million hoodie march took place, demanding justice for a teenager who was doing nothing more than wearing a hoodie, in the rain, as he walked back into a gated community in sanford, florida. trayvon martin's parents were at today's rally and are at the center of a growing wave of protests across the nation. they have exhibited a stunning degree of calm, but they want swris to begin with an arrest. >> i would urge people to be patient, let the courts decide. but i strongly feels that he needs to be arrested. >> they decided on the scene to be the judge and jury. and i just want this guy arrested so he can be brought to justice, >> mr. martin was asked if he thought george zimmerman uttered a racial slur on the 911 tape. >> i think he said words that were not comforting to my ear. like "these people." >> and who are these people? >> he was suspicious because he was young and black with a hoodie. >> arianna jones was at a rally today. here are some of the protesters and their reactions. >> we're here to stand in solidarity! >> folks who have never met each other, folks from all around the country and all around the world are standing up and saying that we want democracy to work for us! that we will not allow the criminal justice system to ignore us. >> if the races were reversed, you'd either have an in-jail black man or a dead one. one or the other. injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. >> other developments have been rapidly unfolding today. activists gathered outside the regional office of florida's division of licensing to demand the suspension of george zimmerman's gun permit. but under state law, the a permit is not suspended until the gun owner is charged with a felony. florida governor rick scott is being called upon to appoint a special prosecutor to oversee the investigation. state senator gary spillan and other lawmakers said a special prosecutor was necessary to remove the perception of bias by sanford authorities. there was a capacity crowd at a town hall meeting last night in orlando. local naacp president turner clayton said, "the sanford city manager and mayor were unable to attend because they have been summoned to washington by attorney general eric holder." there are calls for review of florida's so-called stand your ground law. there are also calls for the sanford police chief to resign and today city commission gave him a vote of no confidence in a vote of 3-2. sanford officials have said the decision not to arrest george zimmerman was made by the responding officer, who released the shooter after he claimed he acted in self-defense. george zimmerman's neighbor says the media is convicting him prematurely. >> george is a congenial, amiable, admirable person. he had a passion and a care for this neighborhood, to ensure the safety of everybody here. and further more, george is no rambo. he was a caring person. >> this is why the 911 tapes are so important. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, does george zimmerman need to be arrested so justice can be served? text "a" for yes, text "b" for no to 622639 or go to our blog and leave a comment at ed.msnbc.com. results of the poll later in the program. i am joined tonight by natalie jackson, an attorney for the trayvon martin family. miss jackson, thank you for your time. i want you to respond to the latest news we've heard that the sanford city commission voted 3-2 tonight as a vote of no confidence for police chief bill lee. what do you make of that? >> well, i think that they are seeing what the public is seeing. they are seeing a lot of mistakes made. and really, you don't punish people for making mistakes, but do you punish people for adamantly and stubbornly standing by their mistakes, even to the detriment of a family who lost their 17-year-old child. >> it's now 24 days after the killing of this 17-year-old boy. why have there been no arrested? and have you had any conversation with the sanford police department in their investigation? >> we've had no conversation with the sanford police department. we have had some conversations with the state attorney's office, who now has the case. at this point, the sanford police chief, he doesn't have the case anymore. he passed the buck to the state attorney's office. the state's attorney office has now said that they will convene a grand jury. they are convening the grand jury on april 10th. i don't believe there will be an arrest until april 10th. if an indictment comes down. >> do you think there should be resignations with the department at sanford? >> i definitely do. i think that the city commission did the right thing by voting no confidence, because, clearly, this investigation has turned into a circus, and, clearly, the way that it's being handled is biassed and prejudiced. you have a victim, a 17-year-old victim, whose parents have to go out and prove that their son is innocent. >> trayvon martin's mother just spoke at a rally here in new york tonight. here's what she had to say. >> it's the support that we need. we need this kind of support. >> you got it, sis! >> our son was not committing any crime. our son is your son. >> yeah! >> i want you to stand up for justice and stand up for what's right! this is not about a black and white thing. this is about a right and wrong thing! >> characterize, if you could for us, natalie, just the determination of trayvon's parents in managing all of this wall the stress. >> these parents are exhausted. they've done nonstop media. they haven't even had a chance to grieve for their son. but for them, this is the important thing. because the people have spoken. the only way that they will get justice is through the people, through the social networking movement and also through the media. only by the pressure of the people and the public has this case gotten any attention. it would have died like countless other cases. >> another lawyer for the family, the