PITTSBURGH — A rally for justice in the Trayvon Martin case was held Monday on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University.
The rally was organized by the black graduate students at the university. Organizers said they wanted to make sure the case was being recognized on a local level.
"We want people to walk away invigorated to begin these discussions in their private lives and convinced that something does need to changed," said organizer Brittany Claud.
More than 500 people attended the rally at CMU on Monday.
"You are seeing white people, black people, young people, old people.., everyone. I think it's great that we are standing up for something we really believe in," said Robert Morris University student Corrie Danziger.
Seven speakers urged the crowd to get involved and make a difference. Several of the speakers compared the Martin case to similar local cases like Johnny Gammage and Jordan Miles.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people rallied in Sanford, Fla. on Monday at Fort Mellon Park to demand justice in Martin's shooting death.
Investigators said Martin was shot and killed last month as he walked through a neighborhood wearing a hooded sweatshirt. Police said George Zimmerman shot and killed Martin as he was returning from a 7-Eleven.
Martin, 17, was unarmed when he was shot and killed by 28-year-old Zimmerman inside a gated Sanford community.
Zimmerman told police he shot Martin in self-defense.
A man identified as the shooter's friend said Zimmerman would tell the teen's parents he's "very, very sorry" if he could.
Zimmerman does have a criminal past. In 2005, Zimmerman was charged with resisting arrest with violence. State alcohol agents said Zimmerman pushed them while they were arresting a friend of his during an underage drinking operation at a bar. Zimmerman avoided a conviction by going into a pretrial program that is offered to people with no prior arrests.
The shooting has sparked widespread outrage, with many calling for Zimmerman's arrest.