Protests in S.F., Oakland over Zimmerman verdict

Protesters march during a rally denouncing the not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman murder trial in San Francisco on Sunday, July 14, 2013. Protesters march during a rally denouncing the not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman murder trial in San Francisco on Sunday, July 14, 2013. Photo: Mathew Sumner, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Mathew Sumner, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 43 Caption Close Protests in S.F., Oakland over Zimmerman verdict 1 / 43 Back to Gallery

(07-14) 23:17 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The acquittal of George Zimmerman in Florida sent hundreds of people into the streets in San Francisco and Oakland on Sunday to decry what they called the persistent racism that allowed the neighborhood-watch volunteer to beat a second-degree murder charge in the fatal shooting of unarmed African American teenager Trayvon Martin.

Protesters listened to speeches and carried signs with such messages as "We are all Trayvon Martin" and "Zimmerman: the people say guilty." The rallies were spirited and mostly peaceful, though a small group of people in Oakland - many hiding their faces with bandannas - kicked and punched an Oakland Tribune photographer and also attacked a KTVU-TV cameraman at about 10:30 p.m.

Police officers tried to thin the crowd, reading a series of orders to disperse, but there was no immediate word of any arrests. They were seeking to avoid a repeat of Saturday night, when a small group of vandals reacted to the jury verdict by starting fires, slashing tires and breaking the windows of several businesses in downtown Oakland.

In New York, demonstrators massed in Times Square. In Los Angeles, they temporarily blocked Interstate 10. The Los Angeles Times reported that the protests there were primarily peaceful, but that police officers had fired beanbag rounds at people who threw rocks and batteries at them.

Many at the Bay Area rallies said Saturday's acquittal of Zimmerman - whose attorneys argued that he had acted in self-defense when he killed 17-year-old Martin after pursuing him - laid bare an unjust court system and a society that often views young men of color as threats.

"We're both new parents, and we can't believe we live in a country where a man can follow and shoot a 17-year-old boy and face no consequences," said Hillary Ronen, a 37-year-old legislative aide from San Francisco who went downtown with her husband and 8-month-old daughter. "We're outraged and sad, and we don't want to raise our child in a world like that."

Emmanuel Pardilla, a 22-year-old protest organizer from New York, said the verdict hurt him as an African American man.

"I live in the Bronx, and police stop me sometimes when I'm only walking to the store," he said in San Francisco. "I've been frisked and asked questions."

The San Francisco rally drew a few hundred people, who brought bongo drums and bullhorns. They briefly blocked some intersections as police officers formed lines beside them, and then listened to speeches in Justin Herman Plaza along the Embarcadero.

At the Oakland gathering, several hundred people listened to speeches made over a megaphone and painted signs before embarking on a long march into West Oakland, receiving applause from some residents as they walked. One older woman on the porch of a Victorian home held up a fist in a black power salute. They returned downtown, blocking the intersection of 14th Street and Broadway.

"I don't think it's right for people to think it's OK to kill black and brown children and not pay for it," said Dina Suarez of Oakland, a 36-year-old preschool teacher. "It's enraging. It happens here in Oakland. It happened in Florida. I'm here in solidarity for the family (of Martin) and for all people of color who are tired of this repression."

Later in the night, a smaller group of protesters burned an American flag. A few shouted at downtown motorists and pounded on their cars, and a window of Awaken Cafe on Broadway was smashed before the attacks on the photographer and the cameraman.

Police were on guard around the country after some protests on Saturday night led to vandalism. President Obama asked Americans to honor Martin, whose death he called a tragedy, with "calm reflection."

"I know this case has elicited strong passions," Obama said in a statement. "And in the wake of the verdict, I know those passions may be running even higher. But we are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken."

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said in a statement that Martin's death and Zimmerman's trial "raised powerful, incredibly difficult issues that affect us all," such as racial profiling.

However, she said the vandals "dishonored the memory of Trayvon by engaging in violent activities that hurt our growing economy and endangered people. This is unacceptable as well. We will not tolerate violence in our city."

Saturday night's vandalism in Oakland prompted some businesses, including Foot Locker, to board up and close on Sunday. Many merchants and protesters were upset about the damage, which extended to locally owned restaurants and businesses that celebrate the city, like the Oaklandish retail shop on Broadway.

Tamara Gossett, a 38-year-old mother of four living at a downtown shelter, said she awoke Sunday to find all four tires slashed on her 1988 Toyota Camry, one of her most important possessions.

"Of course, everyone's upset about this young boy, and I am too," Gossett said of Martin. "But the knuckleheads out here are tearing up the city in his name, and I don't think his mother would want that."