The "Jena Six" and the incidents surrounding their cases have made headlines across the world. However, the story about the attack at the school that left one white student -- Justin Barker -- unconscious and six black students -- Robert Bailey Jr., Mychal Bell, Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, Theo Shaw and an unnamed juvenile -- initially charged with attempted murder -- hasn't always been right, U.S. Attorney Donald Washington said. [Not that it should matter, but Donald Washington is
black.]
....
These are some of the other things discussed by Washington during the nearly four-hour forum Thursday night:
Selective prosecution and arrest
You have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the district attorney decided to treat one group of people different than another, which is hard to prove, Washington said. He said he would have to have proof of Walters' intentions, such as a record of Walters' spoken words or somewhere that he had written that intention down.
There have been no complaints of misconduct on the part of the Jena Police Department filed in connection to any of these incidents.
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The three students found responsible for hanging the nooses have no history of violence. The principal recommended expulsion, but a school district committee overruled that decision and decided to suspend them instead, a decision approved by Superintendent Roy Breithaupt. There were no other problems noticed by the school officials.
Although students have claimed there was a "peaceful protest" at the tree following the noose incident, Washington said he could find no proof of that claim. As opposed to a peaceful response, Jena police officers were called to the school to respond to a number of fights -- white on black and black on white -- in the days after the noose incident, Washington said.
In response to the growing violence at the school, the principal called an assembly. The Jena Police Department asked Walters to attend and speak. Washington, who spoke to Walters about the assembly, said
Walters wasn't very happy about the request because he was in the midst of preparing for an aggravated rape case.
When Walters spoke to the students, he said they weren't paying attention to what he was saying or being respectful, Washington said. Washington said the information he received confirmed that Walters made statements about being able to affect the students' lives with the stroke of a pen,
but said that reports that the speech was directed toward black students after peacefully demonstrating aren't true.
