The parents of Trayvon Martin, the Florida teenager whose shooting death last month has sparked international outrage, described their heartache to a crowd of well over a thousand people at a New York City rally held in their son's honor.
"My son did not deserve to die," said Sybrina Fulton, Martin's mother told the mass of supporters gathered in Union Square early in the evening on Wednesday. "Our son is your son."
"My heart is in pain," she added. The crowd responded to Fulton with a chant, "You are not alone."
"Seeing the support from all of you really makes a difference," Fulton went on to say.
"If Trayvon had been alive he would be right here on these steps with you guys rallying for justice," Tracy Martin, Trayvon's father, added. "Trayvon Martin is you. Trayvon Martin did matter. And I just want New York to know that we're not going to stop until we get justice for Trayvon."
Dubbed the Million Hoodie March, the demonstration was called in response to the controversial killing of the unarmed, 17 year-old African American by Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.
Martin was carrying a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea at the time of his death and wore a hooded sweatshirt. Zimmerman has not been arrested in the incident, though the US justice department has launched an investigation.
Supporters of Martin's family have blamed the Sanford police department for failing to investigate the teen's death properly.
"It's not about George Zimmerman," said Raphael Nelson, an attendee at Wednesday's demonstration. "It's about the fact the police came, they saw a dead boy on the floor and they left."
Martin's death has sparked a national outcry, resulted in a petition for Zimmerman's prosecution that has gained nearly 1m signatures and renewed conversations of racial justice in the United States.
"The darker your skin, the more you look like a criminal," New York City councilman Jumaane Williams told the crowd.
"It's Trayvon Martin in Florida. It's Ramarley Graham in the Bronx," he added, referring to an unarmed African American teen shot to death in his bathroom by a New York City police officer in February.
Wednesday's rally saw scores of families, many African American, fill some of Manhattan's most major streets. Parents pushed strollers and many demonstrators carried bags of Skittles and cans of iced tea. At times demonstrators chanted, "Don't shoot me, don't kill me, for Skittles and iced tea."
"Stop killing innocent black men and we won't have to do this," one young woman yelled to police following the march.
As the night progressed demonstrators splintered into several marches numbering in the hundreds, taking off in different directions throughout the city. The crowds were fused with Occupy Wall Street protesters who were cleared from Union Square just one day before the rally took place.
A contingent of demonstrators made their way to Times Square while another headed south into the financial district. The southbound march grew increasingly raucous as it carried on into the night. One young man was seen running over the hood and roof of a moving car as it slowly approached the march. He stepped on the sun-roof of the vehicle, shattering the glass.
Shortly after, the march, then reduced to approximately 200, arrived at the iconic Wall Street bull statue at Bowling Green Park. Since Occupy Wall Street protests began last year, the sculpture has been penned in by police barricades. As demonstrators surrounded the bull, a young man began pulling a section of the barricades down. As the police moved in his direction, other demonstrators followed suit and within moments all of the barricades were removed.
A man quickly scrambled onto the back on the bronze statue, raised his fist and yelled, "I am Trayvon Martin."
Some argued Wednesday's later marches became unfocused.
"The bull has nothing to do with Trayvon Martin," said Occupy protester Stan Williams. "I think the people leading the march may have lost focus."
By approximately 10pm, the various marches began to reconvene in Union Square. The atmosphere took a distinctly more Occupy-focused turn as several hundred people gathered in the square, talking and celebrating. Scores of police filled the area.
Shortly before midnight the parks department announced the park would be closed and asked the crowd to leave. The scene grew tense and many expected a potentially violent confrontation.
At midnight a senior New York City police officer announced, "You are occupying the space unlawfully," and ordered the crowd to leave. Moments after midnight struck a glass bottle was hurled in the direction of the police and parks department officials.
Scores of police officers in column formation methodically made their way into the square's plaza, as the demonstrators willingly moved to the sidewalk surrounding the park and a second glass bottle was thrown at police.
Barricades were erected around the perimeter of the square's well-known plaza. Roughly 200 demonstrators remained on the pavement into the wee hours of the morning.
For many who attended the rally, Trayvon Martin's death represented long-standing fears.
"Trayvon could've been my little brother," said KC, who declined to give her last name as she marched through lower Manhattan. "Shot for nothing."
When asked if she believed Zimmerman would be prosecuted, KC hesitated.
"I don't know," she said. "We live in America."