PROBLEMS CONTINUE FOR JENA SIX: DRUG BUST OR RACISM?

While Sheriff Scott Franklin of Jena, Louisiana says he is trying to rid his jurisdiction of drugs, critics say he has a vendetta against the town's black community for the local civil rights protests that won freedom for six black high school students who had been charged with attempted murder for a schoolyard brawl in 2009.

As reported in Race-Talk on July 9, 2009, over 150 officers from 10 agencies met and mobilized "Operation Third Option" with the goal of fighting drugs. Despite the fact that Sheriff Franklin spent massive resources for an investigation that lasted nearly two years, officers have yet to seize any contraband. Working with District Attorney Reed Walters, Sheriff Franklin has been seeking maximum penalties for minor offenses in a town that is 85% white with only 300 black residents. Thus far, their efforts have almost exclusively targeted African Americans.

Catrina Wallace, the sister of Robert Bailey, one of the "Jena Six," was a leader in the initiative to free the accused youth and organized protests and meetings for months. She and her children were awakened with guns pointed to their heads and were held on a $150,000 cash-only bond although officers found no drugs or contraband in her home. Furthermore, despite a lack of evidence, her car was also taken by police and never returned.

Samuel Howard was sleeping nude when police raided his home at 5:00 a.m. and tasered him three times. They took him out of his house to a baseball field while he was still nude, where he spent another hour without any clothes, standing among other arrestees. Howard said "The sheriff knows me. We went to school together. He knows I'm not a violent person." Howard's home was badly burned during the raid as a result of flares that police used inside.

Many of Jena's black residents claim that the DA, Sheriff, and editor of the local newspaper want revenge against black people who stood up and fought against unjust charges. The owner, editor, and publisher of the Jena Times, the town's only newspaper, is Sammy Franklin, father of Sheriff Franklin. A white-owned store near the courthouse sells T-shirts commemorating "Operation Third Option" with a design of a person behind bars. Black residents of Jena say that an earlier version of the shirt featured a monkey.

Marcus Jones, father of one of the Jena Six, has called for a federal investigation of the Sheriff's department and District Attorney's office. He said "This is racially motivated. It's revenge. Wouldn't none of this be going on if justice had been done the way it was supposed to have been."
IN THE COURTS

There needs to be a movement underfoot to make sure every one of the Jena 6 goes to college with full scholarship funds.

Talk Show Hosts Come To Aid Of Jena 6

From H-Net Portside

Michael Baisden, Ruben Armstrong among those demanding justice
for Mychal Bell.

September 5, 2007, EurWeb

http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur36488.cfm

The gross miscarriage of justice in the Jena 6 Case has drawn
the immediate attention of key figures in television and
radio.

Nationally syndicated radio personality Michael Baisden will
join Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King, III on Sept. 20
at the court house in Jena, Louisiana for the 9 a.m. start of
a rally dubbed, 'National March For Justice.'

Gathered protesters will demand fair treatment for Mychal
Bell, one of the African-American teenagers awaiting sentence
in the Jena 6 Case. Sharpton was contacted by Bell's family to
help bring national attention to the case and to fight for
justice on behalf of the six black students involved.

As summarized in the Philadelphia Daily News by writer Fatimah
Ali: 'In short, a black student at Jena High School asked if
it was all right to sit under a shade tree normally used by
white students. Soon after, three nooses were found hanging
from the tree branches. Fights and tensions between white and
black students escalated over the next few weeks. One black
student was beaten at a party by white students. Then, a white
student was injured in a fight with black students. Following
that fight, the student was treated at the hospital and
released a few hours later, and six black teens were charged
with attempted murder. In July, one of them, Bell, a star
athlete, was convicted on reduced charges by an all-white jury
and faces up to 22 years in prison. Most of the accused are in
jail, unable to post bail, and Bell awaits sentencing after
being swiftly convicted. The "weapon" in question that
escalated a schoolyard brawl to attempted-murder charges ? A
sneaker.'

Sharpton, who has been to Jena twice, arrived last month with
Martin Luther King, III and met with local leaders, preachers
and families of the students. They visited with Bell in jail
and vowed to continue to fight for him and the others.

On Sept. 19, television talk show host Ruben Armstrong will
broadcast live from Jena and also march the following day,
when Bell is to be sentenced on charges of attempted murder.

Armstrong and his production team will be interviewing the
family and supporters. According to a spokesperson for Reuben
Armstrong, the show will broadcast live from Jena, Louisiana
in its entirety and rebroadcast on Sept. 22nd at 12 p.m. CST.
You can watch and listen to this broadcast at
http://www.reubenarmstrongshow.com/