Black Panthers George Zimmerman Protest Flops? (VIDEO)
The New Black Panthers Party has only been able to attract three people to one of its rallies in protest against the George Zimmerman trial verdict, according to reports this week.
The New Black Panther Party called for a rally on the steps of a Florida courthouse, however, they were unable to attract many people to their protest, according to The Examiner.
The leader of the party in Tampa, Ali Muhammad, was reported to have organized a "Justice for Trayvon" rally.
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The publication claims that Muhammad said on the Zimmerman not guilty verdict: "This is not normal. I Don't see how George Zimmerman isn't guilty. He's guilty of taking the law into his own hands. He not only took the law into his hands – he killed a defenseless child."
Zimmerman had been charged with second degree murder and manslaughter after shooting Martin dead after an altercation between the two last year.
Lawyers for Zimmerman, a volunteer Florida neighborhood watchman, argued that he had killed Martin in self-defense and that he used justifiable deadly force.
The jury had retired last Friday to deliberate and weigh up whether the prosecution had presented a case for second degree murder beyond reasonable doubt.
The jury had three verdicts to consider, of second degree murder, manslaughter, or not guilty on all counts. Seminole County Judge Debra Nelson had allowed the jury to consider coming to a verdict of manslaughter, which requires a lesser burden of proof and which also carries a prison sentence of up to 30 years. However, the jury believed the burden of proof had not been established by the prosecution even for that charge.
The jury had been considering whether to convict Zimmerman of second degree murder, and to do so they would have had to believe beyond reasonable doubt that Zimmerman acted with ill will, spite or hatred.
The case had sparked a furious debate across the United States with Zimmerman accused of racially profiling the teenager as he returned home from a local convenience store after buying a soda and some skittles.
Zimmerman called 911 to report a "suspicious" person in the neighborhood and was told not to pursue by the dispatcher, but instead await police to attend.
However, prosecutors allege that he continued to follow Martin, and the two later came to blows as an altercation broke out.
In the fight, Zimmerman had claimed that Martin, who himself was unarmed, went for the neighborhood watchman's gun, so Zimmerman described that he was forced to shoot him.