martin family, benjamin crump, had this to say. here it is. >> why didn't the sanford police department do a drug and alcohol analysis on him? they did one on trayvon martin, who was dead on the ground. why didn't they do it on george zimmerman? you ask yourself, why didn't they take a background check on the man who had just killed this kid in cold blood? they did a background check on trayvon martin. >> i want your response to that. >> yeah. we talked about that. our team has had to find out everything. the sanford police department has not released anything to our team, except the 911 tapes. and that was after a week of constant media pressure that they released those. all the information that we have found, such as george zimmerman's arrest history, the sanford police chief -- the sanford police department said he was squeaky clean. that's what they told the parents. that he was squeaky clean. at a news conference, they were asked, where'd you get that information from? they got it from george zimmerman. they've been taking george zimmerman's word at everything. the young lady who was on the phone with trayvon martin one minute before his death, the phone hung up one minute before his death. this is information that we had to go get. that the family has gotten. the family has acted as the investigators in this case. this is a relentless family. they are not giving up. if anyone thinks that they're going to stop, they will not. >> well, i want to ask you. you said something very interesting there about how your team has had to do all the work, and they've taken the word of george zimmerman. have you been able to establish any kind of friendship or relationship that you've seen between zimmerman and the local police department, where they might be giving him cover? >> no, we haven't. >> okay. >> i mean, everything would be speculation at this time. but what we have seen, time and time again, is the police department, the sanford police department release information that they consider, which is not, they consider favorable to george, without releasing any other information. if you're going to say this is an investigation, make it a real investigation and that's the reason they're saying, we can't obtain any information. because there's an investigation. >> natalie jackson, i appreciate your time tonight. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> later on in this broadcast, we're going to hear from longtime attorney, mike papantonio, who works in florida, and he'll give us clarification on the stand your ground law, which is at the center of all of this. one of the things that is very interesting is that who was pushing the stand your ground law and what are they saying right now? and also, governor jeb bush was very much in favor of it and there was a tremendous amount of lobbying that was taking place by the national rifle association, who by the way has been very quiet throughout all of this. now let's turn to trumaine lee, senior reporter with the "huffington post," who has been closely following this case. is mr. lee with us? good to have you with us. what are the latest developments from florida? what can you tell us? >> what kind of began as an whisper is now an angry war. you see around the country, people are mobilizing. the you have the million hoodis march in new york city. in detroit, there are actions. and now it sees the community is galvanizing in a way. and i've been around the block, but i've never seen anything like this. not with sean bell, not with oscar grant. it's just this crazy ground will. >> would you say that this is a sea change when it comes to dealing with race relations and crime in this country? that this is an event that has unfolded on twitter and social media and protests have brought this to a level of awareness that we've never seen before? >> oh, this is clearly a watershed moment, because for some reason, this story resonates with black, white, male, female. it could be your son, it could be me. and we've never seen that. i think this is kind of the perfect confluence. trayvon martin, by all accounts, was an all-american boy. and to be gunned down, i think it kind of hits home. and i've never seen anything like this before. you say twitter, i've been on it from day one, from the beginning. and as you know, "the huffington post" is all online. thousands of shares on facebook, thousands and thousands of comments. it's just amazing house social media has got than story out, where in the past, this might have been brushed under the rug and we may have never known the name, trayvon martin. >> you deserve a tremendous amount of credit, mr. lee, because you were one of the first reporters who was on this that would bring it to the level where it is right now. and we've heard some stunning 911 tapes, showing how george zimmerman pursued the 17-year-old boy. and after being told not to, even prior to the grand jury investigation, why can want zimmerman be arrested on that alone? what authorities telling you in your reporting? >> well, first of all, there seems to be enough wiggle room in this law, where it's not clear. because as the law states, you can stand your ground, regardless of the location. i think that's what they're banking on. but a few of the co-authors of the original bill spoke to my colleagues this afternoon, and even they say that george zimmerman should have been arrested, because of the pursuit. because he was actually being the aggressor, that he kind of stepped out of, you know, from under the umbrella of protection here. so as of right now, they seem, at least in terms of the law, the police chief, as you said, he doesn't see enough evidence to refute it. but we'll see. >> and finally, would you agree that it has been the release of the 911 tapes that has really brought this to light at a different level? >> i think until that point, people, at least in the media, you know, we