Post date: May 09, 2012 2:48:35 PM
Doreen Lawrence, the mother of a British teenager killed in London in 1993, meets with the family of Trayvon Martin, an American teenager shot dead three months ago in Florida.
LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (MAY 9, 2012) (ITN) - The family of a high-profile murder case in the United States came to London on Wednesday (May 9) and met with the mother of a British teenager who was killed almost twenty years ago.
The family of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager shot dead in Florida three months ago by a neighbourhood watch captain as he made his way home from the corner store, arrived in the United Kingdom to show their appreciation for the British public's support since their son's death.
Americans are deeply divided by race over the killing of Martin, with 91 percent of African-Americans saying he was unjustly killed, while just 35 percent of whites thought so, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed in April.
The case sparked off a firestorm of debate about race relations and self-defence laws. Even President Barack Obama commented on the case, saying "If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon."
Support for the Martin family also came from outside the U.S. Among the messages of sympathy which had been sent to them was a letter from Doreen Lawrence, whose son Stephen was stabbed to death by a racist gang as he made his way home in south east London in 1993.
The two victims' mothers met in London for the first time on Wednesday. Lawrence greeted Martin's mother Sybrina Fulton with a hug and shared her experience with the American family.
Meanwhile a magazine is being prosecuted in Britain for potentially putting the Stephen Lawrence trial in danger of collapse.
The Spectator is accused of breaching a court order preventing prejudicial material being published before jurors reached verdicts. An article written titled "A
Vindictive Charade" called defendants Gary Dobson and David Norris "disgusting racists" during the Old Bailey trial.