Rally In Tally Canceled, Others Planned For Trayvon Martin
ATLANTA (CBSMiami) – The local, state and national rallies taking place in the wake of the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin are moving full steam ahead Friday but there's been a change for a planned rally in Tally.
The planned march on Florida's Capitol by students and civil rights organization has been scrapped, at least for now.
Students from Florida State, Florida A&M and Tallahassee Community College were planning a Friday march to protest the failure of authorities in central Florida to make an arrest in the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last month by a neighborhood watch captain.
Organizers say they were unable to get the insurance required by the city of Tallahassee for events where streets are blocked off.
Thursday, Gov. Rick Scott announced that the county prosecutor had recused himself from the case and that a state attorney from Jacksonville would take over the investigation. Scott also ordered a task force to investigate not only the events surrounding the black teen's death, but to review Florida's controversial so-called Stand Your Ground law. The law allows anyone who fears for their safety to use deadly force.
Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee also announced Thursday that he was stepping down temporarily in order to help quell the rising passions surrounding the case.
More than 1.3 million people have signed an online petition urging authorities to file criminal charges against George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who has told police he shot Martin in self-defense while the teen was walking home from a convenience store. He has not been charged.
On Monday, people angered over the shooting in Sanford, Florida, a city of 50,000 just north of Orlando where the shooting took place, plan to march to the site of a city commissioners' meeting, said Valerie Houston, pastor of Allen Baptist Church.
Also on Monday, students and civil-rights leaders in Atlanta, Georgia plan to march to the state capitol.
They say the march and a rally are aimed at amending or abolishing Georgia's "Stand Your Ground" law, the state's version of a law involved in the Florida case. The "stand your ground" law doesn't require people to retreat from potential danger in public places and instead allows them to meet "force with force" if they believe there is danger of serious harm to themselves or someone else.
The Georgia march organizers are asking participants to wear hoodies and bring Skittles because Martin was wearing a hoodie and had just bought a bag of the candy when he was killed.
Similar rallies are planned in the coming days in Greenville, South Carolina and Norfolk, Virginia, among other places.
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