SANFORD -- Jesse Jackson called for non violence while Al Sharpton demanded the Justice Department get involved in the wake of the not-guilty verdict by the all-woman jury in the George Zimmerman murder trial.
“The acquittal of George Zimmerman is a slap in the face to the American people but it is only the firsat round in the pursuit of justice,” Sharpton said in a prepared statement released to the media. “We intend to ask the Department of Justice to move forward as they did in the Rodney King case and we will closely monitor the civil case against Mr. Zimmerman.”
Sharpton added he would convene an “emergency call” with preachers “to discuss next steps,” adding that he intends “to head to Florida in the next few days.” He didn't elaborate further.
Jackson turned to Twitter to get his message across to the media and the American people. Shortly after the verdict he tweeted: “Avoid violence, it will lead to more tragedies. Find a way for self construction not deconstruction in this time of despair. #ZimmermanTrial.”
The two self-proclaimed leaders of the black community were instrumental in holding rallies in Sanford, Miami and other cities across the U.S. and Europe in the weeks after Trayvon Martin was shot to death by Zimmerman and more than a million people signed online petitions calling for Zimmerman's arrest after Sanford cops let him go under provisions of Florida's controversial stand your ground law.
At the urging of Jackson and Sharpton, NBA stars and other athletes wore hoodies as a sign of solidarity for Trayvon Martin and members of the Black Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives in a resolution described the slaying as one of “racial bias.”
The two reverends weren't the only leaders in the black community reacting to the verdict.
"Today, justice failed Trayvon Martin and his family," Roslyn M. Brock, chair of the National Association of Colored People, said in a prepared statement to the media.
Brock continued, "We call immediately for the Justice Department to conduct an investigation into the civil rights violations committed against Trayvon Martin. This case has re-energized the movement to end racial profiling in the United States."