Demonstrators To Protest Zimmerman Verdict In Conn.
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Demonstrators are planning peaceful rallies in Bridgeport to protest a jury's not-guilty verdict against George Zimmerman in the killing of teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida.
A rally is planned for 5 p.m. Tuesday outside the federal court building and another is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday on McLevy Green, The Connecticut Post reports. The protests are among dozens being held across the country.
Hundreds of people gathered in front of New Haven City Hall on Monday to protest the verdict. Demonstrators told the New Haven Register that they wanted to express their heartache and disappointment and call for efforts to end racial profiling.
Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer, was acquitted by a jury Saturday in the fatal shooting of the 17-year-old Martin last year in Sanford, Fla.
Monday night, one of the jurors spoke out about the case.
Known as Juror B37, she told CNN's Anderson Cooper that when the jury began deliberations Friday, three jurors, including B37, were in favor of acquittal, two supported manslaughter and one backed second-degree murder.
When asked if she thought Martin threw the first punch, the juror said, "I think he did."
The woman also said Zimmerman had a right to protect himself.
"I think he's guilty of not using good judgment," she said. "When he was in the car and he called 911, he shouldn't have gotten out of that car."
The juror also said others on the jury wanted to find Zimmerman guilty of something, but there was just no place to go based on the law.
"It was just hard thinking somebody lost their life, and there's nothing else that could be done about it," the Juror said.
B37 said that she did not think that Zimmerman was guilty of either charge.
"I think he's guilty of not using good judgement," she said, "When he was in the car and he called 911, he shouldn't have gotten out of that car."
She added that it was when Zimmerman confronted Martin that their roles became reversed, and that Martin threw the first punch.
"Trayvon decided that he wasn't going to let him scare him and get one over or up on him or something, and I think Trayvon got mad and attacked him," she said.
She said jurors cried when they gave their final vote to the bailiff.
Still Martin's friend Rachel Jenteal said that the jury got it wrong.
"We didn't get no justice, just like in the old days," she said, "We just lost another child."
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