Barack Obama calls for ‘calm reflection’ as thousands protest George Zimmerman’s acquittal across the U.S.

 

People gather at a rally honoring Trayvon Martin with his photo standing, right, while being held by a man at Union Square in Manhattan on July 14, 2013 in New York City.

With chants and prayers, sermons and signs, outrage over a jury’s decision to clear George Zimmerman in the shooting of an unarmed black teenager poured from street protests and church pulpits Sunday amid calls for federal civil rights charges to be filed in the case.
Demonstrations large and small broke out across the country – ranging from a few dozen more than a thousand – in support of the family of Trayvon Martin as protesters decried the not guilty verdict as a miscarriage of justice.
The NAACP and protesters called for federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman, who was acquitted Saturday in Martin’s February 2012 shooting death, which unleashed a national debate over racial profiling, self-defense and equal justice.

 

George Zimmerman smiles after a not guilty verdict was handed down in his trial at the Seminole County Courthouse, Sunday, July 14, 2013, in Sanford,

The Justice Department said it is looking into the case to determine whether federal prosecutors should file criminal civil rights charges now that Zimmerman has been acquitted in the state case. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama and religious and civil rights leaders urged calm in hopes of ensuring peaceful demonstrations in the wake of a case that became an emotional flash point.

The death of Trayvon Martin was a tragedy. Not just for his family, or for any one community, but for America. I know this case has elicited strong passions. And in the wake of the verdict, I know those passions may be running even higher.
But we are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken. I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son. And as we do, we should ask ourselves if we’re doing all we can to widen the circle of compassion and understanding in our own communities. 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.
We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this. As citizens, that’s a job for all of us. That’s the way to honor Trayvon Martin.

Obama called Martin’s death a tragedy: “Not just for his family, or for any one community, but for America.” He said he knows the not-guilty verdict reached late Saturday has elicited strong passions around the country.
He called the U.S. “a nation of laws” and said “a jury has spoken.” In a statement released Sunday, Obama is asking that all Americans “respect the call for calm reflection.”
Obama says Americans should ask themselves if they’re doing all they can to stem gun violence, and what can be done to prevent future tragedies like the Florida shooting.
In New York City, hundreds of protesters marched into Times Square on Sunday night, zigzagging through Manhattan’s streets to avoid police lines. Sign-carrying marchers thronged the busy intersection, chanting “Justice for! Trayvon Martin!” as they made their way from Union Square, blocking traffic for more than an hour before moving on.
In San Francisco and Los Angeles – where an earlier protest was dispersed with beanbag rounds – police closed streets as protesters marched Sunday to condemn Zimmerman’s acquittal.

 

Lynn HeyPeople protest in front of the Guilford County Detention Center on Sunday, July 14, 2013, in Greensboro, N.C., about the acquittal late Saturday of George Zimmerman in the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

Rand Powdrill, 41, of San Leandro, said he came to the San Francisco march with about 400 others to “protest the execution of an innocent black teenager.”
“If our voices can’t be heard, then this is just going to keep going on,” he said.
Earlier, at Manhattan’s Middle Collegiate Church, many congregants wore hooded sweatshirts – the same thing Martin was wearing the night he was shot – in a show of solidarity. Hoodie-clad Jessica Nacinovich said she could only feel disappointment and sadness over the verdict.
“I’m sure jurors did what they felt was right in accordance with the law but maybe the law is wrong, maybe society is wrong; there’s a lot that needs fixing,” she said.
 

 

People hold hands in a circle at a rally honoring Trayvon Martin at Union Square in Manhattan on July 14, 2013 in New York City. George Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges in the shooting death of Martin July 13 and many protesters questioned the verdict.

At a youth service in Sanford, Fla., where the trial was held, teens wearing shirts displaying Martin’s picture wiped away tears during a sermon at the St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church.
About 200 people turned out for a rally and march in downtown Chicago, saying the verdict was symbolic of lingering racism in the United States. Seventy-three-year-old Maya Miller said the case reminded her of the 1955 slaying of Emmitt Till, a 14-year-old from Chicago who was murdered by a group of white men while visiting Mississippi. Till’s killing galvanized the civil rights movement.
“Fifty-eight years and nothing’s changed,” Miller said, pausing to join a chant to “Justice for Trayvon, not one more.”

 

Police officers push back a protestor on the 10 Freeway after demonstrators angry at the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of black teen Trayvon Martin walk onto the 10 Freeway stopping highway traffic, in Los Angeles, California July 14, 2013.

Protesters also gathered in Miami, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C along with a host of other cities.
In Miami, more than 200 people gathered for a vigil. “You can’t justify murder,” read one poster. Another read “Don’t worry about more riots. Worry about more Zimmermans.”
Carol Reitner, 76, of Miami, said she heard about the vigil through an announcement at her church Sunday morning. “I was really devastated. It’s really hard to believe that someone can take the life of someone else and walk out of court free,” she said.
In Philadelphia, about 700 protesters marched from LOVE Park to the Liberty Bell, alternating between chanting Trayvon Martin’s name and “No justice, no peace!”
“We hope this will begin a movement to end discrimination against young black men,” said Johnathan Cooper, one of the protest’s organizers. “And also to empower black people and get them involved in the system.”
Earlier Sunday, hundreds gathered in Union Square in New York City to voice their passions over the verdict, hoisting placards with images of Martin.

 

A New York Police Department officer watches over a demonstration at Union Square in New York on July 14, 2013. Protests were held one day after a US jury found George Zimmerman not guilty of murdering unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012, in a racially charged trial that transfixed the country.

Some tempered their anger, saying they didn’t contest the jury’s decision based on the legal issues involved.
But “while the verdict may be legal, a system that doesn’t take into account what happened is a broken legal system,” said Jennifer Lue, 24.
Nineteen-year-old Octavia McMahon came from the Bronx to march with her mother and five siblings, carrying signs they made after learning of the verdict. She called the protests an emotional experience.

 

Gaines Rodriguez, of New York, lower right, holds a sign in Times Square, Sunday, July 14, 2013, in New York, during a protest against the acquittal of volunteer neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman in the 2012 killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla.

“I’m really happy that so many people showed support because it’s not just one person. It’s all of us as one.”
Civil rights leaders, including the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, urged peace in the wake of the verdict. Jackson said the legal system “failed justice,” but violence isn’t the answer.
But not all the protesters heeded those calls in the demonstrations that broke out immediately after the verdict.
In Oakland, Calif., some angry demonstrators broke windows, burned U.S. flags and started street fires. Some marchers also vandalized a police squad car and used spray paint to scrawl anti-police graffiti on roads and Alameda County’s Davidson courthouse. In Los Angeles, police said a crowd of about 100 protesters surrounded an officer and eventually had to be dispersed by officers firing beanbag rounds
.

 

Police officers attempt to control a march down Broadway, Sunday, July 14, 2013, in New York, during a protest against the acquittal of neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida. 

 

 

A protestor is arrested on the 10 Freeway after demonstrators angry at the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of black teen Trayvon Martin walk onto the 10 Freeway stopping highway traffic, in Los Angeles, California July 14, 2013. 

 

  

A police officer takes a defensive stance as he and colleagues hold a line stopping protestors from advancing on the 10 Freeway after demonstrators angry at the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of black teen Trayvon Martin walk onto the 10 Freeway stopping highway traffic, in Los Angeles, California July 14, 2013.