'Jena 6' update

[EvilMonkey]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jOl6L85...4k_28ojhYLcuLGg

 

It's a long story, but just a few points it brought up:

 

_

The so-called "white tree" at Jena High, often reported to be the domain of only white students, was nothing of the sort, according to teachers and school administrators; students of all races, they say, congregated under it at one time or another.

 

_Two nooses — not three — were found dangling from the tree. Beyond being offensive to blacks, the nooses were cut down because black and white students "were playing with them, pulling on them, jump-swinging from them, and putting their heads through them," according to a black teacher who witnessed the scene.

 

_There was no connection between the September noose incident and December attack, according to Donald Washington, an attorney for the U.S. Justice Department in western Louisiana, who investigated claims that these events might be race-related hate crimes.

 

_The three youths accused of hanging the nooses were not suspended for just three days — they were isolated at an alternative school for about a month, and then given an in-school suspension for two weeks.

 

_The six-member jury that convicted Bell was, indeed, all white. However, only one in 10 people in LaSalle Parish is African American, and though black residents were selected randomly by computer and summoned for jury selection, none showed up

[sox4lifeinPA]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jOl6L85...4k_28ojhYLcuLGg

 

It's a long story, but just a few points it brought up:

 

_

 

 

that is what we call

[BigSqwert]

Alpha, sorry to go off on a tangent but your sig is somewhat misleading. It is true that many farmers are hunters but when you look at the big picture factory farms kill billions of livestock annually. That includes chickens, pigs, and cows. I can't imagine the number of animals hunted and killed even remotely comes close to those numbers.

[jasonxctf]

imo, getting your as* kicked for hanging nooses is rightfully deserved.

[Jenksismyhero]

imo, getting your as* kicked for hanging nooses is rightfully deserved.

 

 

Did you not read this?

 

"There was no connection between the September noose incident and December attack, according to Donald Washington, an attorney for the U.S. Justice Department in western Louisiana, who investigated claims that these events might be race-related hate crimes."

[FlaSoxxJim]

You left out the most important point of the story though:

 

The lethal weapon he cited to justify the charge [of second degree attempted murder]: the boys' sneakers.

 

[kapkomet]

You left out the most important point of the story though:

That is indeed horses***.

 

[EvilMonkey]

You left out the most important point of the story though:

I left out alot of the story, as I said, it was long. And I don't think it was the most important point. The most important point is all the race-baiters down there are spouting off about crap that isn't quite true. But the truth has never stood in their way before. I think most in the earlier discussion about this agreed that the attempted murder charges were a bit over the top.

[Texsox]

Did you not read this?

 

"There was no connection between the September noose incident and December attack, according to Donald Washington, an attorney for the U.S. Justice Department in western Louisiana, who investigated claims that these events might be race-related hate crimes."

 

Interesting. If participants say it was, but a lawyer investigating says no, which is more reliable?

[BigSqwert]

Interesting. If participants say it was, but a lawyer investigating says no, which is more reliable?

The lawyer! Everyone loves lawyers.

[whitesoxfan101]

The 2 most important points here:

 

1. The lethal weapon was a shoe.

 

2. One the biggest reasons for the original conviction of Bell was a detailed account of the incident given by one of the boys who hung the nooses.

 

The efforts, lies, and denial used by people in that area to try and make this something other than what it is (blatant racism) is very cute though.

Edited September 25, 2007 by whitesoxfan101

[sox4lifeinPA]

You left out the most important point of the story though:

 

 

non-deadly sneakers can kill people too

[southsider2k5]

Of course it was inevitable, the white power groups are now using this to their own sick advantages.

 

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...323/1060/NEWS01

 

Thousands made the journey to Jena on Thursday to show their support for the "Jena Six."

 

And while the day may have remained peaceful during the rallies, the days since have been anything but.

 

 

First, it was the two teens who were arrested Thursday night after driving a pickup truck through downtown Alexandria, where ralliers had gathered, with nooses hanging off the back. Both had been drinking, and a gun and brass knuckles were found in their truck.

 

The next day, the FBI announced it was keeping tabs on a neo-Nazi activist in Roanoke, Va., who had posted the names and addresses of the Jena Six on his Web site proclaiming "Lynch the Jena 6," the Roanoke Times reported.

 

William A. White also listed the phone numbers of the teens, urging his readers to "Get in touch, and let them know justice is coming."

 

White -- the leader of a Roanoke-based white-supremacy group -- has a penchant for inserting inflammatory rhetoric into racially charged incidents that attract national attention, such as the Jena Six case, according to the Times.

 

The "Jena Six" is the name that has become associated with the six black teens originally charged with attempted murder in connection with the Dec. 4 beating of white Jena High School student Justin Barker.

 

Barker was knocked unconscious and then kicked by a group of students, according to court documents. He was treated for three hours in a local emergency room, released and that night attended a class ring ceremony with his family.

