Rev Sharpton’s projection isn’t far from truth. Already, thousands of people across the country have joined rallies and protests – many of these demonstrations are encouraging protesters to wear a hoodie like Martin was when he was shot.
In addition, members of the Black Panther Party are offering a $10,000 reward for Zimmerman’s ‘capture,’ the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Leader Mikhai Muhammad said at a Sanford protest today after the group called for 5,000 new recruits to capture him.
The group chanted: ‘Justice for Trayvon!’ as well as ‘Black Power!’
Mr Muhammad told the paper that the group would commence their search in areas that Zimmerman was known to have work ties – in Jacksonville and Maitland.
The witness told FOX 35 in Orlando that he saw evidence of a fight between Martin and Zimmerman, which could lend credence to the gunman's claim that he was acting in self-defence.
'The guy on the bottom who had a red sweater on was yelling to me: "Help, helpÂ… and I told him to stop and I was calling 911,' he said.
Zimmerman was wearing a red sweater; Martin was in a grey hoodie.
He added: 'When I got upstairs and looked down, the guy who was on top beating up the other guy, was the one laying in the grass, and I believe he was dead at that point.'
This account is drastically different from the portrait painted of Martin by his friends and acquaintances.
Friends of the slain 17-year-old say they cannot imagine him getting involved in a fight, and insist that he was not violent.
'There's no way I can believe that, because he's not a confrontational kid,' said Jerome Horton, who was one of Martin's former football coaches and knew him since he was a small child.
'It just wouldn't happen. That's just not that kid"
Meanwhile, the attorney hired to represent Zimmerman is echoing claims of the Neighbourhood Watchman’s father – that he’s not racist.
Speaking on CBS This Morning: Saturday, attorney Craig Sonner said: ‘I don’t believe there’s any racial motivation on the behalf of George Zimmerman… That’s the issue that we wanted to address today, is that this was not a racial issue in what happened that day.
'Basically, Mr Zimmerman claims he was attacked by Trayvon Martin and he was defending himself. ThatÂ’s the gist of the investigation.Â’
He also noted that he is at the moment only advising Zimmerman, as he has not been criminally charged.
Though he has remained resolutely silent throughout the ordeal, even as national protests are held calling for his arrest, Zimmerman did place a call to a neighbour nearly a month after the incident, thanking him for his support.
In the call, the Neighbourhood Watch captain left a message for Frank Taaffee, one of ZimmermanÂ’s most vocal supporters to date.
Martin was slain in the town of Sanford on February 26 in a shooting that has set off a nationwide furor over race and justice.
Neighborhood crime-watch captain Zimmerman, whose father is white and mother is Hispanic, claimed self-defense and has not been arrested, though state and federal authorities are still investigating.
Since his death, Martin's name and photographs - in football jerseys, smiling alongside a baby, and staring into the camera in a gray hoodie - have been held up by civil rights leaders and at rallies stretching from Miami to New York demanding Zimmerman's arrest.
On Friday, President Barack Obama called the shooting a tragedy, vowed to get to the bottom of the case, and added: 'When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids.'
That sentiment was echoed by NBA star by Dwyane Wade, who along with his Miami Heat teammate LeBron James tweeted photos of themselves in hoodies in a show of solidarity.
'As a father, this hits home,' said Wade, who has two sons, aged ten and four.
A voicemail left by Zimmerman for his local supporter George taff has also been released
‘Hey, Mr Taaffee. This is George. Um, first and foremost, I wanted to say I am very sorry for the loss of your son, and, um, I can't imagine what you must be going through.
'Um, secondly, I wanted to thank you for doing everything you've been doing.
'Um, I know you don't have to, and I appreciate it, and you're truly setting an example for me for the future of, uh, doing the right thing even when it's tough, and, uh, I appreciate it.
'I'll talk to you soon,Â’ Zimmerman said in the message.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Friday that Martin's killing reflects 'the classic struggle of our time' and said it echoes the slaying of Emmitt Till, a 14-year-old from Chicago who was murdered in 1954 while visiting Mississippi by a group of white men.
No one was ever convicted, but Till's killing galvanized the civil rights movement.
Rev. Jackson said he will speak at a Sanford-area church Sunday and then attend a rally in the city Monday.
An Orlando criminal defense attorney who says he represents Zimmerson told CNN on Friday that his client isn't racist and the facts will show he acted in self-defense after a fight with the teen.
'I don't believe that George Zimmerman's a racist or that this was motivated by a dislike for African-Americans,' said Craig Sonner.
Since the slaying, a portrait has emerged of Martin as a laid-back young man who loved sports, was extremely close to his father, liked to crack jokes with friends and, according to a lawyer for his family, had never been in trouble with the law.
The son of divorced parents, he grew up in working-class neighbourhoods north of Miami's downtown.
He and his father, a truck driver, were active in the Miramar Optimist Club, an organization that runs sports and academic programs for young people. Tracy Martin, the teen's father, coached his son's football team.
The boy was a swift athlete, according to a friend, and played a range of positions up to about age 14.
After he stopped playing, he remained active in the organization, volunteering six days a week from June through November of last year to help run the team's concession stand.
Martin cooked hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken wings alongside his father at the stand. He loved talking to the kids, asking them what position they played and whether they were good, Horton recalled.
He would call the mothers 'Ma'am,' and if they had a stroller or an item they needed help with, Martin stepped in. 'Everyone out there loved him,' Horton said.
Martin was tall and lanky - only 140 pounds, according to the family's attorney - and his nickname was 'Slimm.'
The teen spent a big part of his week living with his father in a one-story, peach-colored home.
Neighbor Fred Collins Jr. said he would see Trayvon Martin outside every week mowing the lawn and trimming the trees. The teen also helped Mr Collins' son learn how to ride a bike.
'He was coaching him, giving him words of advice, encouragement,' Collins said.
Tracy Martin often recounted how his son saved his life. The elder Martin had begun heating up some oil to fry fish and fell asleep. The grease caught fire, and when Tracy Martin awoke and tried to put out the flames, he spilled the oil on his legs, severely burning himself.
Trayvon Martin pulled his father out of the home and called 911.
Martin's parents kept a close eye on him, but they didn't have to be too strict, since he stayed out of trouble, Mr Collins said.
However, he had recently been suspended from school for five days for tardiness, his English teacher, Michelle Kypriss, told the Orlando Sentinel. School officials did not respond to a request for comment.
Martin's father was not happy and grounded the teen for the duration of the suspension.
Trayvon 'knew he was wrong,' Horton said.
Under state privacy law, only serious felonies appear on juveniles' public criminal records, and Martin did not have one. Citing the same law, Sanford police Sgt. David Morgenstern said he could neither confirm nor deny the family's statement that Martin had never gotten in legal trouble.
Martin dreamed of becoming a pilot. He had flown on school vacations to various places around the country with his mother, skiing in Colorado one year, going off to Texas another
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