Actors speak on Trayvon
ACTORS Jamie Foxx and Samuel L Jackson have spoken out about the racially charged case of slain teenager Trayvon Martin at Comic-Con in San Diego.
ACTORS Jamie Foxx and Samuel L Jackson have spoken out about the racially charged case of slain teenager Trayvon Martin at Comic-Con in San Diego.
Foxx was at the massive pop culture convention to promote his role as the villain Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Foxx said he was disappointed in the not guilty verdict against George Zimmerman, who shot the unarmed black teenager in Florida in February last year. A jury found last Saturday that Zimmerman had acted in self-defence.
Foxx had been among the most vocal celebrities expressing support for Martin's family, having met the teen's mother, Sybrina Fulton, at an awards show.
"She's always been courageous in saying this has never been about race. She said it's about 17-year-old kids. We have to protect our kids. So I stand with her forever," Foxx said. "There's something wrong when a 17-year-old child is on his way home and someone with a gun pursues him and he ends up losing his life."
Foxx said Martin's case was part of an "epidemic" of gun violence in the US.
Jackson, at the convention to promote the remake of RoboCop, said: "I'm not really surprised by it, considering the way the case was presented and the representation that the family had, and the portrayals that they put out there of the kid and how people's attitudes are about those particular things," Jackson said.
Still, he was "encouraged by the attitude of people after the verdict, that people are willing to take a stand and get out in the streets, and let their voices be heard". - Sapa-AP