A few hundred people, many wearing hoodie sweatshirts, gathered on the steps of the state capitol in Lansing Tuesday to demand justice for a teenager shot and killed in Florida last month.
A month ago, 17 year old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. The Florida teen’s death has spurred a national debate over what constitutes self-defense and concerns for the safety of young black men.
Protests have taken place this week in Kalamazoo, Flint, Ypsilanti and other cities in Michigan and around the country. Tuesday, the protests reached the steps of Michigan’s state capitol.
"Don’t you leave here and let Trayvon’s memory die in vain," one speaker urged the crowd.
Speaker after speaker encouraged people at the rally to take an active role, not just in demanding justice for Trayvon Martin, but to demand similar deaths won’t happen here.
Reverend Aaron Milton told the crowd that it’s important they become a community.
"God has given us a strategy…and that strategy is to stick together," the minister from Holt told the crowd at the rally.
The protesters say they will continue to demand justice for Trayvon Martin.
