NEW YORK CITY — Hundreds gathered on Saturday to show support for Trayvon Martin's family, including celebrities Jay-Z and Beyonce Knowles, as part of a nationwide vigil calling for futher investigation into the teenager's shooting death and improvements to what many called an unfair justice system.
Speaking to a number of New Yorkers gathered in Lower Manhattan, Sybrina Fulton — the mother of the late 18-year-old who was shot by neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman, who said he felt his life was endangered by the unarmed black teenager — said she'd join Rev. Al Sharpton in petitioning for a civil rights investigtion by the Justice Department.
"Trayvon was no burglar,” Fulton said earlier at a rally in Harlem at Sharpton's National Action Network's headquarters. “He had a drink and some candy. He had every right to be in that area," the Daily News reported.
"Today it was my son. Tomorrow it might be yours," she added.
Later at a noon rally steps away from the Supreme Courthouse, she vowed, "I promise you I'm going to work for your children as well," to the crowd, which included superstar couple Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who live in Westchester and have a young daughter.
The Manhattan rally was one of at least 101 planned across the nation, the AP reported, to show support for the teen in the wake of the not-guilty Florida ruling after the 2012 slaying.
Other New York celebrities, including former governor Eliot Spitzer, who is running for state comptroller, and journalist Geraldo Rivera, attended the rally.
