JENA -- With a line of city and law enforcement officials behind him, Jena Mayor Murphy McMillin stressed Tuesday that the city will be well taken care of and that "order" will be maintained during Thursday's rally.
"I'm counting on the guys behind us," he said, referring to the gathered officials.
Col. Stanley Griffin, commander of the Louisiana State Police, said troopers will be on hand in Jena and the surrounding areas to assist the LaSalle Parish Sheriff's Office and will be focused on traffic management.
He said the State Police have heard that anywhere from 1,000 to 50,000 people will pour into the city for the rally planned to support the "Jena Six."Many of the details about the enforcement effort for security, traffic and crowd control haven't yet been finalized as the number of those planning to come to the rally continues to grow.
Griffin, like McMillin, is confident the day will be a peaceful one.
"We have deployed sufficient resources to address this situation," he said.
LaSalle Parish Sheriff Carl Smith said the other agencies on hand to help with the rally and influx of people include task forces from the Louisiana Sheriff's Association and Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police, the U.S. Marshal's Office and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Louisiana.
McMillin said there were seven groups that had requested permits from the city to demonstrate and that all seven had received them. He said he "surely welcomes" those who are coming but wished they would come in smaller numbers so the city could accommodate them better.
"We'd like for fewer people to come at various times," McMillin said. "... But they are here exercising their constitutional rights."
All of the groups that received permits were researched, McMillin said, and they were found to be peaceful.
Griffin said he looked forward to the day being a proud one for both Jena and the state and said the law enforcement presence would be a neutral one to ensure that it is a "secure and uneventful" day.
"We are here to assist and ensure public order," Griffin said of the authorities' role. The gathering, he said, won't be an "adversarial" one.
Traffic is a big concern for officials with hundreds of buses expected to travel to the community of about 3,500.
"We are expecting a crowd in the tens of thousands," U.S. Attorney Donald Washington said. "The infrastructure is not there to address that."
Jena Police Chief Paul Smith said there will be some roads closed to help manage traffic but that authorities won't prevent people from coming into the city.
Griffin said they will be managing traffic but also will "give attendees proper access to the venue." He said they will not turn anyone around.
"There is an issue with just sheer volume," he said. "We are trying to manage that."
Law enforcement officials, Griffin said, are going to make every effort to keep traffic flowing and that they are not going to deny access to anyone.
Officials said if the town receives 50,000 people, it will be a "major challenge."
The rally originally was planned around the sentencing of Mychal Bell, the first of six black teenagers known as the Jena Six to face trial.
The teenagers all were initially charged with attempted murder in connection with a Dec. 4 incident at Jena High School that left white student Justin Barker unconscious and bleeding with facial injuries. He was treated at a local emergency room for about three hours.
Bell, who was 16 when arrested, was convicted in June of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit that crime.
On Friday, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal overturned Bell's felony battery conviction, saying the charge should have been handled in juvenile court. LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters said he would appeal the decision.
Bell's conspiracy conviction also was tossed back on Sept. 4 to juvenile court by 28th Judicial District Court Judge J.P. Mauffray.
Bell's father, Marcus Jones, said he was frustrated that Tuesday's news conference focused on the logistics of Thursday's rally rather than the root causes for which they are rallying.
"(All the officials) ain't trying to get to the cause and the root of the problem," he said. "What about the charges on my son and all the charges (on the other boys)? ... All of the press didn't ask the right questions."
What Jones said he wanted those in attendance to ask is why the students accused a year ago of hanging nooses in a tree on the Jena High campus weren't charged, why the DA charged the boys so harshly and what the community was going to do to deal with the situation.
Thursday's rally, Jones said, never would have happened had those nooses not been found hanging from that tree.
"I'm just ready for this all to be over and my son get out of jail," he said. "... And the town to get back to normal life, the kids go on with their lives."
No comments:
Post a Comment