Conservative Politics Today

Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, professional race baiters, were in Louisiana calling for charges against the six guys in Jena to be dropped. In their efforts to present the DA and the white townspeople as racist they have played fast and loose with the facts. In clearing this up it will be beneficial to know who and what Sharpton and Jackson are and what they do. So let us begin with a quick jaunt into history.

Jackson and Sharpton both have an extensive history of race baiting and ignoring the facts. Case in point, Tawana Brawley, a pretty young black girl in New York. In 1987, at the age of 15, she accused six white men of abducting, assaulting, sodomizing and raping her. She claimed some of these men were police officers.

A huge media storm broke out, in part because of Al Sharpton and Brawleys two attorneys. Like in the case with the six guys from Jena, he called the prosecutor, Steven Pagones a racist and went so far as to call him a rapist. It was obscene and Sharpton, with the help of media desperate for a good story, brought the racial tension in this country to a level not heard of in a long time.

It did not take long to discover Tawana Brawley lied. There was no abduction, assault, rape or sodomy. It never happened. Tawana Brawley and her mother were subpoenaed to testify in front of a grand jury. They never showed. They promptly moved to the state of Virginia with the $300,000 they collected in defense funds or should I say conned. To my knowledge, a warrant is still out for the arrest of Tawana Brawley and her mother for not complying with the subpoena.

When it was all over, Steven Pagones sued Al Sharpton, the two attorneys and Tawana Brawley for Defamation of Character. He won. Sharpton and the attorneys were ordered to pay $345,000. Tawana Brawley was ordered to pay $145,000. Sharpton has never apologized to Pagones.

Now in Jena, Louisiana Sharpton has dubbed six criminals as the “Jena Six,” a shameful play on “The Little Rock Nine,” while Jackson has compared this to Selma, Alabama. How pathetic they would go so far as to diminish the tragic, and truly racist events, that occurred in those two cases. And keeping in line with history, both have declared the prosecutor and the white towns people racist.

Sharpton, Jackson and the media have presented these six guys as innocent victims of blatant racism and have portrayed the events surrounding their arrest and prosecution as being in direct response to the hanging of nooses in a tree.

Because there are quite a few events that have transpired it will be beneficial to all if we establish some sort of time line. Because actual facts are few and far between, and media is notorious for getting information wrong, we will have to work with the very basics of what we know to be factual.

September 1, 2006 students arrived at school to find three nooses hanging from a tree on campus.

September 7, 2006, the three white students that hung the nooses are recommended for expulsion.

September 8, 2006, the Schools Superintendent announced they would be suspended. Due to issues of privacy he did not state how long the suspension would last.

The rest of September, October and most of November is quiet. No disturbances.

The night of November 30, 2006 two events transpire.
1. A fire breaks out at Jena High School, destroying the main academic building.
2. A fight is reported to have taken place at a private party being held at the Fair Barn in Jena.

December 2, 2006 investigators say three black students, at a convenience store, beat a white man and took his shotgun. They were arrested for theft. It was not until later that one of the black guys claimed the white man pulled the gun on them and they had to disarm him.

December 4, Justin Barker, a white student at Jena High School, is violently assaulted by six black students at Jena High School. It is reported that Barker was exiting the gym when one of the black guys knocked Barker unconscious (later found to be Mychael Bell). As he lay passed out cold, defenseless and unable to cry for help six black guys proceeded to kick and stomp him in the head. It was not stopped until other students happened upon the scene and intervened.

Justin Barker was not a participant in any of the prior incidents that took place.

December 5, 2006 the police announce the arrests of six black guys in connection with the December 4 assault on Justin Barker, the December 2 incident in which a shotgun was taken and the fight on the night of November 30.

Arrested and charged with aggravated second-degree battery for the December 4 assault was:
Carwin Jones, 18
Robert Bailey Jr., 17
Theo Shaw, 17,
Jesse Ray Beard (name not given at time due to age

Shaw, Bailey and another student, Ryan Simmons, 17, were also arrested on charges of theft of a firearm, second-degree robbery and disturbing the peace in connection with events of December 2.

Justin Sloan, 22, of Jena, was arrested in connection with the Nov. 30. Bailey was also implicated.

December 7, 2006 the District Attorney’s Office announces that the charges against the six students arrested in the Dec. 4 case have been upgraded to attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder.

Another student involved in that incident is identified as Bryant Purvis, 17.

December 15 it is announced that one of the two juveniles charged in the Dec. 4 fight - Mychal Bell, 16 - is being charged as an adult with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. Bail is set at $90,000.

At the time of the December 4 assault on Barker, Bell was on probation for four criminal acts, two of which were violent – battery.

Purvis, Jones and Beard posted bail and were released from jail on January 3, 2007.

On May 10, 2007 Justin Barker, the victim in the Dec. 4 fight, is arrested after being accused of bringing a gun onto the Jena High School campus. Authorities say the gun, a hunting rifle, was found in Barker’s truck.

May 11, 2007 Barker was expelled.

June 25, 2007 Bell’s charges are reduced to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit the same.

June 26, 2007 a jury was selected for Bell’s trial. It ended up being all white because of the 150 people called to show for jury, only 50 honored the orders of the court and all were white.

