rallies elsewhere are mostly peaceful. George
Zimmerman's legal woes may not be over.
Trayvon Martin supporters marked the first day after
George Zimmerman's acquittal with protests in Los
Angeles, New York and elsewhere Sunday, blocking
the 10 Freeway for about 20 minutes, while President
Obama called Martin's killing a tragedy and asked
Americans to honor the jury's verdict.
The Los Angeles Police Department called a citywide
tactical alert and made at least one arrest, saying
protesters threw rocks and batteries at officers just
north of the freeway.
LAPD Cmdr. Andy Smith said
police responded by firing nonlethal rounds.
By late
evening, demonstrators were marching on several
streets, disrupting traffic but otherwise remaining
peaceful.
In New York, chanting protesters massed in Times
Square after marching about two miles from an
earlier rally in Union Square. Protests also took place
in Chicago, Oakland and Sanford, Fla.
In Florida, Zimmerman spent the day in seclusion
after a six-person jury found him not guilty of
second-degree murder and manslaughter Saturday
night.
One of his attorneys said Zimmerman intended
to get his gun back because he needed it more than
ever.
Martin's family kept a low profile after initially
reacting to the verdict via Twitter.
"Thanks to everyone who are with us and who will be
with us [so] we together can make sure that this
doesn't happen again," Martin's father, Tracy Martin,
tweeted.
In Washington, Obama said he respected the jury's
decision and asked the nation to reflect on gun
violence.
He called Martin's death a tragedy, "Not
just for his family, or any one community, but for
America."
"I know this case has elicited strong passions," the
president said. "And in the wake of the verdict, I
know those passions may be running even higher. But
we are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken."
Some members of Congress and the National Assn.
for the Advancement of Colored People called for the
Justice Department to pursue a civil rights case
against Zimmerman.
The department issued a
statement reiterating that it was still investigating
the case.
Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump told ABC's
"This Week" that the couple had not ruled out a
lawsuit.
"They deeply want a sense of justice. They deeply
don't want their son's death to be in vain," Crump
said. "They're in disbelief about this verdict. It's just
one of the things they have to deal with — they're in
church this morning, praying and turning to God, a
higher authority, to make sense of it all."
Zimmerman attorney Mark O'Mara told ABC News
that his client had received threats and wears a
protective vest in public. Zimmerman fears for his
safety and needs his gun now "even more," O'Mara
said.
"There are a lot of people out there who actually hate
him, though they shouldn't," O'Mara said.
Zimmerman still thinks he needed the gun the night
he shot Martin, O'Mara said. "I think that he feels,
truly in his heart, that if he did not have that weapon
he might not be here."
O'Mara said he suspected Zimmerman would have to
move away from Sanford and would have a hard time
finding work.
"I don't think anyone can hire him.... George is a
pariah," he said.
Zimmerman's older brother, Robert Zimmerman Jr.,
told CNN that George was afraid because "there are
people that would want to take the law into their own
hands as they perceive it, or be vigilantes in some
sense. They think that justice was not served, they
won't respect the verdict no matter how it was
reached and they will always present a threat to
George and his family."
Sanford police stepped up patrols, particularly
around the gated community where the shooting
occurred, the Retreat at Twin Lakes.
Steve Ornstein, 45, has lived at the stucco complex
for four years, just up the street from Zimmerman,
whom he knew. On Sunday, Ornstein walked through
a grassy yard, down the path behind backyard patios
where the killing occurred. He pointed out where
Martin had stayed, and homes of various neighbors
who testified at the trial.
There were was no sign left, no bloodstains on the
concrete and no memorial. But Ornstein said it still
felt eerie.
He doesn't like to walk back there. Complex
managers have suspended the neighborhood watch
program indefinitely, he said.
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