Jena Six refers to a group of six
black teenagers who were allegedly involved in the beating of a
white teenager in
Jena,
Louisiana, on
December 4,
2006, and were subsequently arrested, charged, and in some cases convicted, for their participation in the event.
While U.S. Attorney Donald Washington has stated there is no evidence of unfair prosecution or sentencing,
[1] there have been protests by those who argue that the arrests and subsequent charges were racially motivated, noting the lack of arrests and serious charges against white youths in Jena in earlier incidents in the town.
The only defendant tried so far has had his convictions overturned, one by the trial judge
[2] and the other by the Louisiana Court of Appeal
[3] in
Lake Charles, both on grounds that the defendant should have been tried as a juvenile, not as an adult.
[2][1][4] The defendant in that case, Mychal Bell, remains incarcerated while the District Attorney considers whether to appeal, or to try Bell as a juvenile.
Background
According to
National Public Radio, racial tensions in Jena were at high levels prior to the Jena Six incident due to a number of racially charged events in the small town.
[5]
The "white tree" incident
At
Jena High School, about 10% of enrolled students are African Americans and more than 85% are white. Early reporting asserted that students of different races seldom sat together, although this has been disputed.
[6] According to early reports, black students typically sat on bleachers near the auditorium, while white students sat under a large tree, referred to as the "white tree" or "prep tree", in the center of the school courtyard.
[5] On
September 22,
2007, however, the AP reported that the "white tree" was no such thing, and that according to teachers and administrators at the school, students of all races had sat under it at one time or another.
[6]
During a school assembly on
August 31,
2006, a black male freshman student asked permission from the principal to sit under the "white tree."
[7] According to the recounting of events given by U.S. Attorney Donald Washington, the question was posed in a "
jocular fashion."
[8] The principal told the students they could "sit wherever they wanted."
[7] The freshman and his friends then sat under the tree.
[9]
The following morning, nooses (reports differ whether there were three
[5] or two
[6]) were discovered hanging from the tree. It has been reported that Jena's principal learned that three white students were responsible and recommended
expulsion, that the
board of education overruled his recommendation, and that Superintendent Roy Breithaupt agreed with the overruling. It was initially reported that the punishment was reduced to three days of in-school suspension.
[5][10] According to the Associated Press, however, the three students were isolated at an alternative school for a month, and then spent two weeks on in-school suspension.
[6]
The school superintendent was quoted as saying, "Adolescents play pranks. I don't think it was a threat against anybody."
[11] Black residents of Jena claim that this decision stoked racial tensions that led to subsequent events.
[10] However, a black teacher described seeing both white and black students "playing with [the nooses], pulling on them, jump-swinging from them, and putting their heads through them."
[6]
According to U.S. Attorney Donald Washington, the FBI agents who investigated the incident, as well as federal officials who examined it, found that it "had all the markings of a
hate crime." However, it wasn't prosecuted because it failed to meet federal standards required for the teens to be certified as adults.
[12] Washington, a Bush appointee, is himself black.
[13]
In late July 2007, U.S. Attorney Donald Washington noted that of the more than 40 statements taken regarding the assault, none mentioned the noose incident.
[8] LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters stated there was no linkage between the noose incident and the beating. "When this case was brought to me and during our investigation and during the trial, there was no such linkage ever suggested. This compact story line has only been suggested after the fact."
[14]
The "pen statement"
Police were called to the school several times in the days after the noose incident in response to a rash of interracial fights between students.
[8] The principal took action by calling an impromptu assembly on
September 6,
2006, in which students segregated themselves into white and black sections. The Jena Police Department asked LaSalle
Parish District Attorney
J. Reed Walters to attend and speak at the assembly. Allegedly, Walters was unhappy with the request because he was busy preparing for a case and, upon arrival, felt that the students were not paying proper attention to him.
[8] Walters is alleged to have threatened the students with legal consequences if they didn't stop "fussing" over an "innocent prank".
[15] He warned the students that he could be their friend or their worst enemy, and he stated that "[w]ith one stroke of my pen, I can make your life disappear."
[5] Though black students state Walters was looking at them when he made the comments, Walters and school board member Billy Fowler, also present, deny it.
[5]
Police began patrolling the halls of Jena High on
September 7. The following day, the school received a report that a student had brought a gun on campus, prompting a total lockdown, though no gun was ever found.
[16]
