Protesters Clash over Texas Dragging Death

White, Black Groups Rally after Murder Charges Dropped Vs. 2 Whites in Case of Black Man Hit by Truck, Dragged 70 Feet

(AP)  State police in full riot gear rushed a downtown street in this eastern Texas town Tuesday to break up a tense standoff between hundreds of black and white protesters who exchanged screams of "Black power!" and "White power!"

A skinhead carrying a Confederate flag and a shirtless white man were arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct before the protesters separated peacefully, Paris police spokesman Lt. Danny Huff said.

The conflict began with a march through downtown by about 100 black activists who were protesting the state's handling of the case of a black man who was run over and dragged by a vehicle. The demonstrators avoided a designated "protest zone" near the courthouse and marched to the town square to chants of "Black Power!" and "No Justice, no peace!"

Once there, the crowd ballooned to about 200 black people on one side of a street. Across the street were about a dozen white supremacists, including four skinheads holding Nazi swastika flags. About 30 other white people were behind them, but it was unclear if they were protesting or watching.

The two sides shouted at each other while a dozen or so law enforcement officers were in the street keeping them apart. After several tense minutes of screaming and the groups inching closer together, about 35 Texas state troopers wearing helmets and carrying shields marched swiftly into the crowd. No blows were exchanged.

The rally in Paris, about 90 miles northeast of Dallas, is the third courthouse protest over the death of 24-year-old Brandon McClelland, whose mangled body was found Sept. 16 on a country road outside of town after he was run over by a vehicle and dragged beneath it. A prosecutor cited a lack of evidence in dropping murder charges last month against two white men arrested in his death.

Some of the signs at the protest read, "Friends don't drag friends under pickup trucks" and "Who killed Brendon McClelland?"

Things grew tense early on when a member of the New Black Panther Party walked into the protest zone set up for white supremacists and stood inches away from a skinhead. The skinhead screamed at the black man to go home as they two stood inches away filming each other with their cameras.

"We're not here for confrontation. We are peaceful people, but if necessary we are prepared," said black protest leader Jimmy Blackwell.

Rock Banks, who says he's the grand titan of the East Texas Ku Klux Klan, said his group met last week to discuss the event but decided not to hold a major rally because it would lead to more protests.

"If we showed up in force, with all of our robes on, they'd be back here in a month," he said.

Few of Paris' 26,000 residents watched the rally.

Prosecutors in the McClelland case initially charged two of McClelland's friends, Shannon Finley and Charles Crostley, with murdering him by running him over in Finley's pickup. They estimated that McClelland's body was dragged more than 70 feet beneath their vehicle. But a special prosecutor dismissed the charges last month, citing a lack of evidence, after a gravel truck driver came forward and said he might have accidentally run over McClelland.

This was the week Finley's trial was scheduled to start in a nearby town.

Previous protests over the case by the Panthers and the Nation of Islam were mostly peaceful and resulted in no arrests. A handful of white supremacists have showed up each time.

Protesters have said the McClelland case echoes the murder of James Byrd, a black man who was chained by the ankles to a pickup by three white men and dragged to death in 1998 in the town of Jasper.

Authorities, however, have denied there was a racial angle in the McClelland death, pointing out that he was friends with Finley and Crostley. Authorities had said the trio were returning from a late-night beer run across the Oklahoma state line when McClelland died. They alleged the three were arguing about whether Finley was too drunk to drive, and that McClelland decided to walk home. Authorities said Finley then ran over McClelland.

Finley and Crostley, who were released after eight months in jail, have maintained their innocence.

