Attorneys in case make arguments

Associated Press

MIAMI

Attorneys for the family of Trayvon Martin and the Florida neighborhood-watch captain who fatally shot the unarmed teen joined the national chorus of voices calling Saturday for justice in the case.

As demonstrators took to the streets in major cities such as Washington and Chicago to voice outrage over Martin’s death, an attorney for the Martin family told board members of the National Association of Black Journalists that federal and local officials have assured the family that the case is a priority.

Meanwhile, an attorney representing the neighborhood-watch captain, 28-year-old George Zimmerman, defended his client and said he believes evidence will show that Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law was properly applied.

Zimmerman has not been charged in the Feb. 26 shooting that has ignited racial tensions and raised questions about the Sanford police’s handling of the case. Martin was black, and Zimmerman’s father is white and his mother is Hispanic.

“Is George a racist? The answer is no, absolutely not. He’s not a racist,” attorney Craig Sonner said about his client.

Sonner declined to detail what transpired between Zimmerman and the 17-year-old Martin, but he said he believes the case falls under Florida’s stand-your-ground law, which dictates that a person has the right to stand his or her ground and “meet force with force” if attacked.

“I believe what the evidence will show is that this case does fall under that,” Sonner said.

If charges are brought against his client, Zimmerman would be willing to turn himself in to police, Sonner said. He would not say where Zimmerman was.

About 400 people rallied Saturday in downtown Chicago to protest Martin’s killing. In Washington, a large crowd gathered in Freedom Plaza to call for justice in the shooting.

“Hoodie Marches” were organized Saturday in two South Carolina cities over social media. Many of the people participating carried bags of Skittles and wore hooded sweat shirts, like the one Martin wore when he was killed.