Democrats took a break from spending your money to protest Trayvon Martin.
State Senate Democrats put on hooded sweatshirts Monday, March 26, 2012, to protest the death of Trayvon Martin, the young man allegedly gunned down by neighborhood crime watch captain in Florida. (CASEY SEILER / TIMES UNION)
New York Senate Democrats wore hoodies to protest the death of Trayvon Martin and to rail against police.
The Times Union reported:
Citing “demonizing stereotypes,” a group of mostly African-American and Hispanic state lawmakers wore hooded sweatshirts into the legislative chambers on Monday in solidarity with the family of Trayvon Marton, the Florida teenager gunned down a month ago by a neighborhood watch officer who had told police the youth was acting suspicious.
The group included Assembly members Karim Camara and Marcos Crespo as well as state Sens. Eric Adams, Bill Perkins, Kevin Parker, Shirley Huntley, Mike Gianaris and Daniel Squadron.
Several of those who spoke to reporters said the killing reflected a law enforcement culture in New York and elsewhere that stigmatized young male minority members. “These incidents don’t always lead to death, but they happen every day in urban communities throughout our state,” said Camara.
Perkins referred to the cases of the youths convicted and then exonerated in the 1989 rape of a jogger in Central Park, plus the deaths of Amadou Diallo and other fatalities or injuries resulting from police action.