 

Tens of thousands descended Thursday on Jena to rally around the cause of the group, with specific emphasis on Mychal Bell, the only member of the Jena Six to have been tried and remain in jail.

 

Bell was convicted in June of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit the same -- the same charges most of the boys now face.

 

Both of his adult convictions have been vacated, one already being tried in the juvenile court system and the other in limbo until LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters determines if he wishes to appeal or not.

 

Bell's attorneys on Friday were hopeful he would be granted bond, but it was denied along with a motion to recuse 28th Judicial District Court Judge J.P. Mauffray.

 

The threats

 

Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups, described White's actions to the Times as "appalling, but it's not surprising."

 

Gov. Kathleen Blanco issued a statement Saturday condemning White's Web site, which she deemed as a threat.

 

"Harassing families involved in the legal issues in Jena can not and will not be tolerated," she said in the statement. "Public attacks on private citizens done out of ignorance and hatred is appalling, and anyone who stoops to such unspeakable persecution will be investigated and subject to the full penalty of law. I have asked law enforcement agencies to investigate this matter, and as governor I will do everything in my power to put a stop to these cowardly threats to Louisiana citizens."

 

The Rev. Al Sharpton also issued a statement about the posting of contact information for the Jena Six family members.

 

"Some of the families have received almost around the clock calls of threats and harassment since this Web site appeared, and to think that some person could actually harm or even continue to harass these families with no effort by law enforcement, will further exacerbate the tensions around this case immeasurably," he said. "Since our massive rally, there have been hangmen nooses found in several cities. The escalation has been met with a stubborn silence by officials in Jena, and we feel the governor must send in state law enforcement to investigate these threats and protect the public."

 

The actions of the teens in Alexandria, White and the hundreds of others who have been harassing the families are disgusting, the Rev. B.L. Moran said. He said Tina Jones, the mother of defendant Bryant Purvis, has been especially rattled by one caller who threatened that "whitey's coming to sic the black n-----s."

 

"There have been statements made on these Web sites saying if (Bell) was released that they'd kill everyone that has anything to do with the Jena Six," he said. "It certainly bothers them. It bothers them enough to get in touch with authorities."

 

The rallies were held to bring peace and unity, not violence or hatred, he said.

 

"What they stand for is nooses and murder," Moran said of those threatening the families. "All of this is causing not just Jena and the parish trouble, but trouble all over America. Now when you turn on the TV, you see nooses hanging everywhere. And it all started in Jena."

 

Alan Bean, director of Friends of Justice, said the actions of the teens in the truck and those making threats represent people trying to provoke fear or anger.

 

"They are sick individuals trying to get attention for themselves and piggyback on such a peaceful, beautiful event," he said. "They wanted to blemish something that was so completely without incident."

 

The situation in Jena, Bean said, won't be helped by hurling insults back and forth or, even worse, violence.

 

"Jena has seen enough violence already," he said.

 

Next steps

 

Even though one of the goals of Thursday's rally was to encourage Bell's release, many said they were surprised by the outcome of Friday's hearing.

 

"I always contended we were not going to get justice for these kids in LaSalle parish," Bean said. "& It was more of the same from Walters and Mauffray. I think reaction (of the bond denial) clearly shows widespread expectation that Mychal would be released and tremendous disappointment when he wasn't."

 

Bean and his grass-roots activism organization have been involved with helping the families and getting word out about the case long before it graced the covers of papers or television screens across the nation and world.

 

"It's just beginning," he said of what's going on in Jena.

 

Sharpton said he and Bell's parents, Marcus Jones and Melissa Bell, will be meeting at noon on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., with U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to seek federal hearings and intervention.

 

"At the same time, Mychal's attorneys will pursue state remedies for his immediate release," Sharpton said in his statement. "For a Judge to refuse to release him after his conviction was overturned is to hold the system of law in contempt and to further display the raw bias that inspired our involvement and participation in this movement around the Jena Six since early this summer."

 

Sharpton said he and other civil rights leaders and activists will continue their plans for the next "major effort to protest this continued injustice." Those plans, he said, will be announced after Tuesday's meeting.

 

Bean agreed that another march could be in order, but said it would probably be held outside of Jena.

 

"I think the problems that we see in Jena are very American problems, very human problems that can be seen everywhere," he said. "I hope when all of these issues are finally dealt with in the courts, Jena can become a sign of healing for the nation. People will be able to pull together and people across the country can talk about these problems."

 

 

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©The Times

September 23, 2007

[NorthSideSox72]

A white supremecist named William White. You can't make stuff like this up.

 

Some incidents bring out the best in people. This one seems to be bringing out the worst.

 

[southsider2k5]

A white supremecist named William White. You can't make stuff like this up.

 

Some incidents bring out the best in people. This one seems to be bringing out the worst.

