Jay-Z and his wife Beyonce joined protesters remembering Trayvon Martin. Source: Supplied
BEYONCE and husband Jay-Z have joined nationwide protests in the US over the acquittal of George Zimmerman on charges of murdering Trayvon Martin.
The superstar pair joined hundreds of others outside NYPD headquarters in New York.
Beyonce has written on her website: "We must fight for Trayvon the same way the generation before us fought for Emmett Till."
Till, aged 14, was murdered in 1955 in a case that was pivotal moment in the civil rights movement. His murderers were acquitted by an all-white jury.
Both Beyonce and Jay Z have become high-profile advocates in the Justice for Trayvon Martin campaign.
On the night of the jury acquittal, last week, Beyonce asked a Nashville audience to "have a moment of silence for Trayvon". Following a long pause, she performed a solemn rendition of the chorus from I Will Always Love You.
Beyonce and Jay-Z were just two of those involved in the nationwide rallies to press for federal civil rights charges against the former neighborhood watch leader.
Jay-Z and Beyonce with Trayvon Martin's family
The Florida case has become a flashpoint in separate but converging national debates over self-defense laws, guns, and race relations. Mr Zimmerman, who successfully claimed self-defence, identifies as Hispanic. Martin was black.
The National Action Network, led by civil rights activist, the Reverned Al Sharpton, organised the "Justice for Trayvon'' rallies and vigils outside federal buildings in at least 101 cities: from New York and Los Angeles to Wichita, Kansas, and Birmingham, Alabama.
Rallies began at noon local times. On Saturday morning on a plaza in downtown Manhattan, Rev. Sharpton spoke to supporters, telling them he wants a rollback of stand-your-ground self-defence laws. These laws give people wide latitude to use deadly force if they fear death or bodily harm.
"We are trying to change laws so that this never, ever happens again,'' Rev. Sharpton said.
Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, also spoke to the New York crowd. "Today it was my son. Tomorrow it might be yours,'' she said.
Martin's brother, Jahvaris Fulton, also was to attend the New York event. Martin's father, Tracy Martin, was scheduled to participate in a rally in the slain teen's hometown, Miami, where a crowd also gathered Saturday morning.
Rev. Sharpton and other supporters want the Justice Department to pursue federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman.
This week, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the department would investigate whether Mr Zimmerman could be charged under those federal civil rights laws, which would require evidence that he harbored racial animosity against Martin. Most legal experts say that would be a difficult charge to bring.
Mr Holder also said the shooting demonstrates the need to re-examine stand-your-ground laws nationwide.
