Thought I might head down there and join...yep, definately.
http://www.ap.org][/url]
[/align]Little La. town gears up for big protest
By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 37 minutes ago
[/align][/align]JENA, La. - The Rev. Al Sharpton met with a jailed black teenager whose arrest in the beating of a white classmate could draw thousands of protesters to this tiny town Thursday.
"It breaks our hearts to see him in handcuffs and leg shackles, but his spirit is high," Sharpton said after his courthouse meeting Wednesday with Mychal Bell, one of the group of teenagers dubbed the "Jena Six" by their supporters.[/align][/align]Bell and four others originally faced trial as adults on attempted second-degree murder charges in connection with a December attack that left white classmate Justin Barker bloodied and unconscious. Another teen was booked as a juvenile and charges have not been make public.
Sharpton and other critics accuse local prosecutors of being disproportionately harsh on black youths in Jena, where racial tensions have been high since three nooses were found in a tree on the high school campus a few months before Barker was beaten. Three white students were briefly suspended over the incident but no charges were filed.
As the teens in the beating case have come up for arraignment, charges have been reduced but critics of the local prosecutor are still crying foul. Bell, the only one of the six tried so far, was convicted of aggravated second-degree battery and faced a possible prison sentence of 15 years.
Thursday's rally and march was to have coincided with his sentencing, but a state appeals court threw out his conviction last week, saying Bell, 16 at the time of the beating, should have been tried as a juvenile. The rally is to continue, however. Bell remains jailed while prosecutors prepare an appeal.
The march could draw protesters from around the country to this central Louisiana town of about 3,500.
"He doesn't want anything done that would disparage his name " no violence, not even a negative word," Sharpton said.
Marchers, including Martin Luther King III and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, will pass a tree stump at Jena High School " all that's left of the tree where the nooses had been hung.
The tree had been a gathering spot for white students. The nooses were found after a black student asked school officials if blacks could sit there too.
Interracial fights reportedly followed, including the December school yard attack on Barker, who was not one of the students suspended over the nooses. During the resulting uproar, local authorities had the tree cut down.
Sharpton said there also will be a rally in nearby Alexandria, about an hour's drive from Jena.
Schools in Jena will close Thursday and many businesses will shut down. Business owners cited concern about whether the march will remain peaceful.
[/align][/align]
Anyone going to the Rally in Louisiana?
