NEW ORLEANS -- Hundreds of students from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School marched on the streets of New Orleans in hooded sweatshirts Monday and demanded justice for the death of Trayvon Martin.
Martin, 17, was a Florida student killed last month by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman, who still has not been arrested.
"We think people have been incensed by the Trayvon Martin and they've seen people around the country out in the streets," said Malcom Suber, of the United New Orleans Front.
Suber said Martin's case is similar to the killing of 17-year-old Wendell Allen, a college student who came home for spring break on March 7. Allen was also unarmed when New Orleans police shot him while executing a search warrant at his mother's home. No one was arrested, and police said their internal probe is ongoing.
"We're letting the tourists know who will be here for the Final Four this weekend that African-Americans in New Orleans are under assault," Suber said.
Suber said during the Final Four weekend, when the city is on an international stage, community activists will shine the light on what they believe is an injustice. Activists will march from the City Hall to the Superdome, in honor of Allen and 20-year-old Justin Sipp, who died in a shootout that also seriously injured two officers.
"We think it's important that they know what's going on in New Orleans that it's not just fun and games. It's not just rich culture; but behind this rich culture there's poverty, there's suffering and oppression," Suber said.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said, "It happens all the time."
Landrieu said the city will accommodate protestors, though he doesn't expect enough to require protest zones.
"I think everybody certainly has the right to say whatever they want within the zones of safety we've provided. We're organized and ready to allow them to do that and do what we have to do too," Landrieu said.
Meanwhile, members of the city's embattled taxi cab industry are meeting with the council on Tuesday to discuss reforms. They said if an agreement isn't reached, they, too, could join in on Saturday's demonstration.
The city said it plans to bring in drivers from neighboring parishes so that service won't be interrupted on the weekend.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Thursday, March 29th 2012 at 3:08PM
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