Backlash to Jena Racial Tensions?
Several incidents reported after civil rights protest in Jena, La.
Sept. 23, 2007 — -- In the wake of the largest civil rights protest in decades in Jena, La., Thursday, authorities are investigating the hanging of nooses and other possibly hate-fueled incidents.
The FBI is now investigating a white supremacist Web site that disclosed what it claimed are addresses and phone numbers for the black Jena teenagers who assaulted a white youth.
The posting was titled "Addresses of Jena 6 N****** In Case Anyone Wants To Deliver Justice."
A separate posting on the Web site quoted a Virginia man, William A. White: "We'll mail directions to [the six black teenagers'] homes to every white man in Louisiana if we have to in order to find someone willing to deliver justice."
New Orleans-based FBI agent Sheila Thorne said that the FBI was investigating the Web site "for possible violations under our jurisdiction, and would seek a prosecutive opinion at the appropriate time."
An FBI spokeswoman said the site "essentially called for [the students'] lynching."
The Web posting was dated on Thursday, and as of Sunday there was no follow-up on the postings.
The day of the postings, an estimated 10,000 demonstrators rallied in the small rural town of Jena, La., prompting La Salle Parish to declare an "official state of emergency" that shut down businesses and schools.
Among the demonstrators' grievances was the initial punishment doled out to six black students who assaulted a white student following a noose-hanging incident at Jena High School last year.
The "Jena Six" initially were charged with attempted murder, though the charges were later reduced or dropped. One black youth's conviction was thrown out by a judge, but that student remains in custody as the local prosecutor prepares to refile charges.
In addition to news of the supremacist Web site, there have been reports of nooses hung in the southeast following the Jena protest.
In one such case, school administrators at Andrews High School in High Point, N.C., found four nooses hanging at various sites on campus Friday morning.
According to High Point Police Capt. Margaret Erga, one red noose was tied to the top of a flagpole, two other nooses hung on a tree in front of the school, and another was on a bus loop in the parking lot.
Principal Monique Williams sent a letter to students' parents saying that "those found to be responsible for this criminal act will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Authorities are currently investigating whether the incident is related to the racial tensions in Jena.