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Thousands expected in Louisiana for 'Jena Six' protest
The streets around this tiny town's courthouse began filling with protesters Wednesday, a day ahead of a planned march in support of six black teenagers jailed in the December beating of a white classmate.
Thursday's march was expected to draw thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of people, dwarfing Jena's population of about 3,500. Participants said they hoped to rekindle the spirit of the civil rights movement.
"This is the first time I've done anything like this, on this magnitude at least," said Nathaniel Ford, 47, a computer technician who traveled from Richmond, Va.
At the center of the protests is a group of black teenagers who have come to be called the Jena Six.
Months after declining to charge three white high school students who were briefly suspended for hanging nooses in a tree, local prosecutors charged five of the six with attempted second-degree murder in the beating of a white student. The sixth defendant's case is sealed because he is charged as a juvenile.
Critics allege the cases show authorities in this predominantly white town are disproportionately harsh toward blacks. District Attorney Reed Walters, breaking a long public silence Wednesday at a news conference, denied racism was involved.
Walters said the suffering of the beating victim, Justin Barker, has been largely ignored. Barker was knocked unconscious, his face badly swollen and bloodied, though he was able to attend a school function that night.
"With all the emphasis on the defendant, the injury done to him and the serious threat to his existence has become a footnote," Walters said of Barker, who accompanied the prosecutor but declined to speak.
Walters also said the reason he did not prosecute the students accused of hanging the nooses is because he could find no Louisiana law they could be charged with.
"I cannot overemphasize what a villainous act that was. The people that did it should be ashamed of what they unleashed on this town," Walters said.
He also noted that four defendants in the beating case were of adult age under Louisiana law, and that the only juvenile charged as an adult, Mychal Bell, had a prior criminal record.
Bell, 16 at the time of the attack, is the only one of the Jena Six to be tried so far. He was convicted on an aggravated second-degree battery count that could have sent him to prison for 15 years, but the conviction was overturned last week when a state appeals court said he should not have been tried as an adult.
Thursday's protest had been planned to coincide with Bell's sentencing, but organizers decided to press ahead after the conviction was thrown out. Bell remains in jail while prosecutors prepare an appeal.
Students from schools across the country — including historically black colleges like Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, Howard University, Hampton University and Southern University — were en route to Jena on Wednesday.
The case has resonated with young people, said Jeff Johnson, an activist and organizer who is covering the Jena rally for Black Entertainment Television.
"It does not happen often, where there's something that catches fire and really creates a mass movement of students," Johnson said as he boarded a Louisiana-bound plane in Atlanta.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson likened the gathering protest to historic events in Montgomery and Selma, Ala., and Little Rock, Ark.
For many Jena residents, Thursday's march is a bitter pill — the result, they said, of overblown and unfair media coverage. Most wouldn't comment and those that did were visibly irritated or angry.
"This isn't a racist town. It never has been. We didn't even have fist fights when the schools were integrated," said a white man who refused to give his name or comment further.
"Not no, but hell no," another man said angrily when asked to comment.
Town and state officials, however, said this week they wanted the demonstrators to be welcome and comfortable, and the resistance demonstrators met in the '50s and '60s was nowhere evident. State transportation workers were installing flashing message signs on town streets that would aid with traffic, and state police said portable toilets would be placed along the route.
Racial tensions in Jena were inflamed when the nooses were hung on a tree at Jena High School more than a year ago. They appeared after a black student expressed interest in sitting under a tree where whites usually congregated.
Thursday's march was to take protesters past the school — and the stump of the tree, which authorities had removed in July.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who helped organize the protest and met Bell at the courthouse Wednesday morning, said Bell is heartened by the show of support and wants to make sure it stays peaceful.
"He doesn't want anything done that would disparage his name — no violence, not even a negative word," Sharpton said.
"It breaks our hearts to see him in handcuffs and leg shackles, but his spirit is high," he added.
Some businesses in town planned to shut down during the demonstrations. Shirley Martin, whose daughter, Tina Norms, decided to close Cafe Martin on Wednesday, said she doubts it will open Thursday, even though the rally is expected to end by midmorning.
"That sounds fine. Maybe we can get our town back in order for us to work the next day," she said.
