(Reuters) – Black preachers said on Tuesday they were planning peaceful protests in 100 cities across the United States this weekend to press for federal charges in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

Standing outside the U.S. Justice Department building in Washington, the preachers pledged to hold the protests near federal buildings and said action was justified because of what they see as the civil rights questions surrounding the death.

A Florida jury on Saturday found George Zimmerman, 29, not guilty of second-degree murder in the 2012 shooting. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, said he shot the unarmed Martin, a black youth, in self-defense.

“People all over the country will gather to show that we are not having a two- or three-day anger fit,” said Al Sharpton, a preacher, television host and civil rights advocate joined by about 15 other clergy.

Sharpton said demonstrations were planned for Saturday in 100 cities to push for new charges against Zimmerman and the repeal of Florida’s “stand your ground” self-defense law.

“We don’t need consolation. We need legislation, and we need some federal prosecution,” Sharpton said.

The Justice Department, which has offices in every major U.S. city, said Martin’s death remains under investigation.

Any charges against Zimmerman would likely fall under a 2009 law against hate crimes, but lawyers with civil rights expertise said a new prosecution was unlikely because of the lack of evidence that racism drove Zimmerman to shoot.

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