President Bush Responds to Jena 6

President Bush discusses Jena 6 on CNN,

At a White House news conference Thursday morning, President Bush said the events in Jena had "saddened" him.

"I understand the emotions," Bush said. "The Justice Department and the FBI are monitoring the situation down there, and all of us in America want there to be fairness when it comes to justice."

Sharpton told the Associated Press that he and other black leaders were trying to persuade the House Judiciary Committee to call Jena's district attorney, Reed Walters, to Capitol Hill to explain his actions.

Walters, in a news conference Wednesday, said the case was not about race but about "finding justice for an innocent victim, and holding people accountable for their actions."

To some black observers, however, the Jena story -- studded with explosive symbols from an age of more widespread and blatant racism -- was too volatile to be ignored.

The trouble started last September when three white students hung nooses from a tree where whites traditionally congregated at the local high school. The students responsible were suspended. Later, part of the school mysteriously burned down.

Racial tensions reportedly flared on campus, and in December, the six black students allegedly beat up Barker. He was taken to the hospital and treated for injuries to his ears, face and eye; later that night, he attended a ring ceremony at school.

The black students were arrested and kicked out of school, and five of them were charged with attempted second-degree murder. (The sixth was charged as a juvenile and was recently allowed to return to classes.) The charges were later reduced. One of the defendants, Mychal Bell, was tried and found guilty of aggravated battery. His conviction was thrown out this month, though, because he was tried as an adult rather than a juvenile. He remains in custody while prosecutors decided whether to file new charges against him.

origninally posted by Prometheus6

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[BDHURTZ]

it's all prez bush fault ,jena 6,katrina,the watts roits,and any other reason the blacks people cants moves forward ,thats why obama cants get nothings fixed cause of bush,hes the the devel ,thets whites deviles

[blacktreemedia]

BDHurtz - your absolutely right dumb ass.

[stophatingwhites]

i cannot even get hired because i am not a so called minority. this "tolerant" world is a joke. if a white person says black, mexican, jew, red, pink, green, he is a racist.

[blacktreemedia]

stophatingwhites - you can't get hired like

[lordway]

Come on, you don't get time for being a racist. If the kid was the one who hung the noose, he should be charged with whatever crime applies. The kids that put him in the hospital deserve prison. I would agree that IF the kid taunted the others in a racist way, he deserved to get puched out, but not more.

[strongmann99]

No you cant arrest people just for being racist. Only if they go out and commit felonies should they be placed in prison. But the point is the Jena 6 still commited a crime by beating him up. What really agrivated me about it was the fact that the protesters acted like the Jena 6 were heroes. They were not heroes.

[MrDxf2009]

@tobiasrobbins72 he robbed Dillards in monroe?? thats my hometown!

[ISSTPskater]

@Microglia1

And who responds to ONE YEAR OLD posts?

Look at the reflection of youself in the mirror- you'll se an idiot.

[Microglia1]

@stophatingwhites You can't get hired because you don't speak any other language other than English, you're not educated, and you're too fucking stupid to do anything about it. Blame yourself first dumbass.

[tobiasrobbins72]

@CaponeBPM And his "suicide attempt" was a .22 to his shoulder. He did it to get on CNN again so he could play victim and try to keep that mojney and attention going, since his recent arrest got a LITTLE bit of attention (though the several others before and after the Jena 6 event did not because the media & the activists were still protecting their cash cow/cause de celebre.

[tobiasrobbins72]

Did you not see the irony in Bell being on CNN talking about how attention led to him trying to kill himself, yet it was HIS family & HIS supporters that made it a story in the 1st place.

CNN was STILL acting like he was a victim & totally glossed over the fact that he had served some BS house arrest & was arrested twice while on it & again a week after getting off.

If he didn't want the attention, why keep going on CNN & the radio? How did the attention make him rob Dillards in Monroe?

[tobiasrobbins72]

@CaponeBPM I agree, but it sounded like you thought the media was villifying them. it was the other way around. The Media lied about them being honor students who were wrongfully imprisoned & charged with Attempted Murder, I agree that it shouldn't have been big news, but it was the Jena 6 famillies& their supporters that made it a big story.

I don't believe for a second that Bell tried to kill himself. He went on CNN to talk about it! He had just been arrested for shoplifting & assault too.

[CaponeBPM]

@tobiasrobbins72 i never said it wasn't a crime, but my point is why is this making headlines when people get jumped by a whole mob, and it doesn't make the news? why are all these little girls showing up on the news? people get jumped and murdered everyday, therefore there is nothing special about the jena 6 to be making the news as heavy as it did to where the media got to the kid so bad he wanted to shoot himself.

[tobiasrobbins72]

@CaponeBPM So why would the Jena 6 assault be different? that is exactly what happened, except it was on a school campus instead of the street. Why should it be different?

Also, they did NOT claim it was retaliation for nooses. That was brought up later by Friends of Justice when they were seeking money & media attention.

Also, they were NOT on trial for Attemted Murder. Those charges (while fitting in a legal sense based on LA Law) were changed to aggravated assault BEFORe any trials.