Justice For Trayvon? Or a Wrongheaded Prosecution?

Councilwoman Letitia James, D-Fort Greene, called it "a senseless tragedy."

District Leader Olanike Alabi said it was "time to stand our ground" against "license-to-kill" laws.

And Danielle Williams said it was "high time they did something about people targeting young black men" while grabbing her morning coffee at on Lafayette.

Indeed, it seemed like most people in the neighborhood had a personal stake in the case of Trayvon Martin, the teen who was shot by George Zimmerman while walking through a gated community in Sanford, Fla. on Feb. 26.

But did special prosecutor Angela Corey get it right in bringing down second-degree murder charges against Zimmerman on Wednesday—which, if he is convicted, could put the 28-year-old in jail for life?

In her reaction to the charges, James framed the case in terms of race and what she termed a nationwide need for stronger gun control laws.

"The overt and covert ways in which we as a society label young Black men as 'threatening' must stop. It is important to recognize that reckless vigilantism is a threat to the safety of us all, and we must adopt a no-tolerance approach," she said in a statement.