Trayvon Martin Death: US Protests Over Zimmerman Verdict

Protester: "If it had been a white boy who had been murdered, and a black guy who had murdered him, would they have acquitted him?"

Protests have taken place across the US after neighbourhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman, was cleared of murdering an unarmed black teenager. Most demonstrations were peaceful, demanding justice for the family of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and questioning the fairness of the justice system.

The biggest protest was in New York, where a small rally grew into a crowd of thousands.  President Obama has appealed for calm reflection after the verdict. He acknowledged on Sunday that the case had elicited "strong passions", but said: "We are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken."

The Department of Justice says it is investigating whether a civil case can now be brought against Mr Zimmerman. The 29-year-old neighbourhood watch volunteer had faced charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter due to his fatal shooting of the teenager last year.

 

The rally in Times Square was peaceful, but people were clearly very angry at the verdict

After the not-guilty verdict was announced late on Saturday, there were protests in cities across the US - including in San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington, Boston, San Diego and Atlanta.
In New York City, thousands of people marched to Times Square on Sunday night, chanting "Justice for Trayvon Martin!''  Police attempted to keep the crowd in controlled lanes, but the demonstrators made their way around the officers into the square.

"I feel if we don't step it up, we're in trouble," 20-year-old Prince Akeem, from the Bronx, told Reuters. "It's young blacks being targeted and we have to stand up, stand up to the cops."
In Los Angeles, protesters blocked traffic, and several roads were closed. Police told the LA Times that most of the protesters were peaceful, but said several splinter groups were more aggressive, reportedly throwing rocks and batteries at police.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti urged protesters there to "practice peace". In Boston, about 500 protesters marched alongside police escorts. "They've been very orderly," Boston police superintendent William Evans told reporters.

Trayvon Martin was also remembered in many church services across the country on Sunday. At a youth service in Sanford, Florida - where the trial was held - teenagers wore T-shirts wearing his picture.
"Trayvon Benjamin Martin is dead because he and other black boys and men like him are seen not as a person but a problem," the Rev Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, told his congregation.

On Sunday President  Obama called for "calm reflection" over the incident. He said Trayvon Martin's death was a tragedy for America, but that it was "a nation of laws and a jury has spoken".
"We should ask ourselves if we're doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis... As citizens, that's a job for all of us. That's the way to honour Trayvon Martin."
Mr Obama commented on the Zimmerman case in March last year, saying: "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon."

 

 

 

 

 

Residents of Sanford, Florida, give their reaction to the clearing of George Zimmerman

Civil rights groups in the US have also called for calm, though have expressed their dismay at the verdict. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson told CNN on Sunday that "the American legal system has once again failed justice".

But he also appealed for calm, saying anyone seeking to "compound our pain with street justice" would do "damage to the innocent blood and legacy of Trayvon Martin".  Rights activist Al Sharpton said the verdict was "a slap in the face to the American people".

He compared the case to the beating of African-American man Rodney King by police in 1991, which sparked widespread rioting. Meanwhile Mr Zimmerman's family and representatives have said they are afraid he could fall victim to revenge attacks.

His brother Robert said he had received frequent threats on social media and there was "more reason now than ever to think that people are trying to kill him. "He's going to be looking over his shoulder the rest of his life," he said.

His lawyer, Mark O'Mara, told ABC News on Sunday that Mr Zimmerman had no regrets about having carried a gun on the night of 26 February 2012. He said his client would now be entitled to have his weapon returned to him and to carry it, saying there was "ever more reason now, isn't there? There are a lot of people out there who actually hate him, though they shouldn't."

Jorge Rodriguez, a friend of Mr Zimmerman's, said he had told him of his relief. He told Reuters he did not understand the anger at the verdict. "Everybody asked for justice, and they got it. It was nothing about racism. It was about the community being robbed and broken into, and one man stood up," he said.  "The state should be giving this man an award, and instead they took him to trial."