Reverend Al Sharpton organized protests in more than 100 cities in honor of Trayvon Martin — one week after his killer George Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder charges. Protests throughout the week were largely peaceful, though there were clashes with law enforcement.
On Wednesday, 17 protesters were arrested at a California mall for unlawful assembly. About 80 people joined in the protests, many of them black teenagers.
A day later, in another California town, protesters assaulted a police officer and his horse, throwing rocks, bottles and debris at law enforcement officials as they tried to break up the demonstrations.
In a counter-protest, two white men showed up to a Trayvon Martin rally in Wichita, Kan., wearing black t-shirts with racist messages.
One t-shirt read: “This shirt can say (n-word) because it’s black,” according to TheBlaze.com.
Despite the racist t-shirts, the protest did not turn violent and there were no arrests.
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The Associated Press reports that at a rally in Manhattan on Saturday, Mr. Sharpton said, “We are trying to change laws so that this never, ever happens again.”
Speaking at the same “Justice for Trayvon” rally the boy’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, said: “Today it was my son. Tomorrow it might be yours.”
• Tim Devaney can be reached at tdevaney@washingtontimes.com.
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