nothing to do with this. let us be clear. one, we came in, civil rights groups and i organized the first big rally in sanford because we were asked to by the family and the local community that said that there was a pattern of racial problems with the sanford police department. had the sanford police department went ahead like anybody would have thought, given the inconsistencies of the statement by a man who killed a child that had not committed a crime, there wouldn t have been a case. so to attack the media for covering something, what made this case was a sanford police department in their history. when we came in, and raised that, the republican governor appointed a special prosecutor who then found that there was grounds for a trial. for them to stand before the public today and act as though people fabricated this. a republican tea party prosecutor said there is grounds
across the country from new york to miami to detroit to san francisco. many are asking to wear hoodies in solidarity to trayvon. in florida, supporters came together to express disappointment. cities brace for potential quote unquote riots. the protests that broke out remained almost entirely peaceful. the one exception, oakland, california. where there are report of broken windows, spray painted cars and slashed tires. there were no arrest made and no reported injuries. there has a march held by a multiethnic group in florida. tremaine, thanks for being here. thank you for having me. give us the sense of the overall sanford community and then the black community in sanford.
i think we ve worked over the last 16, 17 months to really put some plans into place. originally they were asking to let him sit in front of a jury of his peers. that has transpired. it was peaceful, 16, 17 months ago when everyone came to town and demonstrated. that s our right as american citizens. that s what my expectation is now. it may not be perfect but we have to live by those decisions. they have a painted picture in their mind of this community. in light of all that has transpired, what is sanford? sanford is a great place to live. we re one of the only cities that sits on the st. john s river. we have a beautiful river front. we have a lot of mom and pop businesses that are here. we ve got a lot of people that
were raining because mr. zimmerman had not been arrested. he has been arrested. there has been a trial. the jury has spoken. now we re looking to move forward. there were those in the community who have that prior to this, and now expressed afterwards that they just don t feel the system works for them. you have spent a fair amount of time with this police department working with the justice department, working internally to make changes. do you believe you have reached out and made the changes to the police department that you felt needed to be made that sent a message to the community that makes them feel maybe the system does work for them in light of only the s decision? we have a new police chief. i think mr. smith has been very good about getting out into the community and looking to build trust with the sanford community. so yes, will very optimistic. the mayor joins us tonight. your reaction to the way your community has reacted to the verdict and what has not happened wh
just one more. from the associated press. you were born and raised in sanford. you ve been in this community. what do you say to the citizens of sanford, people who, there s a lot of people worried about some things happening. what do you say about your city and how will they see this news tonight? what i say is what i told sybrina and tracy. i sent them a text and i told they will. i listened to the sheriff s press conference yesterday. and that you know all these changes that have been made in the wake of the shooting of trayvon martin. and there is a victory in that. a child died. because people took to social media. because 2.2 million americans signed the petition on change.org and demanded, not in