Across the U.S., anger continues in wake of Zimmerman verdict
President Barack Obama pleaded for calm, and protests have been largely peaceful, after a jury of six women in Sanford, Fla., found neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman not guilty in the February 2012 shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in a case that has ignited a debate about racial profiling in the U.S.
Protesters, clad in hoodies and clutching bags of Skittles candy and bottles of iced tea like those Trayvon Martin was carrying when he died, gathered to denounce acquittal of George Zimmerman in Brooklyn, N.Y., on July 14, 2013.KEITH BEDFORD/Reuters
Across the U.S., people poured into the streets to participate in largely peaceful protests, including a mass demonstration in Times Square in New York City on July 14, 2013.KEITH BEDFORD/Reuters
A man with symbolic face paint attended a protest rally in Miami, Fla., on July 14, 2013.The acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting of Trayvon Martin sparked a debate about racial profiling in the American criminal justice system.Andrew Innerarity/Reuters
Rev. Anthony Evans, president of the National Black Church Initiative, spoke to the media during a demonstration asking for legal action in the shooting of Trayvon Martin outside the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., on July 15, 2013.JOSE LUIS MAGANA/Reuters
A woman shouts during a demonstration against the acquittal of George Zimmerman in Los Angeles, Calif., on July 14, 2013.JONATHAN ALCORN/Reuters
On the steps of a district courthouse Oscar Eason, Jr., president of the Alaska, Oregon and Washington Area National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, calls for a crowd in Seattle, Wash., to protest the not-guilty verdict of George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin during a rally on July 14, 2013.LINDSEY WASSON/The Associated Press
A demonstrator with a sign sits in a city intersection during a protest with a heavy police presence in Los Angeles, Calif., on July 14, 2013, the day after George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.Ringo H.W. Chiu/The Associated Press