It only took two words to put the nation in a frenzy: not guilty.
After three weeks of testimony in Sanford, a jury of six women found George Zimmerman not guilty of the second-degree murder and manslaughter of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Martin’s death and Saturday night’s verdict have revived the racial profiling debate and sparked protests all over the country — and in Gainesville, too.
On Monday, UF Dream Defenders and other community organizations marched from the Bo Diddley Community Plaza to the U.S. Department of Justice Gainesville field office to demand justice for Martin. About 50 people attended the march.
Jeremiah Tattersall, 27, who has worked with UF Dream Defenders and UF Students for a Democratic Society, said he was shocked when he heard the verdict.
“It really just took the wind out of us,” he said.
Tattersall said the continued tragedy is that Martin is not the first or last man to die because of cultural racism. The current laws — including “stand your ground” — convicted Martin of his own murder, he said, and these laws need to change.
“Today is about taking that angst and raw emotion and trying to direct it to something meaningful and lasting for change for the better,” Tattersall said about the march.
The Gainesville protesters joined thousands of people nationwide in expressing their dissatisfaction with the verdict.
Celebrities like Miley Cyrus, John Cusack and Judy Blume took to Twitter. Beyonce stopped a concert to hold a moment of silence for Martin. President Barack Obama released a statement saying the United States is a nation of laws, and the jury had spoken.
Chrisley Carpio, lead organizer for UF Students for a Democratic Society, experienced the public’s reaction firsthand. She heard the verdict while standing in a designated area for protesters outside the Sanford courthouse.
“People burst into tears. There was outrage,” said the 21-year-old UF history senior. “But there was more grief than anything else.”
Carpio said after the announcement, the crowd began chanting, and police immediately started turning people away from the protesting area.
“They prevented the community from coming together,” she said.
Carpio said she was devastated by the outcome and was anticipating Zimmerman being convicted.
Despite the trial’s results, 19-year-old Gainesville resident Billy Hill said he still has faith in the justice system. He said Zimmerman will “live with this for the rest of his life.”
Jesse Smith, a 19-year-old Florida State University sociology sophomore and Gainesville resident, said she was not surprised by the verdict.
“My whole family cried,“ Smith said.
Smith said she came to Monday’s march to help evoke change.
“We’re the ones living in an unjust world,” she said, “and if we don’t stand up to it, nothing’s going to happen.”
Contact Alexa Volland at avolland@alligator.org.
The UF Dream Defenders host a meeting at the Civic Meeting Center on Sunday afternoon. They discussed the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin.
