Nearly 200 demonstrators marched through Northwest D.C. in a hastily organized vigil following the a Florida jury’s acquittal of George Zimmerman in the February 2012 death of Trayvon Martin.
Protesters organized at the intersection of Ninth and U streets NW shortly before midnight, with the activist crowd pressing against a long line of revelers waiting to get into the Brixton, a popular bar on the nightlife corridor. The rally began with about 75 demonstrators, growing to nearly three times that size by time the march started climbing 18th Street NW in Adams Morgan.
“No justice, no peace,” was the dominant chant of the demonstration, which lasted nearly two hours early Sunday morning. Several protesters carried signs with phrases such as “Trayvon, we will never forget you” and “Stop criminalizing black men.”
Martin, a 17-year-old African-American, was fatally shot by Zimmerman on Feb. 26, 2012 in an encounter in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman told police he shot Martin, who was unarmed, in an act of self-defense protected by a Florida law commonly referred to as the “stand your ground” law. The case set off a pitched national debate on racial profiling and civil rights.
“The death of Trayvon Martin was a tragedy,” President Obama said Sunday afternoon in a statement released by the White House. “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.”
Obama had weighed in on the case last year with particularly emotional commentary, saying that “If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon.”
Prosecutors charged Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch member, with second-degree murder and also asked a six-member jury to consider a manslaughter charge. After 16 hours of deliberation following a three-week trial that ended Friday, jurors last night returned the not-guilty verdict.
The march through D.C. on a humid, sticky night was made up of a diverse crowd and remained peaceful, eventually landing at Columbia Heights Civic Plaza at 14th Street and Park Road NW, where several demonstrators gave brief remarks. “I felt so angry and sad,” one speaker said about her reaction to the verdict. “We need everybody to stand together as one.”
Other speakers were more voluble when taking a shared megaphone. “This shit has been going on for centuries,” another demonstrator said.
The remarks continued until about 2 a.m. as the crowd thinned out. A Metropolitan Police Department officer who was part of the march’s police escort said there were no arrests.
More demonstrations and vigils are scheduled for Sunday evening, including one at Meridian Hill Park at 6 p.m. and Howard University at 8 p.m.
