Protests spread across the country Sunday in a second day of demonstrations in the wake of the sensational not-guilty verdict for George Zimmerman after he shot dead unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. Demonstrations, from Florida where the trial took place to Atlanta, DC and New York, remained largely peaceful, though Los Angeles protesters managed to shut down an entire freeway and thousands of New Yorkers mobbed Times Square and blocked traffic for an hour. Emotional crowds screamed ‘Justice for Trayvon’ and carried signs that likened the struggle of the slain teen and his supporters to that of the original civil rights movement. Enough protestors had gathered on foot in Los Angeles to shut down the city’s 10 freeway. With cars backed up in their wake, the mob chanted their rallying cry: ‘Who’s streets? Our street, our freeway.’ Police were unable to clear the roadway and allow traffic to pass until around 7pm and photos show a face-to-face clash between cops and protestors on the highway. Elsewhere in Los Angeles, protestors have had confrontations with police, according to NBC4, which reports that LAPD has fired rubber bullets into the crowd. Bean bag rounds were also used to disperse the Los Angeles crowd and police said D cell batteries and rocks had been thrown at them. As the night began to wear on in the City of Angels, protests became more serious.