[jonathansj]

i think its bad enough that someone died like that. if my friend died like that , i would never be so un morningfully graphic as some of the horrifying images of swasticas and neonazies. if those people hate someone. i wander why it isn't themselvs. strong leaders don't hate. and never hate their enemies. enemies are enemies of every one. prejudice is ugly. i think they owe an appology to everyone. and if it was an accident. please don't rty to make it a hayeful gerand conspriacy

[DV_Man]

I have a 10 month old son and stories like this are why he is not allowed to bring white kids over to my house. I live in GA and I am from Louisiana. When black children hang out with white kids something bad always happens to the black kid and nothing to the white kids. Even in the case where the black child is hung with 30 white kids at a party...then no one is at fault, he committed suicide. The judicial is full of either racist or idiots. Like I said I will not allow my children to bring white kids to my house or hang out with them because of things like this. My job is to nourish and protect them and things tend to get crazy with white kids in the picture.

[Lovethecountry]

It is so sad that you feel like that. Some of my best friends and my brothers and sisters friends in school were black. I guess I'm really lucky to have been raised in a way and live in a community that blacks and whites were not out to get each other. I know it was not always that way here, it would be naive to say that it was. I wish we knew the answer to helping our country get past this and have peace among our children.

[luvny-2009]

How about we give Texas back? Nothing good comes out of there I mean look at Bush!

[sam-kiley]

bonjour
c'est desolant d'avoir toujours recours a la violence pour regler tel ou tel differend....malheureux.

[Lovethecountry]

Yes, you are so right. This is my point exactly. Why are all of these people using the pain and suffering of this family to be so beligerant with each other when they obviously have racist issues themselves.

[truth-b-toll]

I can honestly say that living in texas for 52 years, i know one thing, these people here are just eat-up with hate & stupidity.

[Lovethecountry]

It has always amazed me that people that claim to be non-racist are always the first ones to play the race card. Any time that some one is abused or taken advantage of it is a crime. Whether it's white on black or black on mexican, etc. It never ceases to amaze me that some one is always quick to assume a racist crime has been committed because there is a mix of color or race in the people involved. Whether it was two black men driving or one black man driving or two white men driving, that fact remains a man is dead. Not a black man, but a person, someone's son. The race of the accused is not what caused this to happen. Alcohol and irresponsibility is an issue and it certainly needs to be addressed and some one held responsible for killing this woman's son. That's what we are really talking about here and as a mother of three son's I can understand her passion. I can't begin to comprehend what she must be going through to loose her son in such a way. My heart truly breaks for this woman.

[arkieguy]

In the 1950's I lived in Dallas and had to drive through Paris from Arkansas to get there. Even at that time, Paris had a large sign alongside the highway stating that Paris had the, quote " Blackest land and the whitest people on earth."
I would have thought that by this time things would have changed there, but I guess not. I wouldn't live there.

[Lovethecountry]

I live and have always lived in Texas in a small country community. We have just elected the second black mayor of our town and the prior black mayor was in office for 3 terms. Some of the nicest people I know and have the most respect for are black elders of our community. Respectful, hard working people that have raised and educated their children taught them to be an important and significant part of our community. Not to let something as trivial as skin color determine the destiny of their future. Just the same, the population of our schools are probably 30 % hispanic. My best friend in the whole world is a mexican teacher that has taught in our school system for 35 years, since I was 10 years old. She doesn't take any **** off of anyone and our entire community loves and respects her. I resent NON texans making beligerant, racist remarks about "Texans" and how we feel about minorities, just as I resent ignorant people demeaning others because of the color of their skin. The color of skin is a lot less important to us than is the ignorance of un-educated ignoramus' that belittle other people that they do not know. Our community and the communities that surround us are very supportive of any young person trying to better themselves and prosper. The white trash thrives here just as the black trash does and so it does across America. Why don't we all quit hating each other because of color, region or religion.

[Seahorse9]

From the very beginning of all this no one ever mentions the fact 2 or three black men lured a white man & deliberately dragged him to his death in retaliation for the black guys dragging.

Why is he never remembered? Why don't the blacks acknowledge their own have done the same thing!!!!!!

Blacks have made this a racial situation. Seems to me blacks can get away with murder just because of their skin color.

[TheMasses2009]

The race card and wanting something for nothing is still alive and well.

[noloyalisti]

You mean like the rich American corporate CEOs who want their profits and then have us bail them out for more bonuses (i.e. socialists)?