At least one business in town was trying to show civic pride. "Jena, La.," said the T-shirts on display in one apparel store window. "Still a great place to call home."
Source: AP
Thursday's march was expected to draw thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of people, dwarfing Jena's population of about 3,500. Participants said they hoped to rekindle the spirit of the civil rights movement.
"This is the first time I've done anything like this, on this magnitude at least," said Nathaniel Ford, 47, a computer technician who traveled from Richmond, Va.
At the center of the protests is a group of black teenagers who have come to be called the Jena Six.
Months after declining to charge three white high school students who were briefly suspended for hanging nooses in a tree, local prosecutors charged five of the six with attempted second-degree murder in the beating of a white student. The sixth defendant's case is sealed because he is charged as a juvenile.
Critics allege the cases show authorities in this predominantly white town are disproportionately harsh toward blacks. District Attorney Reed Walters, breaking a long public silence Wednesday at a news conference, denied racism was involved.
Walters said the suffering of the beating victim, Justin Barker, has been largely ignored. Barker was knocked unconscious, his face badly swollen and bloodied, though he was able to attend a school function that night.
"With all the emphasis on the defendant, the injury done to him and the serious threat to his existence has become a footnote," Walters said of Barker, who accompanied the prosecutor but declined to speak.
Walters also said the reason he did not prosecute the students accused of hanging the nooses is because he could find no Louisiana law they could be charged with.
"I cannot overemphasize what a villainous act that was. The people that did it should be ashamed of what they unleashed on this town," Walters said.
He also noted that four defendants in the beating case were of adult age under Louisiana law, and that the only juvenile charged as an adult, Mychal Bell, had a prior criminal record.
Bell, 16 at the time of the attack, is the only one of the Jena Six to be tried so far. He was convicted on an aggravated second-degree battery count that could have sent him to prison for 15 years, but the conviction was overturned last week when a state appeals court said he should not have been tried as an adult.
Thursday's protest had been planned to coincide with Bell's sentencing, but organizers decided to press ahead after the conviction was thrown out. Bell remains in jail while prosecutors prepare an appeal.
Students from schools across the country — including historically black colleges like Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, Howard University, Hampton University and Southern University — were en route to Jena on Wednesday.
The case has resonated with young people, said Jeff Johnson, an activist and organizer who is covering the Jena rally for Black Entertainment Television.
"It does not happen often, where there's something that catches fire and really creates a mass movement of students," Johnson said as he boarded a Louisiana-bound plane in Atlanta.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson likened the gathering protest to historic events in Montgomery and Selma, Ala., and Little Rock, Ark.
For many Jena residents, Thursday's march is a bitter pill — the result, they said, of overblown and unfair media coverage. Most wouldn't comment and those that did were visibly irritated or angry.
"This isn't a racist town. It never has been. We didn't even have fist fights when the schools were integrated," said a white man who refused to give his name or comment further.
"Not no, but hell no," another man said angrily when asked to comment.
Town and state officials, however, said this week they wanted the demonstrators to be welcome and comfortable, and the resistance demonstrators met in the '50s and '60s was nowhere evident. State transportation workers were installing flashing message signs on town streets that would aid with traffic, and state police said portable toilets would be placed along the route.
Racial tensions in Jena were inflamed when the nooses were hung on a tree at Jena High School more than a year ago. They appeared after a black student expressed interest in sitting under a tree where whites usually congregated.
Thursday's march was to take protesters past the school — and the stump of the tree, which authorities had removed in July.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who helped organize the protest and met Bell at the courthouse Wednesday morning, said Bell is heartened by the show of support and wants to make sure it stays peaceful.
"He doesn't want anything done that would disparage his name — no violence, not even a negative word," Sharpton said.
"It breaks our hearts to see him in handcuffs and leg shackles, but his spirit is high," he added.
Some businesses in town planned to shut down during the demonstrations. Shirley Martin, whose daughter, Tina Norms, decided to close Cafe Martin on Wednesday, said she doubts it will open Thursday, even though the rally is expected to end by midmorning.
"That sounds fine. Maybe we can get our town back in order for us to work the next day," she said.
At least one business in town was trying to show civic pride. "Jena, La.," said the T-shirts on display in one apparel store window. "Still a great place to call home."
Source: AP