Latest Jena 6 News Mychal Bell Sentenced To 18 Months

Mychal Bell is back on jail after only two weeks of so called free- freedom, Mychal Bell is once again back behind Jena Louisiana Juvenile jail bars.

Bell, by far the most well-known of the "Jena Six," was taken back into custody Thursday after a juvenile court hearing in Jena, LA.


Mychal Bell, who is only 17,had been held in an adult detention facility for roughly 10 months awaiting trial and then sentencing after a June conviction in connection with the beating of a fellow student at Jena High School,the case then went on to make national headlines. He was had been free since being released on bond on Sept. 27. Not even 1 month ago, the latest news has infuriated the Rev.Al Sharpton, who calls this cruel and unusual punisment.


The Rev. Al Sharpton, who has supported the Jena Six and worked for Bell to be released on bond last month, issued this statement Thursday night:

"Tonight, Mychal Bell was placed by the same judge in Jena, Louisiana, in a secured juvenile facility for 18 months after convicting him for two prior pending cases.

"We feel this was a cruel and unusual punishment and is a revenge by this judge for the Jena Six movement. His parents must also pay all costs of the court and witness costs and will have to pay for him in the facility. It is belived that the National Action Network will financially support the parents through this unusual financial strain imposed upon them."

Sharpton then added:"I call upon the governor of Louisiana, who has the overseeing powers over the juvenile criminal justice system, to meet with us immediately intervene on this obviously biased decision by the same judge. I intend to raise this next Tuesday, October 16th, in the proceedings of the United States House Judiciary Committee Hearings on Jena in Washington, D.C."



There is litle being said about the Thursday juvenile hearing that lasted from 1 p.m. until just after 8 p.m. A gag order was issued earlier this month by 28th Judicial District Court Judge J.P. Mauffray against Bell, his family and the attorneys involved, they have been prevented from talking to the press about the case, family has said.

It is unknown where Bell is being taken, but it is a juvenile facility.

Home Depot Workers Find Racial Slurs And A Noose Just The Latest Jena 6 News

A Home Depot, Noose, and a racist slur

Home Depot Construction workers in South Elgin report incident and previous symbol of hate.
South Elgin police are investigating a hate crime after a racial slur was painted on a work counter and a noose was found hanging from an exit at a Home Depot store under construction, authorities said today.

The store's general contractor called police Monday morning to report that someone had written a racial slur in white spray paint on a countertop, South Elgin Detective Sgt. Mike Doty said.

And the construction firm felt it also might be a good time to tell police that about a week ago, workers discovered a noose made out of foam hanging from an exit in the building's garden center, Doty said. The incident was not reported to police at the time.



"There's been nothing like this before since they have been building the Home Depot," Doty said. "Based on the noose and the word, we are investigating it under the form of a hate crime."

The store is expected to open next month. The vandalism is just one of several suspected hate crimes reported in recent weeks in the Chicago area.
On Monday, a Lombard woman awoke to find a racial slur spray-painted in large red letters on the aluminum siding of the house she rents in the 1000 block of Sheldon Way.

Officials say the cases are the latest in a series of racial incidents across the country in the aftermath of the Jena 6 case in Louisiana.

It is said that one of the construction workers who saw the noose did contact the NAACP and told the group he thought it was intended for an African-American co-worker, said Temi Latinwo-Jones, the chapter's president.

A spokeswoman for Atlanta-based Home Depot said the home-improvement giant will also be investigating this latest case of Jena 6 hate crime.

"The Home Depot maintains a zero tolerance policy against discrimination and harassment," said spokeswoman Jennifer King in a written statement.

Jena 6 Latest News Comes From The Senate In The Form Of A Resolution

U.S. Senate passes Jena 6 resolution

In the wake of the "Jena Six" case, the U.S. Senate on Thusday unanimously agreed to legislation requiring the hiring of at least three new community conciliators for the Louisiana region.

Passed was an amendment introduced by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-New Orleans, to the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill.

"The service waited too long to come to Jena," Landrieu said.