Or the right wing dummies who don't want to pay taxes for roads, police and fire protection and the military?

[noloyalisti]

Texas: what an absolute embarrassment. First the Bushoccio Crime Family and now a blatant display by white supremacists.

[straightmate]

All the way to OK for 3.2 beer? This story is loaded with ignorance.

[johndevinejr]

by SgtFC July 21, 2009 10:32 AM EDT
I agree.

Regardless of race, any group that makes the color of skin its primary focus is a supremacy group...PERIOD!

KKK
New Black Panthers
American NAZI Party
ACLU

All the same, all American trash vying for supremacy.


How does the ACLU fit in here?
American Civil Liberties Union

.

[noloyalisti]

Yeah, but it is the black people who always seem to be charged with more crimes and if white people do it, they go off into the sunset back to their trailers.

And it black people who make up 12% of the population but have less than 1/2 of 1 % of the wealth. And make up a disproportionate % of the prison population. Why is that?

[RightWing-N-WrongWing]

I have never seen as many idiots as I have on these comments to this story. Another driver confessed to hitting this guy. These guys are innocent! There is nothing racist at all about this case. SOMEONE CONFESSED TO IT! Give it a rest........

[johndevinejr]

by o_the_potus July 21, 2009 5:52 PM EDT
Can't we downgrade Texas from statehood to something like bee-atchhood or something?

I don't think it is possible to get lower than Texas.


.

[evandy22]

Paris, Tx. is not a racist city.. all the protests and everything have been blown out of proportion. I'm not saying those men should go free off the hook because something should be done to them, but in every U.S. city there are those that make noise trying to get attention and make the whole city look bad.

[johndevinejr]

I lived in Texas for a couple of years. The place is full of unbelievably stupid violent goobers and racism is a way of life.

I would be amazed if there were some other reason except racism.

[Illuminated1]

Well if Texas is suseeding from the union, then better get back all those bases that got closed across the country because Texas has them and we don't.
They also have our Space Center, better relocate it to California.
Oh yeah one more thing, as for that Texas attitude of "Dont mess with Texas", as I see it Texas is a mess.

[MPHgrad]

First CBS is it Brendan or Brandon? Please take the time to proofread your stories. Second, I read about this case in Time Magazine months ago. McClelland was a large man, very large. The suspects claimed they weren't sure they'd hit something. Really?? Even under the influence, especially since they were able to operate a vehicle (i.e. not being comatose), they would have certainly felt hitting this large man. I don't know that I agree with it being racially motivated, but certainly vehicular homicide & DUI. Also, the Shannon guy has a history of "accidental murders" and McClelland testified for him in that case.

[mojo6772]

It is actually surprising to me that Paris is considered racist, at anytime of the day or night you can see either a black man and a white woman or vice versa, holding hands, or maybe they dont know there is some big race issues here. I really didnt, although I am no activist for any group, I am tired of hearing how racist Paris is. Someone must of forgot to tell all the mixed couples here about the racial problem, as far as I can tell they like me have been oblivious to this. But when you live your own life and mind your own busisness and treat people like people, not a race then I guess you are entitled to be oblivious. Maybe more people should live their own lives and mind their own busisness and the world might move along a little more smoothly. Ahh but we are a society of great opions and we must act on all injustice, when in reality, most people, not all people, tend to create their own injustices. And the more we create them the more we need to protest them.

[whatisit21]

Why are the American people being messed with? Why would the leaders of this country play such a game with its people? Do they really want a race war? Since I was a kid, white people have been oppressed by black people and they enjoy it. I have never seen a black person oppressed like they claim, but I have seen them hurt and beat white people just for being white. Black people are the real racist and they cry wolf most of the time.

[chitown639]

White people are oppressed by black people??? LMAO!!!!!

You must be a REAL MORON to feel that you're being oppressed as a white person in America. Don't blame black people for your failures in life.

[johndevinejr]

Wow! Please stop smoking that crack.