WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2007
Outrage Over Hate Crimes Spurs D.C. Rally
Marchers Demand Justice Department Intervention In Jena 6 Case
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Rev. Al Sharpton, center, flanked by Martin Luther King III, and Rev. Charles Steele, join others at they march around the Justice Department in Washington, Friday, Nov. 16, 2007, during the "March Against Hate Crimes." (AP/Jose Luis Magana)
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Photo Essay Rally In Jena Louisiana town at center of racism debate after black teens are charged in beating of white student.
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Interactive 110th Congress The balance of power shifts and new leadership takes control as the latest session convenes.
On a chilly but clear day, busloads of people packed a downtown plaza to protest charges brought against six black teens accused of beating a white high school student in Jena, La. Tensions between black and white students had run high for weeks in Jena, including an incident where a noose was hung from a tree at school. No one was charged with a crime for hanging the noose.
“They need to deem these things hate crimes when it's necessary and obvious,” said protester Letrice Titus, 32, of Syracuse, N.Y.
Organizers said more than 100 busloads of people turned out for the protest. The city police department declined to estimate the crowd's size, per its policy.
The march, organized by the Rev. Al Sharpton, came only a few days into the tenure of new Attorney General Michael Mukasey, a former federal judge.
Mukasey issued a statement saying his agency is working with state and local police and civil rights groups to “investigate aggressively dozens of noose-hangings and other recent racially and religiously motivated” crimes.
The Jena case has angered blacks who say noose-hanging incidents should be forcefully prosecuted. Lax prosecution, they charge, has led to other, similar incidents since the Jena case came to light.
“Anytime there's a hate crime the Justice Department should prosecute, and a noose is certainly a hate crime,” said Martin Luther King III, son of the famous civil rights leader.
Federal prosecutors have said they are actively investigating multiple noose incidents, but did not pursue charges in the Jena case because it involved minors.
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In the last year, the department said it has won 189 convictions on civil rights charges, the largest number in its history.They need to deem these things hate crimes when it's necessary and obvious.
Letrice Titus, protesterFive of the Jena teens initially were charged with attempted second-degree murder in a local court. Those charges were later reduced. Mychal Bell is the only one of the six to stand trial. He was convicted in June of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. The convictions were later overturned and the case sent to juvenile court. A state judge agreed Friday to open Bell's juvenile trial to the public.
Bell, now 17, was ordered to jail last month for a probation violation in an unrelated juvenile case.
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See all 62 CommentsWhen this is the first comment I''ve posted in a few weeks, why do I keep getting the message "The Publish button will be enabled shortly. We have temporarily disabled it so everyone has an opportunity to comment."
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I agree with principle of this statement. Hate crimes should not be tolerated.
Wasn''t the six black boys brutal beating of a white boy also a hate crime? After all it was hatred that drove them to this violence.
And how did these six boys know that this noose was directing prejudice and hatred towards them? How long will it be before both sides of the whole story will be told?
Where is the blind justice?
If displaying a noose is a hate crime, think of all those hate crimes committed during Halloween. Like the word gay, the noose has been stolen by a minority and given a negative meaning, beyond its usual symbolism for death.
So, does this mean that kids playing hangman in class could be expelled for drawing the noose? Where will the insinuation of hate stop?
It''s apples and oranges. A noose hanging in a tree vs six black kids beating one white kid, who had nothing to do with the noose, to within the inch of his life. If there is a hate crime here, it''s committed by the six black kids. After all they did beat the white boy because of their hate.
www.myspace.com/projectleapfrog2008
Let''s go folks. Don''t think about it, just do it.
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