Rally in Hackensack for justice in Trayvon Martin case draws hundredsLast updated: Thursday April 5, 2012, 7:57 AM
BY MONSY ALVARADO
STAFF WRITER
The Record
HACKENSACK – Chants of “no justice, no peace” and refrains of “We Shall Overcome” echoed from the steps of the Bergen County Courthouse on Wednesday as hundreds rallied in solidarity with an unarmed black teenager fatally shot more than a thousand miles away.
Several hundred people from various organizations took part in a march of 'Justice and Solidarity' for Trayvon Martin in Hackensack.
On the 44th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., demonstrators carrying banners and American flags demanded a thorough investigation and an arrest in the death of 17-year old Trayvon Martin of Florida.
“We are standing here tonight in solidarity with Trayvon Martin’s parents, and to say we are human and we are sons and daughters of God,” said the Rev. Calvin McKinney, the pastor at Calvary Baptist Church of North Jersey in Garfield.
Speakers at the rally, which lasted about an hour, stressed that the event was about justice, not race, and about keeping King’s message alive.
“Martin Luther King died 44 years ago but the dream never did,” said Michael Jackson, the son of the Rev. Gregory Jackson, pastor of Mount Olive Baptist Church in Hackensack, which organized the rally. “But Trayvon Martin did die and he is unable to dream ever again, and every single one of us represents him in some way. We will have justice, period.”
Martin was killed Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla., where he was visiting his father. He was shot as he returned from a convenience store with a bag of Skittles and an iced tea.
George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in the gated community, told police that he shot Martin in self-defense. No charges have been filed in the case, but the U.S. Justice Department and FBI have opened a civil-rights investigation and a grand jury will decide whether Zimmerman will be charged.
Several elected officials stood on the steps of the courthouse, including Rep. Steve Rothman, D-Englewood; Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan; Bergen County Freeholders John Mitchell, David Ganz and Robert Hermansen; Hackensack Mayor Jorge Meneses and Teaneck Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin .
Rothman said the purpose of rally was to draw attention to the “grave injustice” to Martin, whom he called an “innocent young man pursued by someone who had no legal business, no legal right, no legal reason to follow him … and kill him in cold blood.”
The rally followed a 30-minute march to the courthouse from the Mount Olive Baptist Church on Central Avenue. Several marchers wore hooded sweatshirts like the one Martin was wearing when he was killed.
Several speakers brought up Malik Williams, who was shot and killed in December by officers after he fled Garfield police headquarters, where he was being processed on an assault charge.
Demonstrators criticized Florida’s “stand-your-ground” law, which allows people who feel threatened to use deadly force in self defense without first retreating, even when they are in public.
“We can’t just be OK to shoot anyone we want to,” said Leya Mollette of Teaneck, who walked with her 3-year-old daughter and her husband, Leo. “We should let the cops do their job, and it’s not up to us to kill anybody and take someone’s life.”
Email: alvarado@northjersey.com
