admin“My son did not deserve to die,” Tracy Martin said on Wednesday after thanking the hundreds of people who participated in a march in the teenager’s memory.
Demonstrators chanting “we want arrests” converged on Manhattan’s Union Square for the Million Hoodie March.
Martin’s son, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, was killed on 26 February, in Sanford, Florida. He was returning to a gated community in the city after buying candy at a convenience store. He was unarmed and was wearing a hooded sweat shirt, called a hoodie.
The neighbourhood watch captain, George Zimmerman, has not been charged in the shooting. Zimmerman has said the teen attacked him and he shot him in self-defence.
The demonstrators greeted the teen’s parents with “God bless you!”
Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother, told the crowd: “My heart is in pain, but to see the support of all of you really makes a difference.”
The Florida shooting has ignited a furore against the police department of the Orlando suburb of 53 500 people, prompting rallies and a protest in Governor Rick Scott’s office on Tuesday.
Sanford city commissioners on Wednesday voted 32 to express “no confidence” in Police Chief Bill Lee Jr. over the handling of the fatal shooting. The commission can’t fire Lee, however, because the police chief reports to the city manager.
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said it is sending its community relations service this week to Sanford to “address tension in the community.” — AP.
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