'Justice for Trayvon' calls echo in rallies across US
Source: Agencies |
July 22, 2013, Monday
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PROTESTERS gathered in cities from Los Angeles to New York to press for federal civil rights charges against the former neighborhood watch leader acquitted in the death of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin and to call for changes in the United States' self-defense laws.
The Florida case has become a flashpoint in separate but converging national debates over self-defense, guns, and race relations. George Zimmerman, who successfully claimed that he was protecting himself when he shot Martin, identifies himself as Hispanic. Martin, 17, was black.
The National Action Network, led by the Rev Al Sharpton, a prominent civil rights activist, organized the "Justice for Trayvon" rallies and vigils on Saturday outside federal buildings in at least 101 cities.
Chants rang out across the rallies. "Justice! Justice! Justice! ... Now! Now! Now!" "We won't forget." "No justice! No peace!" Many also sang hymns, prayed and held hands.
And plenty of participants carried signs: "Who's next?" "I am Trayvon Martin." "Enough Is Enough."
Zimmerman spotted Martin one night in February 2012 as the teenager walked back from a convenience store in a gated Florida community. Believing Martin was acting suspiciously, the neighborhood watchman called police and then followed the youth on his own, armed with a handgun. He shot the Martin during an altercation.
Most rallies began at noontime. In New York, hundreds of people - including music superstars Jay-Z and Beyonce, as well as Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton - gathered in the heat.
Fulton told the crowd she was determined to fight for societal and legal changes needed to ensure that black youths are no longer viewed with suspicion because of their skin color.
"I promise you I'm going to work for your children as well," she said to the rally crowd.
In addition to pushing the Justice Department to investigate filing federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman, Sharpton told supporters he wants to see a rollback of stand-your-ground self-defense laws. "We are trying to change laws so that this never, ever happens again," Sharpton said.
Stand-your-ground laws are on the books in more than 20 states, and they go beyond many older, traditional self-defense statutes. In general, the laws eliminate a person's duty to retreat if they fear death or bodily harm.
Part of Sharpton's comments echoed those made by President Barack Obama on racial profiling last Friday.
Obama called on the nation to do some soul searching over the death of Martin and the acquittal of his shooter, saying the slain black teenager "could have been me 35 years ago." Empathizing with the pain of many black Americans, Obama said the case conjured up a hard history of racial injustice "that doesn't go away."
The Florida case has become a flashpoint in separate but converging national debates over self-defense, guns, and race relations. George Zimmerman, who successfully claimed that he was protecting himself when he shot Martin, identifies himself as Hispanic. Martin, 17, was black.
The National Action Network, led by the Rev Al Sharpton, a prominent civil rights activist, organized the "Justice for Trayvon" rallies and vigils on Saturday outside federal buildings in at least 101 cities.
Chants rang out across the rallies. "Justice! Justice! Justice! ... Now! Now! Now!" "We won't forget." "No justice! No peace!" Many also sang hymns, prayed and held hands.
And plenty of participants carried signs: "Who's next?" "I am Trayvon Martin." "Enough Is Enough."
Zimmerman spotted Martin one night in February 2012 as the teenager walked back from a convenience store in a gated Florida community. Believing Martin was acting suspiciously, the neighborhood watchman called police and then followed the youth on his own, armed with a handgun. He shot the Martin during an altercation.
Most rallies began at noontime. In New York, hundreds of people - including music superstars Jay-Z and Beyonce, as well as Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton - gathered in the heat.
Fulton told the crowd she was determined to fight for societal and legal changes needed to ensure that black youths are no longer viewed with suspicion because of their skin color.
"I promise you I'm going to work for your children as well," she said to the rally crowd.
In addition to pushing the Justice Department to investigate filing federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman, Sharpton told supporters he wants to see a rollback of stand-your-ground self-defense laws. "We are trying to change laws so that this never, ever happens again," Sharpton said.
Stand-your-ground laws are on the books in more than 20 states, and they go beyond many older, traditional self-defense statutes. In general, the laws eliminate a person's duty to retreat if they fear death or bodily harm.
Part of Sharpton's comments echoed those made by President Barack Obama on racial profiling last Friday.
Obama called on the nation to do some soul searching over the death of Martin and the acquittal of his shooter, saying the slain black teenager "could have been me 35 years ago." Empathizing with the pain of many black Americans, Obama said the case conjured up a hard history of racial injustice "that doesn't go away."
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