News media around the world covered Saturday night’s ruling in the Trayvon Martin murder trial as top news. In Germany, it featured as a leading story on one of the top news programs, where the host’s first question to the station’s Washington correspondent was why there hadn’t been a single African American on the jury.

Another leading news broadcast noted the case had drawn considerable international attention because it “appeared to be so systematic and also divided the country.” The correspondent added that, for many, Martin’s death had “become a symbol for racism that is still present in America.”

Many had feared that if an all-white jury issued a not-guilty verdict for George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, a black teenager who had been unarmed, it could trigger race riots across the country. Zimmerman claimed he had shot the 17-year-old in self-defense after a nighttime confrontation in his gated community, despite police advice not to pursue the young man. Zimmerman claimed that Martin had punched him and slammed his head into the ground during a fight before he fired at him in self-defense. Prosecutors had portrayed Zimmerman as a wannabe cop who profiled and pursued Martin.

Mostly peaceful protests were held across the country following the verdict. US President Barack Obama had cautioned against allowing passions to boil over. “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” President Barack Obama said Sunday in a statement. “I know this case has elicited strong passions. And in the wake of the verdict, I know those passions may be running even higher. But we are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken.”

Read More German Press Review on Acquittal in Trayvon Martin Slaying – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Note: Der Spiegel is a weekly news magazine from Germany with circulation throughout Europe.