Trayvon Martin Parents to Attend NYC Million “Hoodie” March

The march is in honor of the unarmed 17-year-old boy shot dead in Florida.

The parents of Trayvon Martin, the Miami Gardens teen fatally shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, are set to attend a march in his honor Wednesday evening in Union Square where supporters will demonstrate for "an end to racial profiling."

NBC News has confirmed that Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin will attend the event being called the Million Hoodie March.

"I feel very honored that New York would do a rally in my son's honor," Tracy Martin told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "It means a lot to me and my family knowing that people across the country, across the world, are coming together to get justice for Trayvon."

Martin, 17, was walking home from a 7-Eleven in Sanford, Fla. on Feb. 26 when he was shot dead by a neighborhood watch volunteer who had called police and reported a "real suspicious guy" wearing a hoodie.

Martin was found dead, unarmed, with a bag of Skittles and an iced tea.

The neighborhood watch volunteer, George Zimmerman, claims he acted in self-defense and has not been arrested. The Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation and a local grand jury is set to meet next month to consider evidence in the case.

Police said Zimmerman is white; his family says he is Hispanic.

His parents appeared Wednesday on the "TODAY" show and said their child had been frightened for his life because he was being followed by Zimmerman.

"He was on his way home. He had every right to have on his hoodie. It was raining. Why not put on his hoodie to prevent getting wet?" his father said on "TODAY."

The march planned for Wednesday is part of a social media event calling for Martin's supporters nationwide to upload photos of themselves wearing hoodies and use the hashtag #millionhoodies. See some of those photos here.

"A black person in a hoodie isn't automatically 'suspicious,'" says the event's Facebook page. "Let's put an end to racial profiling!"

Tracy Martin said he was trying to stay strong on Wednesday.

"I don't feel this is the time to break down, even though it's a very troubling time in my life," he said. "I've told myself, when I get justice for Trayvon, then I'll have my time to break down."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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