Zimmerman case was not about race, juror tells CNN NEW YORK (Reuters) - The George Zimmerman trial was not about race and the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer was justified in firing the shot that killed Trayvon Martin because he feared for his life, one of the jurors told CNN on Monday. Juror B-37, a mother of two who grew up in a military family and used to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon, said she did not believe Zimmerman racially profiled the unarmed black teenager when he called police to report a suspicious person. "All of us thought race did not play a role," the juror told Anderson Cooper in an interview with her identity concealed. A jury of six anonymous women - all white, except one - found Zimmerman not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter on Saturday after a three-week trial in which defense lawyers argued that he shot Martin in self-defense. "He had a right to defend himself," the juror said, adding that she believed Martin started the fight and threw the first punch. "I think Trayvon got mad and attacked him," the juror said. Immediately following the verdict in Sanford, Florida, civil rights activists, who were convinced Zimmerman racially profiled Martin as a criminal, began calling for federal charges against the neighborhood watchman, saying the trial failed to serve justice. The juror told CNN that an initial poll of the six women showed three favored not guilty, two voted for manslaughter and one opted for second-degree murder. And after hours and hours and hours of deliberating over the law, and reading it over and over and over again, we just decided there's no other way or place to go" but acquittal, she said. Sounding tearful at times, she said the jury worked hard to reach a verdict, and cried over the decision. "I want people to know that we put everything into it," she said. We thought about it over and over. On one crucial point of contention, she said most, if not all, six jurors believed it was Zimmerman and not Martin who was calling for help in the background of a 911 emergency call. Martin's mother and brother testified it was Martin's voice screaming for help while Zimmerman's parents and several friends swore they recognized it as Zimmerman's voice. All but probably one (juror agreed)," she said. Where she did fault Zimmerman was for showing bad judgment after calling police to report a suspicious person. Zimmerman got out of his car after an emergency dispatcher had admonished him not to follow the person. Juror B-37 said the altercation could have been avoided if both men had just walked away. "I feel sorry for both of them," she said. Editing by Dina Kyriakidou and Lisa Shumaker