"I wanted to get the word out," Meister said. "It doesn't happen very often in Baltimore, people taking to the streets."
Sowers has also gotten help from Ramsey Flynn, a former news editor at the Maryland Daily Record. Flynn said that he has advised Sowers to call for a retraction because Burns' comments "undid her foundation" as an advocate.
Flynn said that a key part of the strategy in raising pressure on Jessamy's office has been to enlist community activists and organizations, including city councilmen, Meister, the NAACP and Steve Fogelman, Jessamy's opponent in the 2006 election.
Sowers "has been shy about soliciting extra support until recently," Flynn said.
But now, he said, she has been more active in seeking help.
"If their interests don't conflict with what we want to communicate, we're happy to talk to anyone," he said.
But some say their efforts are misguided.
Margaret Mead, a Baltimore defense attorney who walked by the rally yesterday, said that she has "great empathy" for Sowers but that Burns was just doing her job, explaining to the public why prosecutors agreed to the terms of the plea deal for Zach's attacker, Trayvon Ramos.
Ramos received a 40-year prison sentence to be followed by five years' probation after pleading guilty to robbery and attempted first-degree murder. If Ramos, now 17, violates his probation, he could go to prison for life.
"Ninety-nine percent of the time, Marty Burns does a good job," Mead said. "Calling for her ouster is pretty extreme, and I don't think it's right."
melissa.harris@baltsun.com
