Community Corner

Gioia, Students to Wear Hoodies for Trayvon Martin

County Supervisor John Gioia said he will wear a hoodie to the supervisors' meeting today in honor of slain Trayvon Martin and to fight stereotypes, and a Madera school 5th-grade class in El Cerrito is planning to wear hoodies Thursday to school.

The national outcry over the fatal shooting of unarmed Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American, by a crime watch volunteer in Sanford, Florida, is finding local expression in El Cerrito and West Contra Costa County.

Contra Costa County , whose west county district includes El Cerrito and Kensington, says on his Facebook page that he intends to wear a hoodie to the Board of Supervisors meeting today in honor of Trayvon and to fight stereotypes.

Trayvon was wearing a hoodie and walking to the home of his father's girlfriend from a convenience store when he was shot on Feb. 26 by George Zimmerman, who said he was acting in self-defense and who has not been charged.

Find out what's happening in El Cerritowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Wearing a hoodie has become a widespread symbol of sympathy and protest on behalf of the teen.

"I'm wearing my RYSE Youth Center Hoodie to our Board of Supervisors meeting this Tuesday to honor Trayvon Martin and fight stereotypes," Gioia said. "It will be one month since his tragic killing." Gioia's post also linked to what he called "an interesting commentary by columnist Roland Martin."

Find out what's happening in El Cerritowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On Thurday, a fifth-grade class at Madera Elementary School in El Cerrito plans to wear hoodies all day at school to show respect for the slain teen, and students in the class are trying to get other students at school to do so as well, according to a PTA officer from the school.

Fueling the outcry is the fact that Zimmerman has not been arrested or charged. A description of the developments from the New York Times' topics section says the shooting has "put Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law at the center of an increasingly angry debate. It gives the benefit of the doubt to a person who claims self-defense, regardless of whether the killing takes place on a street, in a car or in a bar — not just in one’s home, the standard cited in more restrictive laws."

New details about the case continue to emerge. An article in Monday's New York Times reports that the shooter's account given to police says "that Trayvon had punched him and then repeatedly slammed his head into the sidewalk in the moments leading up to the shooting." The paper said the account, which first appeared Monday in the Orlando Sentinel, was "the most thorough yet to be revealed from Mr. Zimmerman’s point of view."

The Times article reported that Trayvon's family, their lawyer and supporters said at a news conference Monday that "the police were attempting to demonize Trayvon by leaking Mr. Zimmerman’s account to the media. The most relevant fact in Trayvon’s death, they said, is that Mr. Zimmerman chose to pursue Trayvon, who was unarmed and walking home, despite a police dispatcher’s advice to stay in his car."


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