Skip to main content
Donate

Trayvon Martin 'Prayer Rally' Scheduled for Tonight

By City News Service
July 15, 2013
Support Provided By
At a Trayvon Martin rally in Hollywood in March 2012

| Photo: Greg Lilly Photos/Flickr/Creative Commons License

Community leaders plan to lead a "prayer rally" at Leimert Park tonight in the aftermath of George Zimmerman's acquittal at his murder trial for the slaying of Trayvon Martin.

The rally is set for 6 p.m. At a news conference at 11 a.m., also at Leimert Park, black community and political leaders and representatives of the Los Angeles Police Department will appeal to people who disagreed with the verdict to remain peaceful at tonight's rally and in future demonstrations.

Expected to attend the news conference were U.S. Rep. Karen Bass, D- Culver City, LAPD representatives, and civil rights activists Najee Ali, Rev. K.W. Tulloss, and Earl Ofari Hutchinson.

Ali said Bass contacted him with concerns that peaceful rallies sanctioned by the Martin family could turn violent.

"She's very concerned it could easily spiral out of control," Ali said. "Outsiders have come into our community who are extremists and are trying to take advantage of the situation to promote violence and vandalism," he said. "If you want to protest the verdict, do it legally -- don't cause disruption."

Ali said of tonight's rally, "There will be no marches. Just a prayer rally."

He noted that he and Bass lived through the 1992 riots.

"We want to show leadership and speak out with the police" to prevent anything like that from happening again, he said.

At least one person was arrested in Los Angeles Sunday afternoon during demonstrations against the verdict in the Zimmerman trial.

Support Provided By
Read More
An oil pump painted white with red accents stands mid-pump on a dirt road under a blue, cloudy sky with a green, grassy slope in the background.

California’s First Carbon Capture Project: Vital Climate Tool or License to Pollute?

California’s first attempt to capture and sequester carbon involves California Resources Corp. collecting emissions at its Elk Hills Oil and Gas Field, and then inject the gases more than a mile deep into a depleted oil reservoir. The goal is to keep carbon underground and out of the atmosphere, where it traps heat and contributes to climate change. But some argue polluting industries need to cease altogether.
By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
By Emma Foehringer Merchant, Inside Climate News