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This story was updated at 9:38 p.m.
NORWALK, Conn. — Concern over the fatal shooting of a Florida teen will be expressed Saturday, April 7, in South Norwalk during a rally planned by Norwalk religious leaders.
The "March for Justice" in support of the late Trayvon Martin and his parents will begin at Calvary Baptist Church and end at Grace Baptist Church. It is sponsored by the Rev. Nellie Mann and the Heart to Heart Foundation in cooperation with the Rev. Jeffrey Ingraham, the Norwalk Clergy Association and others.
Trayvon, a 17-year-old, was fatally shot Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla., in a gated community that he was visiting with his father. Police say the shooter was Neighborhood Watch Captain George Zimmerman, who has not been arrested in the death. Although Zimmerman has claimed self-defense, Trayvon was not armed and was carrying only a bag of Skittles and a bottle of ice tea.
The case has attracted national news media attention, and recordings of the 911 call from the incident have been played over and over again on the airwaves. Recently, comments by Geraldo Rivera about young black and Hispanic men wearing hoodies has drawn indignation from those upset about the case.
The March for Justice will be preceded at 9:30 a.m. by prayers at the church at 21 Concord St.
"We don't understand why this man was not arrested and put in jail," Mann said. "We need some answers. We want to stand for Mr. and Mrs. Martin, the parents of this young man who was murdered.
"We're asking anyone who would like to be part of this march to please show up at 9:30 at the Calvary Baptist Church parking lot and make sure they bring their Skittles and ice tea."
Mann suggests that marchers bring their children. She said, "We're looking for all nationalities because this is affecting everybody. Everybody. All churches, all pastors, all community workers should come out.
"I'm looking for everybody to make this a success, it won't be successful without the entire community coming out to march with us."
Comments (9)
Now the mortician, Richard Kurtz, has chimed in with a story that there wasn't another mark on the body except for the bullet wound, no bruises, no lacerations, nothing to support the story of a fight. Don't be too surprised to see the Martin family file a suit against the community association. The claim will be that Zimmerman was acting as an agent of the association, and the association is liable for allowing him to patrol while carrying a gun, having no neighborhood watch training, and a history of anger management issues. Was there an autopsy ?
Old Timer
"It would seem to me that, if it was justified self defense, both the police chief and the county attorney would have backed up that finding."
This is a giant assumption on your part. It could also be the case that, absent video or witnesses, the police chief and the county attorney will never be able to make a conclusive finding of whether or not this was justified self defense. Unlike all the people who are rushing to judgement, the police chief and county attorney can only make statements that are backed up by factual information.
I agree with you completely that most of what Zimmerman did leading up to the shooting was ill-advised, but if Zimmerman's version of events is true and he really was attacked, he then had a right to defend himself. If I go to a dangerous neighborhood and get attacked, you might argue that I never should have been there in the first place, and you'd be right. But my bad decision to go there doesn't negate my right to defend myself.
I'm sure the investigators have questioned Zimmerman thoroughly and may question him more in the near future. Tragically, Trayvon Martin can't be questioned. The investigators will test all of Zimmerman's statements against all the other facts they have, and if there are inconsistencies, THEN there may be a case to prosecute. Until that point, it's irresponsible and inflammatory for those of us who don't have access to all the information to try and adjudicate the case based on the limited facts that have been leaked out to date.
All that said, the "stand your ground" law does seem like something that could make people overly trigger happy. I wonder if Zimmerman was aware of the law before this incident.
Iwitherspoon:
The police chief and the county attorney already determined that shooting Trayvon Martin was justified self-defense and then ordered Zimmerman's "unarrest", after the responding officers brought him in, handcuffed, under arrest.
Under ideal circumstances, a police chief or a county attorney (prosecutor) only make statements backed by evidence. They are not restricted in what they say and incorrect or strictly opinion statements sometimes happen.
None of us may ever have enough information to make a conclusive finding, but somebody down there already decided, Zimmerman is a free man, and the police chief and the county attorney both recused themselves and handed their responsibilities to others.
If, God forbid, it was your child that died, you would be outraged and it would take an AWFUL lot to convince you he was a victim of justified self defense.
If the county attorney had stayed out of it and let the police make a judgement and continue the investigation, when it got to court, days later, he would have more information and could then decide wether to prosecute, downgrade the charges, or to dismiss the charges,
You are correct in at least one thing, somebody down there, who could see Zimmerman, Martin, the scene & many more things we cannot see decided that it was obvious self defense. Whether they are right or wrong is yet to be determined but I cant see outright dismissing their trained professional observations because the media chose to sensationalize a tragedy & Sharpton decided to capitalize on it. I'm also certain the investigation is ongoing & if they turn up facts that change things he will be indicted by the grand jury soon.
The DA cant stay out of it, thats not how things work. Its their job to decide if charges will be filed or not. If it was my child I'd certainly be upset, but I'm also certain it wouldnt be such a circus.
The facts will come out but the damage is already done.
seems to me the media wont be happy until there are riots over this...which is coming. sounds like they are fanning the flames so they can broadcast it 24 hours day and sell more advertising. Let the system in Florida take care of it and stop playing it out in the media.
Zimmerman was not really part of any recognised neighborhood watch program. He was a self appointed "captain" who carried a gun and usually had a large dog with him. Most police depts encourage neighborhood watch programs and carefully train participants to observe, avoid confrontation, leave weapons at home, and call in any suspicious persons or activity. There is no sign of any visible injury in the video when he was brought to the police station in handcuffs and apparently under arrest. Later, some assistant county attorney told the cops to "unarrest" him because, based on Florida's "stand your ground" law, it would be hard to get a conviction. There has been no report of any documentation (photographs and medical treatment) of any injuries. It would seem to me that, if it was justified self defense, both the police chief and the county attorney would have backed up that finding. That did NOT happen. No wonder the family of Trayvon Martin, and many others, are outraged.
Hard to top that Iwitherspoon, very well said.
Things happen & if you want the truth you wait for it to come out or you look for it, you dont invent it to suit your feelings & further your agenda. Its unfortunate but I think these demonstrations do nothing much more than fuel hatred. That so many would use this tragedy for their own agendas is pretty sad.
Martin's death is a tragedy, but the tragedy has been made even worse by the rush to judgement about what happened. Professional agitators are propagating the message that this is simply a case of police not caring because the victim - who they have declared innocent of any wrongdoing - was black, and that there is no justice for black people. This is an irresponsible message considering the fact that most Police Departments - including Norwalk's - work so hard to be diverse and to be sensitive to all races, and when all the facts are not yet known. I don't know the full story and neither do any of the protestors - there are competing versions of events and the hysteria surrounding the case has brought us to the point where the facts are now irrelevant.
Even what little information about the case is public seems to be distorted. Many media reports say that police told Zimmerman NOT to follow Martin. However on the 911 call, we just hear the dispatcher saying "we don't need you to do that" when informed by Zimmerman that he was following Martin. To me, "don't need" is a lot less clear and a lot less of a direct order than "DON'T do that". Further, the dispatcher's tone does not seem to convey forcefulness or urgency behind the statement. Yet the media have reported the story as though Zimmerman were explicitly told not to follow Martin, which is inaccurate, irresponsible, and inflammatory.
Was this a case of an innocent unarmed black youth being shot simply for walking in an unfamiliar neighborhood? Or was it a case of a man who was having his head bashed into the pavement defending himself? We may never know. But we should let the investigation play out before implying, as Rev. Mann has, that a massive injustice has been perpetrated on all African-Americans because Zimmerman is not in jail.
Well said, lwitherspoon.