Long Islanders react, hope for justice in Martin case

As Florida authorities charged George Zimmerman with second-degree murder, Long Islanders who watched the Trayvon Martin case from afar and took part in protests here said their cries for an arrest were heard.

"It lets us know that justice will be served," said the Rev. Sedgwick V. Easely, pastor of Union Baptist Church in Hempstead. "But we are not victorious yet."

Easely said the case is so significant that he preached a sermon about it on Easter Sunday, speaking of dangers facing young people.

He was one of many local clergy, activists and ordinary people who attended rallies in Nassau and Suffolk in recent weeks.

Some sported hoodies, the hooded sweatshirt that is popular among youths and which Martin was wearing when he was shot dead by Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, in Sanford, Fla. on Feb. 26.

Easely's 1,000-member congregation held the candlelight vigil and rally at the church with Delta Sigma Theta sorority on Monday.

Martin's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, were also heartened by Zimmerman's arrest. Shortly before the announcement, Martin's mother, Fulton, told The Associated Press that if she could speak to Zimmerman, "I would probably give him an opportunity to apologize."

Also, she "would probably ask him if there were another way that he could have settled the confrontation that he had with Trayvon, other than the way it ended, with Trayvon being shot."

The Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network, who led some of the rallies, said, "We do not want anybody 'high-fiving' tonight. This is not a night for celebrating. It is a night that never should have happened in the first place."

Pastor Roy Kirton of Copiague's Circle of Love Ministry, who helped organize a march in North Amityville on Saturday that drew 500 people, welcomed Zimmerman's prosecution but said another issue remains.

"I believe that justice is being served, but the greater injustice is that the Stand Your Ground law is on the books," Kirton said. That Florida law gives armed civilians wide leeway to use deadly force without having to retreat in the face of perceived danger.

Kirton said he group is gathering petition signatures locally to send to Florida in hopes of having the law repealed.

"So both of these men are victims," he said of Martin and Zimmerman, "because the enemy is the law and it's a shame that it took 45 days for them to come up with this decision."