The Dept. of Justice has released a statement saying that federal prosecutors plan to continue to investigate the death of Trayvon Martin. The statement comes following a petition urging the DOJ to press federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman, who on Saturday night was acquitted for the death of the unarmed 17-year-old.

The statement, from Justice spokesperson Dena W. Iverson:

As the Department first acknowledged last year, we have an open investigation into the death of Trayvon Martin. The Department of Justice’s Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation continue to evaluate the evidence generated during the federal investigation, as well as the evidence and testimony from the state trial. 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 whether federal prosecution is appropriate in accordance with the Department’s policy governing successive federal prosecution following a state trial.