The New York Times and the Jena Times rarely agree. But on the subject of Jena they appear to be of one accord.
I have made little attempt to respond to Reed Walters’ op-ed in the New York Times. Everyone knows what I think about Jena; I was curious to see what others had to say. Walters’ apologia stirred a great deal of interest–it was number five on the Times most-emailed list for two days. But were readers deferentially scratching their chins or were they doubling over in laughter?
I suspect the DA’s op-ed (not badly written for a small-town prosecutor) inspired a range of reactions.
Originally, there was only one Jena story–the one Reed Walters fed to the Jena Times. It was a simple story: white-hating, super-predators at Jena High School attempt a gang hit on a random white guy . . . and you might be next! Mr. Walters’ and other LaSalle Parish officials insisted that the assault on Justin Barker was unrelated to the fire that destroyed the main academic wing of the High School three days earlier, the assault on Robert Bailey Jr. at a Friday night dance, or anything else. In particular, the noose incident had no relation to the assault on Mr. Barker.
This story reigned unopposed until the Friends of Justice arrived in Jena. In the course of several visits to the Central Louisiana oil and logging town in January and February, I cobbled together a counter-narrative rooted in personal interviews, newspaper articles and court records.
The Friends of Justice story was researched, corroborated and replicated by a series of journalists, documentarians and bloggers who started visiting Jena in April and May.
In this story, the focus shifts from the children (black and white) to the grown-ups who placed them in the midst of a toxic, Lord-of-the-Flies scenario: DA Reed Walters and Superintendent Roy Breithaupt.
By failing to identify and renounce the racism and hatred woven into the nooses, Reed and Roy effectively re-affirmed and formalized the de facto social segregation at Jena High School. Had Walters and Breithaupt responded appropriately, Robert Bailey and Justin Barker would have completed the school year at Jena High in peace.
In the last few months, other Jena narratives have emerged. By ignoring crucial elements of the story (Reed Walter’s pen, the assault on Mr. Bailey, the shotgun incident at the Gotta Go, the school fire, etc.) pundits across the nation have created a stripped-down saga that flows from nooses to the assault on Mr. Barker as if the two events unfolded days apart. Some journalists (many of whom have done fine work in the past) don’t even mention the nooses.
The burden of this stripped-down Jena story is simple: hate is bad, but physical violence is worse. Many readers, reflecting the widespread belief that prison is a cure-all, have suggested that the noose boys and the Jena 6 should all be sent to the slammer.
Reed Walters’ op-ed was an attempt to cash in on this context-free version of the Jena story.
Gradually, the full story is beginning to re-assert itself–largely because it is true.
This Black Star News editorial, “Jena Six DA’s Odious Op-Ed,” is well-written and incisive. When all the facts are present and accounted for, the entire mess in Jena lies at the feet of a pious Jena church mouse who recently suggested that the Lord Jesus Christ prevented 30,000 black thugs from running riot in his town.
Friends of Justice 
Following the beating incident, the Justice Department reopened its investigation into the noose-hanging incident and determined there was no link between the nooses and the attack on Justin Barker at Jena High School. U.S. Attorney Donald Washington told CNN that, “A lot of things happened between the noose hanging and the fight occurring, and we have arrived at the conclusion that the fight itself had no connection.” He added that none of the black students involved in the beating made “any mention of nooses, of trees, of the ‘N’ word or any other word of racial hate.” According to CNN, federal official also examined the way the school handled the infractions and whether black students were being treated differently than white students. Washington told CNN that they discovered “it was not unusual for the school superintendent to reinstate students after the principal recommends expelling them.” Washington also told CNN that the 16-year-old defendant, Mychal Bell, has “several previous assault charges on his record.”
The CNN story (”U.S. Attorney: Nooses, Beating at Jen High Not Related”) is online at http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/09/19/jena.six.link/index.html
As Washington pointed out, none of the black students accused of assaulting Barker allege that Barker taunted them or used racial slurs. Witnesses to the beating said that Barker never spoke to the black students and was unaware of their presence until he was attacked. Two of the Jena Six denied they were not involved in the beating and the others said they were angry because they overheard Barker discussing the fight at the private party.
In other words. the U.S. Justice Departments supports Walters’ contention that no link exists betweent the noose-hanging incident and the beating of Justin Barker.
The fight at the private party did not involve white students or white kids, it involved some members of the Jena Six and white adults. Both blacks and whites were invited to the private party at the Jena Fair Barn. Trouble started when a group of uninvited black youths, including Robert Bailey, attempted to crash the party. When one of the hosts, a white woman, asked them to leave, they refused. Rather than calling police to eject the party crashers, a 22-year-old white male named Justin Sloan confronted the party crashers and hit Robert Bailey. Sloan was charged with battery. He pled guilty to the charge and was granted parole because it was his first offense.
The Jena Police Department and prosecutor’s office have repeatedly refuted allegations that Sloan hit Bailey with a beer bottle as false. They have also refuted allegations that the black party crashers were attack a gang of white kidds. These allegations began appearing in blogs only after the Jena incidents drew national attention. In his police statement, Bailey says merely that Sloan and Matt Windham, a 21-year-old male, hit him. He does not allege that he was hit with a beer bottle. It’s unclear why Matt Windham was not charged. However, to date, Sloan is the only person convicted and sentenced in connection with the Jena Six incidents. (Mychal Bell’s conviction in adult court was overturned prior to sentencing.)
Three circumstances elevate charges of simple battery to aggravate battery: (1) a deadly weapon is used, (2) serious bodily injury is inflicted, and (3) the victim is vulnerable, defenseless or helpless. Sloan was charged with simple battery rather than aggravated battery because he did not use a weapon, and no serious injures were inflicted (Bailey did not require medical attention). The Jena Six have been charged with aggravated battery because serious injuries were inflicted (Barker required medical treatment and his medical expenses are estimated at $14,000) and because the attack continued after Bailey lay helpless and unconscious on the ground.
In their statements to police, the three black students, including Bailey, gave conflicting accounts of the incident at the Gotta-Go convenience store. One said that Windham drove into the parking lot and brandish the shotgun at them from the truck’s window. Another says that Winham approached them with the shotgun at the store’s entrance and threatend to shoot them. A third says Windham pulled the shotgun after they followed him from the store. Windham’s claims that the three black youth’s confronted him as he was about to enter the store. In his police statement, Windham alleges that Bailey shouted out “We’ve got action,” and that the three black youths chased him to his truck, where he pulled an unloaded shotgun from the back seat in an attempt to defend himself. Wittnesses, including the store employees who called police and a customer who was filling his car with gasoline, supported Windham’s version of the incident. The black youths beat up Windham and left with the shotgun. Windham was treated for injuries at a local hospital and released. After interviewing wintnesses, the police arrested the three black youths and charged them with aggravated robbery and theft of an firearm.
(The police documents relevant to the Jena Six incidents, including police statements made by alleged victims, alleged assailants and witnesses to the events, are posted near the bottom of the page at http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/http. The site includes the medical report on Barker’s injuries.)
The local prosecutor said he didn’t prosecute the students accused of hanging the nooses because he could find no applicable Louisiana law.” This is not an indication of unequal treatment. Walters also filed no hate crime charges against the Jena Six. Louisiana has no applicable hate crime laws