Protesters march in Fla. town where teen was shot
Source: AP-Excite
SANFORD, Fla. (AP) - Thousands joined a march Saturday through the Florida town where 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer, vowing to continue protesting until an arrest is made.
Protesters carried signs, chanted "Justice for Trayvon," and clutched the hands of their children while they walked to the Sanford Police Department from a local high school that served black students during the segregation era. The march was organized by the NAACP was one of several taking place over the weekend.
"We live in the middle of an American paradox," Rev. Al Sharpton told the crowd. "We can put a black man in the White House but we cannot walk a black child through a gated neighborhood. We are not selling out, bowing out or backing down until there is justice for Trayvon."
Martin was shot to death by 28-year-old George Zimmerman on Feb. 26 as he walked from a convenience store back to his father's fiancée's home in a gated community outside Orlando. The case has stirred a national conversation about race and the laws of self-defense. Martin, a black teenager from Miami, was unarmed when he was shot by Zimmerman, whose father is white and mother is Hispanic. Zimmerman told police the teen attacked him before he shot in self-defense.
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20120331/D9TROTOO3.html
Protestors hold up signs in a march and rally for slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin on Saturday, March 31, 2012 in Sanford, Fla. Protesters carried signs, chanted Justice for Trayvon, and clutched the hands of their children while they walked from Crooms Academy of Information Technology, the countys first high school for black students, to the Sanford Police Department. The march was organized by the NAACP was one of several taking place over the weekend. (AP Photo/Julie Fletcher)
lunatica
(53,410 posts)This kind of pressure is enormous. If they're afraid of one teenager walking home I can imagine what this does to their blustering cowardly fake bravado. If I was Zimmerman I would be really terrified right now.
This looks well organized. Slick posters and printed T-shirts shows a concerted effort much more than a spontaneous gathering. I'm sure it's sending chills up a lot of official spines, including the police.
If the intent is to make Black people cower in fear they've seriously miscalculated.
secondvariety
(1,245 posts)Zimmerman won't ever be arrested, let alone convicted. This SYG law, which was written and is supported by psychopaths and passed by one of the most corrupt governmental bodies on Earth, gives Zimmerman a pass. While what happened to Trayvon was a crime, there has been even more blatant examples of SYGers getting off without an arrest.
Those of you who are fortunate enough not to live in Florida really need to read this article to understand some of the bullshit this "law" has caused.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/stand-your-ground-law-protects-those-who-go-far-beyond-that-point/1222930
uppityperson
(115,674 posts)Serious question. Does it only matter because of who is left alive?
Since Trayvon met this requirement, seems he was killed unjustly (just looking at this bit of the statute). Didn't he have the right to SYG, etc? Or can both people in a fight fall under this statute? I guess that is what they mean in this article. Even if you are the instigator.
I really don't understand how this can be legal as it seems to say anyone can do anything to anyone else.
AndyTiedye
(23,500 posts)secondvariety
(1,245 posts)Apparently, who ever is left standing gets a pass.