family members of Thomas on Thursday, Bamberg said he was confident that justice would be served for the man's family. He commended the Raleigh Police Department for charging Copley, who claimed he was a neighborhood watchman and protecting his family from a bunch of "hoodlums."
Bamberg cited similarities between the Martin and Thomas shootings: both were African-American males and both were allegedly shot by men claiming to be part of neighborhood watch. But Bamberg said there was one key difference: There was no confrontation between Thomas and Copley.
The attorney also said that it was Copley who introduced the issue of race in his 911 call, in which he talking of "frigging black males outside my frigging house with firearms."
"We're saying, listen to the audiotape. We didn't make this about race. Mr. Copley did," Bamberg said.
Bamberg also represents the family of Alton Sterling, an African-American man in Baton Rouge, La., who was shot and killed outside a convenience store by police investigating a threat report. And Bamberg represents the family of Walter Scott in North Charleston, S.C., who was shot and killed by police following a traffic stop.
Friends of Thomas say he was leaving a party about 12:30 a.m. Sunday when he was shot.
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