Protests have been held in US cities after a jury found George Zimmerman not guilty of murder. Source: AAP
THOUSANDS have protested in US cities as President Barack Obama appealed for calm following the acquittal in Florida of a man who gunned down an unarmed black teenager.
The angry protests highlight simmering racial tensions after a jury found volunteer watchman George Zimmerman not guilty of murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
Demonstrators held noisy rallies in US cities including New York, San Francisco, Boston, Detroit and Chicago.
At least six people were arrested in Los Angeles early on Monday when riot police broke up an "unlawful assembly" in Hollywood near the CNN building.
To the chants of "No justice, no peace!" a separate crowd blocked traffic on an important freeway elsewhere in the giant metropolis, local media reported.
The most numerous rally on Sunday was in New York City, where several thousand - including families with children - marched to Times Square under the watchful eye of police.
Many in the multi-racial crowd brandished signs bearing a portrait of Martin, while some, despite sweltering July heat, wore "hoodie" sweatshirts as the teen did the night he was killed.
"I am appalled," said Carli VanVoorhis, a 21-year-old hairdresser.
"The man was armed, the kid was not, and the man with the gun got away," she said.
"If we say it was not a racial issue, we would be lying."
"We have a big problem with race, and another problem is guns," said protester Rodney Rodriguez. "If Zimmerman didn't have a gun, he couldn't have killed Trayvon Martin."
The case has pitted those who believe that Zimmerman, a 29-year-old Hispanic neighbourhood watchman, killed Martin in self-defence, and those who believe it was a murder sparked by racist assumptions.
Obama, the first black US president, urged Americans to step back and accept the trial verdict.
"We are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken," he said in a statement.
"I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son."
Zimmerman was accused of pursuing Martin through a gated community in the town of Sanford and shooting him during an altercation on the rainy night of February 26, 2012.
The defence successfully argued that Zimmerman fired his handgun in self-defence after the teen wrestled him to the ground and was slamming his head against the pavement.
According to Florida's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law, people who fear for their lives can use deadly force to defend themselves without having to flee a confrontation.
"We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this," Obama said. "As citizens, that's a job for all of us. That's the way to honour Trayvon Martin."
Obama last year spoke emotionally about the case, noting that if he had a son he would "look like Trayvon."
The racial divide was evident in Sanford pastor Valerie Houston's Sunday sermon.
"Dr (Martin Luther) King (Jr) stated, the daily life of the Negro is still in the basement of the Great Society," she said.
"And today I state, the daily life of my people is still enslaved to a white supremacist society."
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