Thousands of people are marching about a mile on 13th Street to the steps of the Sanford Police Department and demand justice for Trayvon Martin.

Marchers drove and rode buses from different parts of the state, and from other parts of the nation as well. Crowds began lining up around 8 a.m. outside of Crooms Academy of Information Technology located at 2200 West 13th Street in Sanford.

———————————————

NAACP organizers are calling it a rally to get answers.

The purpose of today's rally is for Sanford PD to bring Mr. Zimmerman to justice,” said Benjamin Todd Jealous, National NAACP President and CEO. “We are all united in our call for justice to be done here in Sanford. And it's clear that this community is coming together around this call for Mr. Zimmerman to be brought to justice. That is why we are here today. We are joined by NAACP branches from across the southeast from as far away as South Carolina. And people from throughout this community -- students, parents, teachers. We're tired of racial profiling. We're tired of the lives of young black men, not being treated with the same level of importance when they're killed as we see when people of other races, other genders, when they're killed. We're here to say 'Save our sons'. Bring Mr. Zimmerman to justice."

Reverend Al Sharpton also called for an arrest in the killing of Trayvon.

"The real story is this, with all of these marches and all of these gatherings, there's not been any violence. There's not been one incident. Report that,” Rev. Al Sharpton said. “And don't act as though that is not without the discipline and infrastructure of the organizations involved. There are ministers marching right now in London, England with hoodies on. It's all over the world, under one aim alone -- that on probable cause, the killer should be arrested. We have not said what to charge him with, we're not trying him before a trial. Those on the other side are. They're trying to acquit him! We're just saying with probable cause, he should be arrested. And we are going to keep marching. We’re going to keep praying. We’re going to keep doing whatever is necessary in order to make that happen."

Many people have been following this case since the beginning, knowing the power to arrest Zimmerman now lies in the hands of special prosecutor Angela Corey.

“If you let something like this get swept under the rug, then it could happen to any one of us. It could happen to you, it could happen to me. It could happen to one of my nieces and nephews,” said Sanford resident Lawrence Stokes.

Signs were peppered along 13th Street alerting motorists several roads between 17-92 and Persimmon Avenue will be closed Saturday morning and early afternoon.

An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people marched through the middle of 13th St., and ended up outside the Sanford Police Department.

At that point, NAACP national, state and local leaders kicked off the rally and invited guest speakers including Reverend Al Sharpton and Reverend Jesse Jackson to take the stage.

“I could see myself doing this once again because I want to make sure I do my part in this great movement,” said Stokes.

Activists said they're still calling for the arrest of George Zimmerman, but they also want to move the national conversation on race from anger to answers. Jealous denied calling for any type of boycott of Sanford or Seminole County.

This will be the third major rally in Sanford since Trayvon Martin was shot and killed on Sunday, Feb. 26.

Although dozens of speakers are expected, the rally is only scheduled until 2 p.m. Several roads are closed for the rallies and march.

Search for Sanford police chief continues

City officials say the search for Sanford’s new interim police chief is being conducted outside the Sanford Police Department. That person will replace the new acting chief.

City Manager Norton Bonapart met with a national consulting firm, and the search is expected to take three to four weeks.

Bonaparte announced on Monday Capt. Darren Scott would serve as the city’s acting chief.

The search comes after Bill Lee temporarily stepped down.