Mychal Bell, one of the six black students collectively known as the Jena 6, was released on $45,000 bail from a Louisiana jail yesterday (September 27).
Bell, along with five of his classmates, was accused of beating a white schoolmate following an incident where 3 nooses were hung under a tree on the school grounds where white students traditionally sat. The nooses were hung after a black student sat under the tree.
In connection with the fight, Bell and two others were initially charged with attempted second-degree murder, causing racial tensions to rise and sparking protests from civil rights advocates.
The murder charges were eventually reduced to attempted battery and conspiracy charges but the six boys still face up to 20 years in jail. Until yesterday Bell was the last remaining member of the Jena 6 serving jail time, prompting thousands of supporters, including Mos Def and Bun B, to protest in Jena last week with a rally for his release.
According to New York's Daily News, 17-year-old Bell was greeted outside of jail by his parents, the Reverend Al Sharpton and numerous supporters. He had been in custody for ten months.
"He goes home because a lot of people left their home and stood up for him," Sharpton said referring to the last week's rally. "We do not condone **** of any kind. Upon this young man's shoulders is a movement for fairness."
Bell was convicted by an all white jury after his court-appointed lawyer failed to question any witnesses. The conviction was tossed out this month when an appeals court ruled that Bell shouldn't haven't been tried as an adult.
District Attorney Reed Walters revealed that he chose not to appeal the court's **** but said he will retry the case in juvenile court in the coming weeks.
"I believe that it is in the best interest of the **** and his family not to delay this matter any further," Walters said.
Walters, who charged the Jena 6 with attempted murder, has been accused of treating black offenders more harshly than white ones. Walters denied thes accusations but faded more controversy after his comments about last week's march for Bell's Freedom.
"Had it not been for the direct intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ last Thursday (September 20), a disaster would have happened," Walters said. "You can quote me on that."
Reverend Donald Sibley of Jena's New Evergreen Baptist Church, a black pastor, responded to Walters' comments saying they only deepened Jena's racial division.
"He's separating Christ once again: his Christ and our Christ," Sibley said. "For him [to say] that because his Christ, his Jesus, because he prayed, because of his police, that everything was peaceful and was decent and in order - that's not the truth."
Support for the Jena 6 will continue this weekend in Birmingham, Alabama where various hip-hop artists including Twista, Sean Paul of YoungBloodz and **** Mike will perform at a benefit concert for the students during the "Let Freedom Ring Weekend." Tickets for the concert are available via ticketmaster.com.
http://sohh.com/articles/article.php/12661