"By the time they set foot in Louisiana, attitudes had hardened and racial divisions had swelled," she said.

"The charges and counter-charges about the incidents in Jena LA. have torn apart a community and left many residents and frankly the whole world uneasy in Louisiana and across the nation. When a community is bitterly divided, the federal government has an obligation to get involved"

Latest Jena 6 News David Banner Takes His Cause To The Radio

The hip-hop community has been more vocal about the Jena Six case, from its stars to its blogs, which have posted frequent updates about the teens’ fate.

The always outspoken Mississippi rapper David Banner wasn’t at last month’s protest —instead, he went on a radio tour to promote his album so he could let listeners know about the case.



If you wondered why he said “I thought it would have been more powerful for me to get on the radio and talk about it, and drive people there and let people know what’s going on than actually being there,” said Banner. “We wanna be there to show face, but if you’re actually more powerful at the capacity that you are, then you should do what you do.”

Banner says he became involved because “it’s so close to home.

“No. 2, there’s a Jena Six that goes on in Mississippi every month — or every two months,” he continued. “See that’s the thing. America has a tendency to try to make things — single out things — as if this is a one-time occurrence. ... We have to stop acting like stuff don’t exist.”

Another March For The Jena 6 Todays Latest Jena News

Protest at Justice Dept Jena Six Latest March

Protesters chanting "No justice, no peace" gathered outside the Justice Department on Wendsday to demand that federal authorities investigate the "Jena 6" case.

"We're here today in solidarity with the Jena 6," shouted Howard University senior Eugene Puryear, the organizer of the event. "All charges should be dropped and the Jena Six should be free."

The event, sponsored was by the ANSWER Coalition,The confrontation followed months of escalating racial tensions touched off when three white students hung nooses from a tree on school grounds.

Protesters lifting their neon signs high, formed a rotating circle along the shady sidewalk in front of the Justice Department as some drivers in rush hour traffic honked in support.

Exclusive Photos The Jena 6 Latest News

A group of white Louisiana college students dressed in blackface and reenacted the "Jena 6" assault while a friend snapped photos the staged attack, images that were later posted to one of the participant's Facebook page. The photos, which you'll find here ,were taken late last month on the bank of the Ouachita River, where students from the University of Louisiana at Monroe giddily acted out the racial attack. The photos were posted to the Facebook page of Kristy Smith, a freshman nursing student. The album of images was entitled "The Jena 6 on the River." ,three students with mud smeared across their bodies stomp on a fourth student, while two of the participants are heard to say, "Jena 6." One man can also be heard saying, "Niggers put the noose on." After the video and photos on Smith's page were discovered by fellow students, she removed the material and made her Facebook page private. Smith, who did not respond to a e-mail sent to her school address, apologized for the images in several recent Facebook postings. "We were just playin n the mud and it got out of hand. I promise i'm not racist. i have just as many black friends as i do white. And i love them to death," she wrote.

Colorado students are going to walkout on monday- for the Jena 6

University of Colorado students organizing Jena Six walkoutBOULDER, Colo. — Some University of Colorado students are organizing a classroom walkout Monday to bring attention to the “Jena 6” case.

CU senior Jarvis Fuller, a member of CU’s Black Student Alliance, said the walkout was part of a national effort called for by rapper Mos Def to highlight the treatment of six black teenagers in the Louisiana town of Jena.



“This is a clear example that there’s a lot of inequality, a lot of injustice going on,” said Fuller, who learned about the effort in an e-mail from a friend on campus.

He said the 50 members of the BSA would participate in the walkout and wear green to represent liberation.

Sally Ho, a spokeswoman for the University of Colorado Student Union, said representatives of the student government would also join the walkout.

Jarvis said he would encourage more students to participate through e-mails and postings on Facebook, a popular social networking site.

Last week, thousands of protesters converged on Jena to rally against what they perceive as different standards of justice for blacks and whites.

Latest Jena 6 News Black Pantheres Are Now Involved

The Latest Jena News, "Black Panthers say they are going to patrol Jena, LA."