 

I agree.

 

BTW, 7000 posts, congrats

[NorthSideSox72]

I agree.

 

BTW, 7000 posts, congrats

 

Jeez. I spend waaaaaay too much time here.

 

[Yossarian]

A white supremecist named William White. You can't make stuff like this up.

 

Some incidents bring out the best in people. This one seems to be bringing out the worst.

Yes. They are no good guys in this incident. None.

 

[sox4lifeinPA]

 

Jeez. I spend waaaaaay too much time here.

 

 

why is Horatio Sanz running for President and going by the name Bill Richardson?

[NorthSideSox72]

why is Horatio Sanz running for President and going by the name Bill Richardson?

I actually think he looks a lot like Graham Greene...

 

 

 

 

[EvilMonkey]

Some of you may have received the junk email forwarded about the Red Cross giving supplies to the protestors in Jena. Apparently it was true.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/jena.asp

 

A statement by the Red Cross says they did it because they were asked to by the state, and they will seek reimbursement from the state for the supplies given. The state asked them because the 15,000 or so marchers would have overwhelmed the small towns services, even if they were open. (The local businesses closed that day since they were going to be boycotted anyway) I think the Red Cross and/or the state should be billing the protestors for the supplies, and whoever organized it as well for not planning ahead. This also makes it look like the Red Cross, a supposedly non-political entity, took a side (which they didn't).

[Yossarian]

You left out the most important point of the story though:

You're making light of a very serious and savage beating a young man took. You're very glib and articulate but can always be counted on to take a predictable left wing viewpoint on any given subject.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

You're making light of a very serious and savage beating a young man took. You're very glib and articulate but can always be counted on to take a predictable left wing viewpoint on any given subject.

Did you actually see what he was responding to in his post? I find it laughable as well. A shoe as a deadly weapon? How is that not ridiculous?

 

And what on earth does it have to do with left wing or right wing? Not to mention that some "right wing" folks responded in agreement.

 

[Yossarian]

Did you actually see what he was responding to in his post? I find it laughable as well. A shoe as a deadly weapon? How is that not ridiculous?

 

And what on earth does it have to do with left wing or right wing? Not to mention that some "right wing" folks responded in agreement.

I'm sure I'll never be able to overcome the dumb as dirt image you seem to have of me. Yes, one might laugh at the DA or whoever calling a shoe a deadly weapon. However, was not the youth attacked by six other boys, and beaten unconscious? If that is not a fact, then yes you are correct, in this instance I qualify as dumb. It's too bad someone listed a shoe as a deadly weapon, it doesn't alter the fact that this was a brutal assault, that was on its way to being a fatal one. I'm glad it wasn't my kid on the end of such a savage beating, I'd surely be in jail now myself.

 

OK I did some checking and I'm not wrong.

 

Schools superintendent Ray Bleithaupt stated that the attack was no ordinary schoolyard fight. "It was a premeditated ambush and attack by six students against one," Bleithaupt said. "The victim attacked was beaten and kicked into a state of bloody unconsciousness."

 

So you and Florida can LOL all you want. Hope something like that never happens to you or yours.

[NorthSideSox72]

I'm sure I'll never be able to overcome the dumb as dirt image you seem to have of me. Yes, one might laugh at the DA or whoever calling a shoe a deadly weapon. However, was not the youth attacked by six other boys, and beaten unconscious? If that is not a fact, then yes you are correct, in this instance I qualify as dumb. It's too bad someone listed a shoe as a deadly weapon, it doesn't alter the fact that this was a brutal assault, that was on its way to being a fatal one. I'm glad it wasn't my kid on the end of such a savage beating, I'd surely be in jail now myself.

 

OK I did some checking and I'm not wrong.

 

Schools superintendent Ray Bleithaupt stated that the attack was no ordinary schoolyard fight. "It was a premeditated ambush and attack by six students against one," Bleithaupt said. "The victim attacked was beaten and kicked into a state of bloody unconsciousness."

 

So you and Florida can LOL all you want. Hope something like that never happens to you or yours.

What's with the paranoia? Did FlaSoxxJim, myself or anyone here ever call you dumb? Or even hint at it? I just pointed out that you made what seems to me to be a bizarre association of his post with a particular political wing, and also said I agreed with him that to call a shoe a deadly weapon is pretty ridiculous. And further in fact, Jim was not making light of the attack - he was making light of the apparently trumped up charge being levied.

 

So, the question still remains... what does that post have to do with left wing or right wing? I am trying to understand how you came to that conclusion.

 

I was not LOL'ing at a kid getting beaten up, nor do I think Jim was.

 

[Yossarian]

Oh the hell with it. Who gives a s*** about the shoe, it obscuresand diminishes the major fact of a savage beating. A very savage beating. And by the way, I'm not paranoid. Some people are out to get me.