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Thousands Converge On Jena For Justice

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By PETER WHORISKEY, The Washington Post

Published: September 21, 2007

JENA, La. - Thousands of people from across the nation converged Thursday on this rural town to protest what they consider the overzealous prosecution of six black high school students charged with beating a white schoolmate.

Many participants said they also wanted to make a statement about what they think is unequal treatment black people receive from the criminal justice system everywhere.

'There's Jenas in Atlanta, there's Jenas in New York, there's Jenas in Florida and there are Jenas all over Texas,' the Rev. Al Sharpton said.

As demonstrators poured into town in buses, cars and on foot, there was also a sense of nostalgia for the huge civil rights marches of a generation ago and a hope that the response to the Jena 6 controversy might rekindle the movement.

'It has been a long time since we had a march like this and people knew it was making history,' said the Rev. Kevin Domingue, 42, of Rockville, Md., who was reared about 150 miles from Jena, and who flew to New Orleans and drove to the rally.

'It's not just about Jena, but about inequalities and disparities around the country,' said Stephanie Brown, 26, national youth director for the NAACP.
Martin Luther King III, son of the slain civil rights leader, said punishment of some sort may be in order for the six defendants, but 'the justice system isn't applied the same to all crimes and all people.'

President Bush said he understood the emotions and that the FBI was monitoring the situation.

'The events in Louisiana have saddened me,' the president said at the White House. 'All of us in America want there to be, you know, fairness when it comes to justice.'

While Jena 6 supporters were overwhelmingly black, young whites were also present.

'I think what happened here was disgusting and repulsive to the whole state,' said Mallory Flippo, a white college student from Shreveport. 'I think it reflected badly on our state and how it makes it seem we view black people. I don't feel that way, so I thought I should be here.'

The outrage over the Jena 6 arose initially after the teenagers involved were charged with attempted murder.

Moreover, critics complained, three white teenagers at the school who had hung three hangman's nooses in a tree at the high school in August 2006 were never prosecuted for committing a hate crime.

Since then, the charges against the black teenagers have been reduced to second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit battery, but many at the event said they think such charges are still too harsh for what they characterize as a schoolyard fight.

'A potential penalty of 15 to 20 years is excessive for a schoolyard fight,' said Shannon Collins, 33, a petroleum engineer from Houston who grew up near Jena. 'If it's not racism, why else would the district attorney do this?'

LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters, who prosecuted the case, said that it is inaccurate to portray the beating of the white student as a schoolyard fight.

The victim, Justin Barker, was knocked unconscious, though he was treated at a hospital and released. Later that night he attended a class ring ceremony.

'The injury that was done to Barker and the serious threat to his survival has become less than a footnote,' Walters said Wednesday.

'There was no schoolyard fight. To call it that creates sort of a boys-will-be-boys image that is not correct.'

Mychal Bell, now 17, is the only one of the defendants to be tried.

He was convicted of aggravated second-degree battery, but his conviction was tossed out last week by a state appeals court that said Bell, who was 16 at the time of the beating, could not be tried as an adult on that charge.

He remained in jail pending an appeal by prosecutors. An appellate court on Thursday ordered a hearing to be held within three days on his request for release. The other five defendants are free on bond.

The demonstration had echoes beyond Jena. Rallies were held in cities across the country in a show of solidarity, including in Detroit, Atlanta and Philadelphia.

The prime focus of the day, however, was in the town of 3,500 people that suddenly found itself thrust into the national spotlight.

Many businesses such as the Burger Barn and the Brisket House were closed and had yellow police tape blocking people from parking. Many white residents expressed anger at the way their town was being portrayed.

'I believe in people standing up for what's right,' said resident Ricky Coleman, 46, who is white. 'What bothers me is this town being labeled racist. I'm not racist.'

Gerald Tullos, 44, who works in the oil fields, watched the march. He said the blame lies on both sides.

'In the beginning, the charges were too severe,' Tullos said.

As she trudged up a hill to a rally at a park, 63-year-old Elizabeth Redding of Willingboro, N.J., remembered marching at Selma, Ala., when she was in her 20s.

'I am a great-grandmother now. I'm doing this for my great-grandchildren,' she said.

Alecea Rush, 21, a senior at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, said her grandmother used to tell her stories about the civil rights movement, including one in which she witnessed a lynching in Oklahoma City.

'I thought about every one of those stories being out here today,' Rush said. 'I never really felt the significance until today.'

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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