Community Corner
Trayvon Martin Supporters Protest Against George Zimmerman Not Guilty Verdict
The crowd of roughly 40 people came together on the Pedestrian Mall in Iowa City to protest the verdict and stand in solidarity with the family of Trayvon Martin.
Anger erupted nationally Saturday's not guilty verdict in the long awaited trial of George Zimmerman's fatal shooting of Florida teenager, Trayvon Martin.
With this, multiple events were staged all over the country in protest against the verdict. And this included a protest on the Pedestrian Mall in downtown Iowa City.
From the Daily Iowan
Rally brings localized attention to Trayvon Martin verdict
Speaker after speaker cited the importance of equality for all and the unfairness of the nation’s justice system.
“Why doesn’t the stand-your-ground law apply to Trayvon Martin?” one speaker at the rally asked of the crowd.
When asked why she chose to attend the rally, Iowa City resident and speaker Jennifer Portman-Scott replied simply, “Inequality.”
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Zimmerman acquittal prompts local rally for Trayvon Martin
Coralville resident Taryne Taylor, who protested against the Stand Your Ground law in Florida before it was implemented, said her reaction to the Zimmerman verdict was “despair and disgust.”
Taylor said she attended the rally because she is against “institutionalized racism” and the laws that permit it. She said she hopes the reaction to the verdict will incite change nationally.
Find out what's happening in Iowa Cityfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“I’m hopeful that the NAACP will be successful in filing a civil lawsuit and that this will at the very least open up a dialogue about white privilege as well as gun control laws,” Taylor said.
And KCRG/the GazetteRally in Iowa City Following Zimmerman Verdict
The beat of a drum could be heard throughout the Iowa City Pedestrian Mall accompanied by voices shouting, “No justice. No Peace.”
“We’re here because we’re pissed,” shouted Kelly Gallagher to the crowd of roughly 30 people.
[...]
Alison Oliver sat on a concrete planter in the Pedestrian Mall with her 14-year-old daughter and other rally participants. Oliver said as someone who has black family members, the rally is personal for her and she feels "it's really scary not to be able to protect them."
Oliver said she hopes the rally brings together a lasting community effort on the discussion of violence.
The Sunday rally in Iowa City came over a year following a much larger rally that took shape over the course of weeks as the nation first reacted to the shooting back in March 2012.
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