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The
Day After: Widespread Angry Protests, Tactical Alerts, Some
Vandalism, No Major Riots
Young people took over the streets of NW DC to march for
Riots in downtown Oakland in response to Zimmerman ruling.
protestors gather ing now at 14th/Broadway upset by 's acquittal in death
14
July, 2013
Despite
the worst fears of many that this morning America might wake up to a
redux of a flaming Compton and Watts, so far there have been no
widespread riots or looting, even if vandalism has broken out
sporadically among the countrywide angry protests.
From
AFP:
"Americans angry at the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the
death of black teen Trayvon Martin marched in US cities throughout
Saturday night, with reports of sporadic acts of violence.
Spontaneous marches of varying sizes erupted in cities including San
Francisco, Chicago, Washington, Atlanta and Philadelphia.
Prominent
rights activists like Jesse Jackson appealed for calm. "Avoid
violence, it will lead to more tragedies. Find a way for self
construction not deconstruction in this time of despair," he
wrote on Twitter. Martin's parents have long called for non-violent
demonstrations, quoting civil rights icon Martin Luther King and the
Bible. Several hundred demonstrators marched peacefully amid a heavy
police presence in downtown San Francisco soon after the verdict.
Many
carried signs with slogans such as "The people say guilty."
Hours later angry protesters marching through Oakland -- just across
the bay from San Francisco -- spray-painted cars and smashed windows,
helicopter video footage posted by the Oakland Tribune showed. One
vandalized vehicle was a police cruiser."
The LAPD has declared a citywide tactical alert amid a protest in Leimert Park sparked by the George Zimmerman not-guilty verdict in Florida on Saturday night.
The alert initially applied only to the agency's South Bureau -- but it was expanded to include the entire city, a LAPD sergeant said. In a tactical alert, officers can be held over after their regular shifts and do not have to respond to low-priority radio calls.
LAPD Sgt. Carlton Brown said the decision was made as a precaution amid the controversial verdict. He said there have been no reports of problems at the demonstration in Leimert Park.
"We think it's going to remain that way," he said.
Brown said he heard the crowd grew to some 200 but was now starting to dissipate.
Twitter users were posting about the demonstration Saturday night in the historically black neighborhood.
"Just drove thru Leimert Park, they're having an extremely peaceful rally." wrote user @dj_RTistic. "News vans are out and a few Black cops are there to patrol it"
Elsewhere,
around the country:
In Chicago, to the cry of "No justice, no peace! No racist police!" a crowd of activists held a noisy downtown rally, the Chicago Tribune reported, while protesters gathered at Times Square in New York City to vent their anger.
In Washington, dozens of mostly African-American youths marched chanting slogans in a city neighborhood. They were followed closely by patrol vehicles, an AFP journalist reported.
A crowd of several hundred gathered all day Saturday outside the courthouse in Sanford, Florida -- and many were outraged when the verdict was read.
"It's the end of our justice system," said Ashton Summer, a 20 year-old Puerto Rican. "Justice is not equal for everyone."
The ANSWER coalition, which helped organize large protest rallies during the Iraq war, said it would hold marches Sunday in seven US cities, as well as three separate ones in New York.
"We are very saddened by the jury's verdict," said Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump after the verdict was read. "The family is heartbroken."
Rights activist Al Sharpton posted a statement on Facebook describing Zimmerman's acquittal as "a slap in the face to the American people."
"We intend to ask the Department of Justice to move forward as they did in the Rodney King case and we will closely monitor the civil case against Mr. Zimmerman," said Sharpton.
Benjamin Todd Jealous, head of the NAACP, the premier US civil rights group, said his organization is "outraged and heartbroken" over the verdict.
"We will pursue civil rights charges with the Department of Justice, we will continue to fight for the removal of Stand Your Ground laws in every state, and we will not rest until racial profiling in all its forms is outlawed."
The controversial laws allow people who fear for their lives to use deadly force to defend themselves without having to flee a confrontation.
"The jury found he acted appropriately in defending his life in accordance with the law," George's brother Robert Zimmerman Jr. said on CNN.
"I think that conjecture and speculation and emotional reaction to what people think may or may not have happened has been dominating the discussion for a long time."
Robert Zimmerman however said that "there are people that would want to take the law into their own hands ... and they will always present a threat to George and his family."
