Trayvon Martin: Protesters march to L.A. City Hall
April 9, 2012
Los Angeles Times
Marchers were moving through the streets of downtown Los Angeles on Monday evening to protest the shooting of black Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.
The Los Angeles Police Department warned that some streets between Pershing Square and downtown L.A. could be closed during the march, which runs from 5th and Hill streets to Spring and 1st streets. The march was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
PHOTOS: Trayvon Martin march in Los Angeles
The march was organized by ANSWER Los Angeles Coalition. It was one of several in Los Angeles and other cities in recent weeks.
"We must keep up the pressure in the streets to win justice," the organization said in a statement. "We will also demand justice for all victims of racist violence."
Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old who was wearing a hoodie, was shot Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla. Neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman, 28, claims he shot Martin in self-defense, but activists have demanded Zimmerman's arrest.
Martin was returning from a trip to a convenience store when he crossed paths with Zimmerman.
The volunteer had stepped up to be the neighborhood watch volunteer in his gated community, intending to help combat a months-long rash of burglaries and other crimes. Zimmerman was on his way to the supermarket when he called the Sanford Police Department to report a young black male acting suspiciously, possibly on drugs.
Within minutes, Martin was dead of a gunshot wound. Zimmerman has said that he fired at Martin in self-defense after the youth struck him in the face, knocked him down and began pounding his head into the ground. But many believe Zimmerman was the aggressor, and note that he continued to follow Martin even after the police dispatcher told him it wasn't necessary.
The special prosecutor in the Martin case announced Monday that she will not take the case before a Florida grand jury -- but will continue pursuing her investigation.
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