On Saturday, Martin Luther King III, son of the civil rights icon, used a rally that honored the 50th anniversary of the Reverend Doctor’s “I Have a Dream” to politicize and inject race into the tragic death of Trayvon Martin, asserting he was killed because of the color of his skin.
“Sadly, the tears of Trayvon Martin’s mother and father remind us that far too frequently the color of one’s skin remains a license to profile, arrest, and to even murder with no regard to the content of one’s character,” Martin Luther King III declared. “Regressive ‘stand your ground’ laws must be repealed.”
George Zimmerman was found not guilty on all charges and has asserted he shot Martin in self-defense. A federal investigation found that race was not a factor in the killing, and the prosecution never accused Zimmerman of killing Martin because he was black.
Speaking at the “Realize the Dream March and Rally” in Washington, King III also called for federal anti-profiling legislation, comprehensive immigration reform, and more gun control.