deal a lot of times in story lines and stereotypes. and we try to fit things in a box. so i think the broader media, we're trying to figure this out. but once the 911 tapes were released and you hear the shocking sobs from the neighbors and you hear those last minutes and you hear zimmerman's call, i think that kind of drove a few points home. >> and from your reporting, your gut check, what do you think the next big development is? will there be an arrest soon? >> i think -- it would be pure speculation, but i think that's probably the direction we're going in, and i wouldn't be surprised if chief lee was asked to step down. >> trymaine lee, thanks for joining us tonight. share your thoughts on twitter @edshow. we want to know what you think. next, the law that is allowing george zimmerman to roam free got overwhelming support both from republicans and democrats in florida in 2005. mike papantonio will sort it all out for us. and bernie sanders has a plan to bring down gas prices, but republicans prefer to keep blaming president obama. stay tuned. you're watching "the ed show" on msnbc. 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[ brian ] there's a bright future here, and there's a chance to get on the ground floor of something big, something that will bring us back. not only this company, but this country. ♪ i even get choked up when i think about it. if anything like this would have happened to my brother, i would be livid. so i think -- i look at trayvon's picture and i see my brother. >> i look at that boy's picture and my heart breaks for that family. we lost a child and we know what it's like when you lose a child and it's just the most blatant case of racism and it's just outrageous. >> voices from all over america speaking out. florida's stand your ground law gives people the right to use deadly force and call it self-defense. the law allowed george zimmerman to not only shoot and kill a 17-year-old, trayvon martin, but it has enabled zimmerman to walk the streets as a free man. so how did the law pass the florida house overwhelmingly and the senate unanimously? well, how about help from the nra? stand your ground was a top priority of the nra back in 2005. in fact, governor jeb bush signed the bill with the national rifle association's lobbyist, marianne hammer at his side. at the time, harm told upi, "people shouldn't have to depend on law enforcement for protection in every situation." calling criticism of the measure "silly." bush, the governor then, supported that sentiment. >> it's common sense to allow people to defend themselves. and to have to, when you're in a position where you're being threatened, when there's a life-threatening situation, to have to retreat and put yourself in a very precarious position, you know, it defies common sense. >> former democratic state senator walter campbell, who supported and co-sponsored the bill in florida now says the measure was sold to lawmakers as a way to expand self-defense rights. campbell now admits the law is being abused. along those lines, state representative dennis baxley, another co-sponsor of the measure, also known as a castle doctrine law, says he stands by it, but believes it is not being applied properly. >> there's nothing in the castle doctrine statute that provides authority for you to pursue or confront other people. this is a self-defense law. there's nothing in this statute to protect somebody who is pursuing and confronting other people. >> so doesn't anybody on the sanford police department know the law? i'm joined tonight by attorney mike papantonio, also host of the "ring of fire" radio show. mike, sort this out for us. what's at the crux of all of this? the interpretation of this law? >> well, it is. as a prosecutor, this -- zimmerman could be charged with premeditated murder, ed. there's no need for a grand jury. the grand jury is simply a way for the state attorney's office to cop out and to pass the buck on this one. premeditated murder, a plan to commit premeditated murder can take place in three to five minutes. it can be formulated in that short a time. the elements of premeditation certainly exist here. the child was running away, there was no question about it. he was running away from the point of conflict. the shooter had been clearly warned, don't pursue, we'll take care of it. let the professionals take care of it. and rather than the shooter having a reasonable fear of harm, and those are the key words, a reasonable fear of harm for himself, it's clear that there was abundant evidence that zimmerman was acting out of rage about this african-american child in his neighborhood. he had stated that "these people" get away with things like that, and it just shows that there was more going on in this man's mind than simply being a neighborhood watch. so the real question comes down to this, what state of mind is the issue? state of mind comes down and the prosecutors need to focus on the state of mind, what the state of mind of that person was, when the child was running away, taking himself away from the conflict, after the shooter had been told, do not pursue. so here you have this character that is, you know, he's been doing this for years. driving around the neighborhood, hunting, the only way i can characterize is kind of hunting for something. the real thing that concerns me, ed, is that you see this type of thing happen when charges aren't brought. usually, where there is a confidential informant, when somebody has been working for the authorities in some capacity. you remember, this is a man who was charged with battery on a police officer. i think it's remarkable that that was just dropped out of thin air. you don't get away with battery on a police officer. and you almost ask yourself, was that time that he became an informant? we don't know. there's been no discussion about that. but that's something these lawyers need to be as