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Aug. 2nd, 2007
Unbelievable
Aug. 2nd, 2007 06:24 pmhttp://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/1/13950/70591
Here is karateexplosion's post explaining this horrifying incident further.
Last September, around the beginning of the school year, an African American freshman at Jena High School in Central Louisiana asked if he could sit underneath a shade tree in the courtyard where the white students usually congregate. The next morning, African American students came to school to witness three rope nooses hanging from that tree.
So begins a story of racism and bigotry, of unfairness and injustice, that reminds us how far we have yet to come.
Despite calls from the black community for the students responsible for hanging the nooses to be expelled, the school administration judge the event to be nothing more than a "prank". The white students received a three-day in-school suspension.
This angered many of the African American students, and they spontaneously formed a peaceful protest: the day after the nooses hung, the entire black student population went to sit under the tree. The same school administration that had just called hanging nooses in a tree as a message to blacks to be a "prank" responded to the nonviolent protest by calling the police and the district attorney, Reed Walters.
An assembly was called, during which Walters, surrounded by police officers, reportedly raised a pen above his head and told the black students, "I could end your lives with the stroke of this pen."
Tensions continued to flare at the school, though much of it was restrained as neither side wanted to negatively impact the school’s football season. Once football was over, however, the tension exploded.
On November 30, someone tried to burn down the school, and both sides blamed the other for the arson. When a black student attempted to attend a white party, he was beaten.
The next day, heated words were exchanged at a convenience store, which culminated in a white student brandishing a shotgun at a group of black students. The black students wrestled the gun away and called the police. The police came — and charged the black students with stealing a firearm, second-degree robbery, and disturbing the peace. The white student who had originally threatened them with the shotgun was not charged.
The following Monday, one of the white students was loudly bragging and laughing about the black student being beaten at the fight at the party. Later in the school courtyard, six black students attacked him, punching him, knocking him to the ground and kicking him. The white student was taken to a doctor, treated and released with only a concussion and some bruises. He was well enough to attend a social function that same night.
The six black students involved in the fight were arrested and charged with aggravated assault. But District Attorney Walters — the guy with the pen who bragged about ending people’s lives with the stroke of a pen — changed the charges to attempted murder and conspiracy to commit attempted murder. The charges carry a possible penalty of up to 100 years in prison.
Five of the Jena 6 still await trial and face spending the rest of their lives in prison.
But one of the six has already had his trial, and it gives little hope for the others. The judge was white, and the public defender was white. The jury pool for the trial was all-white, meaning the jury ended up being all-white. One member of the jury was District Attorney Walter’s former classmate. Another jury member was the mother of one of the prosecution’s witnesses. Another juror is friends with the white victim’s mother.
The public defender did not challenge the all-white jury pool. He did not present any evidence, and he did not call any witnesses. He stated that he didn’t find race to be a factor in the case.
The 16-year-old student was found guilty of lesser charges — still felonies — aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery. The charge states that a deadly weapon was used — in this case, a sneaker.
He is awaiting sentencing which is scheduled for September 20 and faces up to 22 years in prison.
I don't understand how something like this can happen in this day and age. It's unbelievable.
Here is karateexplosion's post explaining this horrifying incident further.
Last September, around the beginning of the school year, an African American freshman at Jena High School in Central Louisiana asked if he could sit underneath a shade tree in the courtyard where the white students usually congregate. The next morning, African American students came to school to witness three rope nooses hanging from that tree.
So begins a story of racism and bigotry, of unfairness and injustice, that reminds us how far we have yet to come.
Despite calls from the black community for the students responsible for hanging the nooses to be expelled, the school administration judge the event to be nothing more than a "prank". The white students received a three-day in-school suspension.
This angered many of the African American students, and they spontaneously formed a peaceful protest: the day after the nooses hung, the entire black student population went to sit under the tree. The same school administration that had just called hanging nooses in a tree as a message to blacks to be a "prank" responded to the nonviolent protest by calling the police and the district attorney, Reed Walters.
An assembly was called, during which Walters, surrounded by police officers, reportedly raised a pen above his head and told the black students, "I could end your lives with the stroke of this pen."
Tensions continued to flare at the school, though much of it was restrained as neither side wanted to negatively impact the school’s football season. Once football was over, however, the tension exploded.
On November 30, someone tried to burn down the school, and both sides blamed the other for the arson. When a black student attempted to attend a white party, he was beaten.
The next day, heated words were exchanged at a convenience store, which culminated in a white student brandishing a shotgun at a group of black students. The black students wrestled the gun away and called the police. The police came — and charged the black students with stealing a firearm, second-degree robbery, and disturbing the peace. The white student who had originally threatened them with the shotgun was not charged.
The following Monday, one of the white students was loudly bragging and laughing about the black student being beaten at the fight at the party. Later in the school courtyard, six black students attacked him, punching him, knocking him to the ground and kicking him. The white student was taken to a doctor, treated and released with only a concussion and some bruises. He was well enough to attend a social function that same night.
The six black students involved in the fight were arrested and charged with aggravated assault. But District Attorney Walters — the guy with the pen who bragged about ending people’s lives with the stroke of a pen — changed the charges to attempted murder and conspiracy to commit attempted murder. The charges carry a possible penalty of up to 100 years in prison.
Five of the Jena 6 still await trial and face spending the rest of their lives in prison.
But one of the six has already had his trial, and it gives little hope for the others. The judge was white, and the public defender was white. The jury pool for the trial was all-white, meaning the jury ended up being all-white. One member of the jury was District Attorney Walter’s former classmate. Another jury member was the mother of one of the prosecution’s witnesses. Another juror is friends with the white victim’s mother.
The public defender did not challenge the all-white jury pool. He did not present any evidence, and he did not call any witnesses. He stated that he didn’t find race to be a factor in the case.
The 16-year-old student was found guilty of lesser charges — still felonies — aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery. The charge states that a deadly weapon was used — in this case, a sneaker.
He is awaiting sentencing which is scheduled for September 20 and faces up to 22 years in prison.
I don't understand how something like this can happen in this day and age. It's unbelievable.
