Friday, March 23, 5:00 p.m., EST: Heat Players Share Hoodie Pics in Support of Trayvon: LeBron James of the Miami Heat tweeted a photo of players wearing hooded sweatshirts with the hashtages, "#WeAreTrayvonMartin #Hoodies #Stereotyped #WeWantJustice." Dwyane Wade posted a photo of himself in a hoodie on Facebook and put out via Twitter "#hoodies #stereotype #trayvonmartin." "I'm a father," Wade said to the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel "It's support of the tragic thing that has taken place. No matter what color, race, we're all fathers.
Friday, March 23, 11:30 a.m., EST: Geraldo Blames Hoodie for Trayvon's Death: While Geraldo Rivera said on Fox News that George Zimmerman should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, he also blamed the teen's choice of outerwear in part for his shooting, saying, "When you see a black or Latino youngster, particularly on the street, you walk to the other side of the street. You try to avoid that confrontation. Trayvon Martin, you know God bless him, he was an innocent kid, a wonderful kid, a box of Skittles in his hands. He didn’t deserve to die. But I’ll bet you money, if he didn’t have that hoodie on, that nutty neighborhood watch guy wouldn’t have responded in that violent and aggressive way." He later tweeted, “His hoodie killed Trayvon Martin as surely as George Zimmerman.”
Friday, March 23, 10:00 a.m., EST: MSNBC reports that over 20,000 people attended a rally in Sanford, Florida last night to demand justice in the killing of Trayvon Martin. Supporters joined the Rev. Al Sharpton in his call for the arrest of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot the teen. "Trayvon could have been any one of our sons," said Sharpton, addressing the parents in the crowd. "Trayvon could have been any one of us. Trayvon represents a reckless disregard for our lives we've seen too long."
Thursday, March 22, 10:15 p.m., EDT: Florida Gov. Rick Scott has appointed a new prosecutor in the Trayvon Martin case after Norman Wolfinger, the state attorney in charge of Sanford, where the killing occurred, asked to step down, according to MSNBC. Angela B. Corey, the new prosecutor, is not from the Sanford area. Scott announced plans to create a citizen-safety task force to evaluate the state's "Stand Your Ground" law, as well.
Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) has also weighed in on the controversy in his state, saying in a statement on his Facebook page: "First of all, if all that has been reported is accurate, the Sanford Police Chief should be relieved of his duties due to what appears to be a mishandling of this shooting in its early stages. The US Navy SEALS identified Osama Bin Laden within hours, while this young man laid on a morgue slab for three days. The shooter, Mr Zimmerman, should have been held in custody and certainly should not be walking free, still having a concealed weapons carry permit."
Thursday, March 22, 4:20 p.m., EDT: CNN reports that Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee has announced that he will step down "temporarily" as head of the department, which has been criticized for its handling of Trayvon Martin's shooting.
Wednesday, March 21, 2 p.m. EDT: StateImpact reports that the Miami high school attended by Trayvon Martin, the student shot and killed by a neighborhood-watch leader in central Florida, held a moment of silence for Martin this morning. Students and staff say it was the first acknowledgment of Martin's death since he was killed while visiting the home of his father's girlfriend near Orlando. Some took to Twitter to express their frustration with the delay.
Wednesday, March 21, 11 a.m. EDT: The Washington Post reports that the decision by the Department of Justice and the FBI to open an investigation into the slaying of the unarmed black teenager in Florida has spurred an internal debate at the DOJ over whether the federal government could bring criminal charges in the case.