DETROIT – Amid loud chants of “No Justice, No Peace,” thousands of protesters gathered outside of Detroit’s federal building on Saturday to demand the U.S. Justice Department bring federal hate crime charges against George Zimmerman.

The rally, organized by the National Action Network and led by many of the city’s religious leaders, was one of 100 to take place across the country. “This movement for Trayvon Martin – for justice for Trayvon – has brought in a lot of first-time activists,” said Rev. Charles Williams, III, the head of the National Action Network’s Detroit chapter.

Williams, who said during the rally that the state of Florida failed to get justice for Martin, said that the verdict was bigger than Trayvon Martin’s death. “It’s also about voting rights and affirmative action and women’s rights and so many other things that has caused people to say that they’re ready to stand up and fight and be willing to speak up,” Williams added.

Like the rallies in other cities such as New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston, and Philadelphia, the rally attracted a racially and culturally diverse crowd. Martin, along with Marissa Alexander, was held up as an example of the Stand Your Ground laws being a mockery of justice.