Parents Of Murdered British Students Criticize President Obama's Silence

Why did President Obama speak up about the Trayvon Martin case, but he has remained silent about last year's brutal killing of two British students who were vacationing in Florida? That's what the parents of James Cooper and James Kouzaris are wondering.

Almost a year ago, Cooper and Kouzaris were shot in cold blood by 17-yr-old Shawn Tyson despite begging for their lives. Tyson killed them anyway, and yesterday he was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.

The parents of the victims have been writing to the President in hopes of receiving some form of condolence or acknowledgment. They have heard nothing. In fact, the father of James Kouzaris penned three letters that have gone unanswered.

Paul Davies and Joe Hallett, two friends of the murdered students, witnessed the trial and also made statements to the court prior to Tyson's sentencing.

The UK Telegraph reports that Mr. Davies was not pleased with the lack of attention to this case;

"We would like to publicly express our dissatisfaction at the lack of any public or private message of support or condolence from any American governing body or indeed, President Obama himself.

"It would perhaps appear that Mr Obama sees no political value in facilitating such a request or that the lives of two British tourists are not worthy of ten minutes of his time."

It should be noted that the victims are not American citizens. However, considering the "special relationship" with Britain, it would seem a simple note of acknowledgement wouldn't be a hard gesture.

If and when the White House responds, we will update the story.