This morning Florida college students rallied outside the the Seminole County criminal courts building and some were among those granted access to a meeting with an attorney from the office.
We spoke with Adner Marcelin, founder of the Justice for Trayvon Martin Facebook Group, and one of the students involved in the rally. The protest was arranged by The Justice For Trayvon Martin Coalition, which is affiliated with the Student Coalition for Justice. These groups started with students from Florida State University, Tallahassee Community College, and Florida A&M University, then expanded to other people in the country and around the world.
According to Marcelin, the students arrived not knowing whether their request for a meeting would be granted. They were eventually notified that an attorney would meet with them. Ten protestors were present in the State Attorney’s Office, but only four were allowed into the meeting. He volunteered to sit out in favor of letting other law students and an attorney attend the meeting.
The group was told that it will take weeks before the Attorney General’s investigation is complete and that there is information concerning the case that has not yet been released to the public. The student group urged the office to release that information to the public so that people can better understand what is happening with the case.
Marcelin also told us that the Florida Department Of Law Enforcement, the highest law enforcement agency in the state, is now involved with the case. Typically when the FDLE becomes involved in the case, Governor Rick Scott makes statements to the public. The fact that this hasn’t happened in this case has Adner Marcelin concerned.
In addition, we learned that manslaughter is among the possible charges under consideration, but the Attorney General’s Office won’t have a final determination until the investigation is complete.
Marecelain believes that the prosecutor’s office is defending George Zimmerman:
There job as a state prosecutor’s office is to prosecute and arrest Mr. Zimmerman and charge him for the crime. But at the same time, we’re finding it completely awkward and shellshocking that they’re also defending him. That’s not their job. That is not the prosecutor’s job–to defend someone who is in question for a crime.
In the face of the appalling handling of the case, most people who are fighting to see George Zimmerman, Bill Lee, and the Sanford Police Department held accountable are very disheartened. “Right now, the public does not trust the justice system, because the justice system has already failed,” Marcelin said, explaining the frustration that many people feel about the Trayvon Martin case.
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