A large crowd of protesters, between 2,000 and 5,000 by various estimates, are marching through the streets of New York right now to draw attention to the killing of Trayvon Martin. The Florida teen was shot to death last month, in a case that has generated widespread outrage online.
Tim Pool has been running a live video stream of the march.
Here's a quick link to the relevant Twitter hashtag (#millionhoodiemarch), to follow tweets from people who are there. Seems like a lot of youth are present at this one, perhaps more so than at recent Occupy marches in New York. People are wearing hoodies, carrying bottles of iced tea and throwing Skittles in the air: Trayvon was wearing one, and holding that candy and beverage when he was shot. So far, police presence is high, but interactions are peaceful, and the crowd is doing its thing without much NYPD aggression. That could change before the night is through.
The parents of the slain teen are present, and addressed the crowd earlier.
#Trayvon's mother at #millionhoodiemarch: "This is not abt a black and white, this is abt a right and wrong." #POWERFUL
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) March 21, 2012
Heard that a local news outlet claimed that there were dozens of people out here. There are thousands. #millionhoodies
— EBONY Magazine (@EBONYMag) March 21, 2012
Union sq panoramic #trayvonmartin twitter.com/Timcast/status…
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) March 21, 2012
I was going to the march. The march came to me #millionhoodiemarch lockerz.com/s/194581782
— Questo of The Roots (@questlove) March 21, 2012
The chanting of 'we are all tray on Martin' got deafening. Crunch of skittles underfoot. #OWS #TravyonMartin #UnionSq
— Laurie Penny (@PennyRed) March 22, 2012
As of 8pm NYC time, the Associated Press and other news outlets still insist on reporting that only "hundreds" are participating in the march, despite evidence to the contrary. ABC News pegged the number at "dozens." As if.
As the march continues, two stories related to the case are breaking: city commissioners in Sanford, Florida have voted "no confidence" in the local police chief presiding over the case. Republican lawmakers in Florida who pushed a controversial self-defense law say it shouldn't apply to George Zimmerman, the shooter who killed Trayvon.
(photos: top, @occupywallst; inset, @xLovePatricia)