Members of the New Black Panther Party plan to patrol the streets of Jena to protect the "Jena Six" and their families following threats by white supremacists.

But local law enforcement officials said they have not seen any party members on patrol.



In an announcement on its Web site, the party claims that Jena police and the LaSalle Parish Sheriff's Office "announced that they would not provide protection for the families of the Jena 6 under threat."

LaSalle Parish Sheriff Carl Smith said Wednesday that is not true.
He said his department has additional officers on duty and is receiving assistance from federal officers and the Louisiana State Police.

Also on Wednesday, LaSalle Parish School Superintendent Roy Breithaupt held a press conference to clarify information circulating about the Jena Six case.

In August 2006, when nooses were hung from a tree at Jena High School, then-Principal Scott Windham called for an expulsion committee to investigate, Breithaupt said.

The investigation showed that the three students involved had no history of behavior problems and had never "demonstrated an inclination toward violence or to do physical harm to anyone," no physical injury resulted, and no violent act was intended when the nooses were hung, Breithaupt said in a press release.

"In deciding the consequences for the students' behavior, the committee determined that expulsion was not appropriate," he said in the release.

The boys involved were sent to alternative school for nine days, served a two-week, in-school suspension, had Saturday detentions, had to attend Discipline Court, were referred to Families in Need of Services and had an evaluation before returning to school as part of the district's Crises Management Policy Procedures.

In the December 2006 incident in which Jena High School student Justin Barker was attacked at school, allegedly by the Jena Six defendants, it was not a "schoolyard fight," Breithaupt said.

"It was a premeditated ambush and attack by six students against one," the superintendent said in a press release. "The victim attacked was beaten and kicked into a state of bloody unconsciousness."

An expulsion committee investigated the attack, and expulsion was recommended. Four students appealed the decision. The expulsions were upheld by the LaSalle Parish School Board after a hearing.

Breithaupt said the expelled students were told they could continue their education in an alternative setting.

"I continue to firmly stand behind the actions of the LaSalle Parish school system in regard to these incidents," Breithaupt said.

Threats made against all parties in the Jena Six case remain under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, state and local officials.

Tina Jones, mother of Jena Six member Bryant Purvis, said Wednesday that she had received several threatening telephone calls since information about her was posted on the Internet. The personal information of the Jena Six families was placed on a white supremacist Web site.

"One called the house and said he was KKK and said he was on the way to Jena to come for my son," Jones said.

Jones said other Jena Six family members had also received threatening calls and letters, which have been given to the FBI.

A meeting between Jena Six family members and about seven representatives from the New Black Panther Party took place Sunday in Jena to discuss protection, Jones said. Exactly how the New Black Panthers would provide protection wasn't discussed, she said.

"They just said they would assist with protecting the families," she said.

Catrina Wallace, local NAACP member and relative of one of the Jena Six defendants, said she arranged Sunday's meeting.

In a press release posted on the party's site, Malik Shabazz, leader of the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense, said members would begin this week to patrol the streets of Jena to protect not only the Jena Six families but all black residents "against open and imminent threats from Ku Klux Klan and other White supremacists advocating violence."

The party is forming a committee called The Security and Protection Committee of the Jena 6 that would involve organizations and volunteers from across the nation.

Among the organizations noted to be a part of the committee were the Millions More Movement and the Black Muslims in addition to the New Black Panther Party. "The coalition will coordinate and lead an all-volunteer effort that will man shifts and provide personal security for the Jena Six families as well as local residents under the threat of Klan intimidation in the wake of the successful September 20th mass demonstration in Jena and around the U.S.," the release states.

The release says security will be provided for the upcoming months.

"This threat is real," the release states. "The September 20th demonstration, which we aided in organizing, has created a resentment and backlash in certain quarters of Jena's white community. In the spirit of the Deacons of Defense, we intend to exercise our full range of legal rights of defense and protection to ensure that this very real threat of violence is neutralized."

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