‘Justice for Trayvon’ rallies set for 100 cities

One week after a jury found George Zimmerman not guilty in the death of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin, people began to gather for nationwide rallies to press for federal civil rights charges against the former neighborhood watch leader.

The Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network organized the “Justice for Trayvon” rallies and vigils outside federal buildings in at least 101 cities: from New York and Los Angeles to Wichita, Kan., and Atlanta, where people stood in the rain at the base of the federal courthouse, with traffic blocked on surrounding downtown streets. Most rallies were scheduled for noon local times.

n addition to pushing the Justice Department to investigate civil rights charges against Zimmerman, Sharpton told supporters he wants to see a rollback of stand-your-ground self-defense laws.

“We are trying to change laws so that this never, ever happens again,” Sharpton said.

Stand-your-ground laws are on the books in more than 20 states, and they go beyond many older, traditional self-defense statutes. In general, the laws eliminate a person’s duty to retreat in the face of a serious physical threat.

Part of Sharpton’s comments echoed those made by President Barack Obama on the case yesterday. “Racial profiling is not as bad as segregation, but you don’t know the humiliation of being followed in a department store,” Sharpton said.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced this week that his department would investigate whether Zimmerman could be charged under federal civil rights laws. Such a case would require evidence that Zimmerman harbored racial animosity against Martin. Most legal experts say that would be a difficult charge to bring.

Holder said the shooting demonstrates the need to re-examine stand-your-ground laws.

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