Rally for Trayvon Martin planned at Pershing Square today
Local civil rights groups plan to hold a rally Saturday in downtown Los Angeles in memory of Trayvon Martin and to protest what they say is institutional racism in the nation’s criminal justice system.
The gathering is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Pershing Square.
A Florida jury last month acquitted George Zimmerman, who is a mixed-race Latino, on charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the 2012 fatal shooting Martin, an unarmed African American teenager. The verdict set off angry protests and rallies across the country.
Martin supporters are now pushing for the federal government to file civil rights charges against Zimmerman, who said he fired his gun in self-defense when he encountered Martin, a guest in the gated community where Zimmerman worked as a neighborhood watch coordinator.
Among the sponsors of the rally are ANSWER LA; National Action Network, Los Angeles; Project Islamic Hope; Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Coalition for Community Control Over the Police; Community Education for Social Action; Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition; KmB, Pro-People Youth; Women Organized to Resist and Defend; and Vamos Unidos USA.
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Twitter: @newsterrier
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