And
some documentary evidence courtesy
of RT:
Young people took over the streets of NW DC to march for
Riots in downtown Oakland in response to Zimmerman ruling.
protestors gather ing now at 14th/Broadway upset by 's acquittal in death
Real
American Justice: No Justice for Trayvon Martin or any person of
color
Commentary
from a Black man wearing a hoodie
14
July, 2013
As
the world grapples with the implications of the “Not
Guilty” verdict
that six anonymous women rendered in favor of George Zimmerman’s
“self-defense” claim for killing an unarmed 17 year-old Black
teenager named Trayvon Benjamin Martin on a dark and rainy night in
Sanford, Florida on February 26, 2012; a murder trial that many in
the United States considered the civil
rights trial of the 21st century, logical people must ask aloud,
“Should we really be surprised by the verdict?” The simple answer
is “No”.
For
the most the United States of America has always been a racist and
bigoted country. That’s not to imply that every non person of color
in the U.S. is a racist, but those who are not racist and bigoted
fully understand / know (if
they’re honest)
that being born White in America is more advantageous than let’s
say being born Black or Brown.
For
a White person to say unequivocally that “times have changed” and
that the color of one’s skin really doesn’t matter in the United
States of America has evidently never had the experience of being
pulled over by the police for Driving While Black or subjected to
suspicious stares while shopping at the mall.
But
now “the game” in America has changed with George Zimmerman’s
“Not Guilty” verdict. Unarmed Black men, young and not-so-young,
can be followed by suspicious Whites, approached and shot dead
without fear of facing a prison conviction. “Walking While Black”
can now be punishable by death and all the White person has to say if
a fight ensues is that they feared for their life.
The
American justice system can’t allow “thugged out” Black menaces
to society to fight back and stand their ground against law abiding
White folk; naw, not now not ever. The rules that some call “laws”
were never written to protect people of color; rather they were
written and passed to keep us in our place.
Understanding
America’s twisted perceptions
We
only have to go back as far as our parents and grandparents
generation to get a clearer picture of just how twisted “American
justice” can be when it comes to race relations.
From
the beginning the far majority of American parents and grandparents
were taught as children that the Red man aka “Indian” was a
“backward savage” who didn’t deserve to be stewards of such a
beautiful and majestic land that held so much promise for
European-American settlers.
So
it was only “natural” when our parents and grandparents played
“Cowboys and Indians” that Native Americans were immediately
identified as being the “the bad guys”.
Consequently
the more Indians they pretended to kill as cowboys made them feel
good and even boosted their self-esteem. This pseudo belief that
Native Americans were the enemy was perpetuated by lies, film and
stage. And because millions of Native Americans were exiled to live
on Indian Reservations we have a tendency to forget their pain and
their continued suffering, “out of sight, out of mind”.
But
what about African-American young men who strive to live the American
dream? Is it being too uppity for us to ask people who suffer from
Negrophobia to be left alone and allowed to walk home from a
convenience store without being hunted, approached and killed?
Or
are we supposed to be confined to our own “Black folk reservations”
and immediately present a special “visiting pass” with our eyes
and voice lowered, to our Negrophobiac interrogator when we venture
off the Rez? I wonder, Justice Clarence Thomas do you care what
conservatism has evolved into? That’s right I’m calling you out
sir. You know Karma is a funny thing, “what goes around, comes
around”.
In
closing, if Black folk don’t get off their ass and begin voting in
local, state, congressional and senatorial elections we’re going to
wake up one day and find out that conservatism has now killed our
sons, our daughters and our spouse. Florida’s self-defense law was
not written to protect Black folk, had it been, Trayvon
Martin’s
killer would be sitting in a jail cell now.
And
let’s not fool our self, if Trayvon Martin had been 27 years-old
and shot and killed an unarmed 17 year-old White teenaged boy coming
home from a convenience store, Trayvon would be in prison today, most
likely on death row. Are you listening world? This is American
justice and it stinks.
Oscar
Grant, your death is not forgotten sir and neither will Trayvon’s
death be forgotten as well. The question is what will Black and Brown
folk do? To the haters I extend my middle finger. You see it ain’t
so easy to kill a grown Black man who can shoot back. George
Zimmerman Karma is a mother (you know the other word) and if Karma is
late, just remember that God don’t like ugly.
Let’s
hear it world, is my commentary right or is it wrong? An Inquiring
mind who’s wearing a hoodie would like to know.
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