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Trayvon Martin case: LAPD crackdown subdues protests | |
(about 20 hours later) | |
A show of force by Los Angeles police has ensured a fourth night of protests stayed peaceful, after Florida's not-guilty verdict over a black teenager's death. | |
Some 200 people marched peacefully through the city centre on Tuesday. | |
And a rally at a park in the Crenshaw district, which saw ugly scenes on Monday night, was also trouble-free. | |
George Zimmerman, 29, was cleared on Saturday of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin's death in February 2012. | George Zimmerman, 29, was cleared on Saturday of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin's death in February 2012. |
"Rights will be respected," Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Twitter: "Crime will not be tolerated." | |
During Tuesday night's march between city hall and police headquarters, demonstrators appeared at times to be outnumbered by police, including officers on horses. | |
Police had vowed to ensure no repeat of the disturbances a night earlier when 14 arrests were made as a splinter group of protesters in Crenshaw jumped on cars, punched bystanders and vandalised property. | |
Meanwhile, US Attorney General Eric Holder cited the Trayvon Martin case as he urged a nationwide review of stand your ground laws, which permit the use of deadly force if a person feels seriously threatened. | |
"It's time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defence and sow dangerous conflict in our neighbourhoods," America's top prosecutor said in a speech to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's convention on Tuesday in Orlando, Florida. | |
The ousted police chief in Sanford, the Orlando suburb where Trayvon Martin was shot, had cited Florida's stand your ground measure as his reason for not initially arresting Mr Zimmerman. | |
Stand your ground was never raised during the trial, though the judge included a provision about the law in her instructions to the jury, allowing it to be considered as a legitimate defence. | |
On Tuesday, broadcaster Rev Al Sharpton said there would be a civil rights conference next week to address stand your ground. | |
He is also planning "Justice for Trayvon" rallies at noon on Saturday in 100 cities around the US, appealing for federal civil rights charges to be brought against Mr Zimmerman. | |
The US Department of Justice has said it will resume its investigation into whether Trayvon Martin's civil rights had been violated during the fatal confrontation. | |
In order to file civil rights charges, they would have to show that Mr Zimmerman was motivated by racial animosity. | In order to file civil rights charges, they would have to show that Mr Zimmerman was motivated by racial animosity. |
Trayvon Martin's family has said the teenager was racially profiled, but no evidence of racial bias was presented during the trial. | Trayvon Martin's family has said the teenager was racially profiled, but no evidence of racial bias was presented during the trial. |
American soul singer Stevie Wonder reportedly said on Sunday he would not perform in Florida, or any other jurisdiction with a stand your ground law. | |
"Wherever I find that law exists, I will not perform in that state or in that part of the world," he told fans at a concert in Quebec City, Canada. | "Wherever I find that law exists, I will not perform in that state or in that part of the world," he told fans at a concert in Quebec City, Canada. |
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