June 28, 2007 Bell was convicted of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit the same.

July 31, 2007, after almost one year, the live oak in which the nooses were found was cut down.

August 6, 2007 Al Sharpton shows up in Jena.

August 14, 2007 Martin Luther King, III shows up to speak with Bells family.

August 24, 2007 Bell was denied bond when it was revealed to the courts that he has a criminal history.

September 4, 2007 the judge threw out Bell’s conviction on conspiracy charges. The charges against Jones and Shaw are reduced.

September 9, 2007 Jesse Jackson finally rears his head an announces a march to take place September 20, to coincide with the sentencing of Bell.

September 10 ,2007 four of the five remaining students have their charges reduced.

September 14, 2007 an appeals court overruled Bells conviction because it said he should have been tried as a juvenile and not as an adult. He remains in jail until the prosecutor determines whether or not to retry him.

Though the rally is no longer necessary, Sharpton and Jackson insist it will go on as planned.

September 20, 2007 businesses and schools in Jena, Louisiana shut down. The residents leave as the protestors flock in.

Al Sharpton tells his black followers “now don’t go out there and throw a negro fit tomorrow.” Excuse me? Care to explain what a negro fit is Rev. Sharpton and is this a term a white man can use?

They are demanding that all charges against these guys be dropped, especially Mychel Bell, the individual on probation at the time he assaulted a helpless individual. They are claiming racism runs rampant in this little town. Clearly, the only racism at this point was shipped in from the North by Sharpton and Jackson.

Sharpton and Jackson are down there demanding for Bell be released from jail because the poor little innocent is sitting behind bars. I don’t see them posting the bail that could get him released but they are certainly profiting financially from him sitting in jail.

Now I have had others call me a racist because I refuse to jump on the bandwagon. Here’s what it boils down to. Six black guys assaulted a defenseless guy while he was passed out cold. They did not stop until they were forced to stop. Certainly I am not expected to believe these were love taps and they did not intend to murder or severely maim this boy.

Certainly I am not expected to believe this brutal assault on Barker was a direct result of nooses being hung on a tree, especially when the noose incident occurred almost four months before this assault and Barker was in no way involved in that incident.

Certainly I am not supposed to believe that these six guys are the victim of a racist prosecutor who even convicted the white victim, Barker, for a crime.

Certainly I am not expected to believe that even if these events were caused by a noose hanging from a tree, which they were not, or from any other racial tension, that having six guys kick and stomp the head of a person that is passed out cold and defenseless in every way, is in any way, shape or form, justified.

Had it been six white guys that kicked and stomped the head of a black guy laid out cold on defenseless on the ground this would be considered a hate crime and the charges against the white men would have been even more severe and Sharpton and Jackson would be there demanding life in prison, as they should because this act, despite the color of the perpetrators or victim, is a cowardly, vile, reprehensible, disgusting display of disregard for human life.

However, because it is six black guys doing this to a white guy they are being shanghaied. Oh yea, there is racism happening in Jena but it is not coming from the prosecutor or the towns people.

In relation to these events the District Attorney has stated, in part, the following:

“I begin this statement by saying that it has been my long-standing policy to not make statements about pending cases. I am further restrained by ethical considerations that are designed to protect defendants from prejudice as a result of public remarks made by a prosecutor. However, because of the massive amount of misinformation that has been reported concerning the recent conviction obtained in the so-called “Jena Six” matter, and for my concern for the residents of LaSalle Parish, I have decided to issue the following statement. This statement is designed to correct the major misrepresentations of fact and is carefully designed to comply with the rules of professional conduct.

At this time, I cannot address every factual misrepresentation made concerning this matter. The following statement will address those that I consider to be major inaccuracies. Because of the ongoing nature of these matters and the ethical restraints of Rule 3.6 of the Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct, I will not be able to make any further statement at this time.

No. 1: Noose Incident at Jena High School

The noose incident at Jena High School occurred in August, 2006. This incident was very thoroughly investigated by the United States Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana who concluded that the facts did not constitute an offense that should be prosecuted under federal law. I researched state law and came to the conclusion that there is no state criminal statute prohibiting the conduct. I could not prosecute the perpetrators without an applicable statute. This is an issue that may be appropriate for Legislative consideration.

The incident which led to the charges resulting in the conviction of Mr. Mychal Bell took place December, 2006. At no time during the investigation of the incident or at the trial was any evidence presented connecting the two events. There has been no evidence presented to me that the victim in this case had any connection to the perpetrators of the noose incident.

No. 2: An Attack - Not a Schoolyard Fight

It has been repeatedly reported that this incident was just a schoolyard fight. The evidence showed that the victim was “sucker-punched” and knocked immediately unconscious before being stomped and kicked. There was no credible evidence before or during the trial that the victim had provoked the attack by word or gesture. The evidence showed that this was an attack, not a fight. It was prosecuted as such. At no time during the consideration to prosecute or the prosecution of this matter did anyone’s race enter into any decision that was made. It would be a fruitless waste of time considering something that would have no effect on the presentation of evidence or be admissible in a court of law.

I realize that there have been numerous requests of me to give more details and a more thorough statement delving into this matter. However, because of the ethical considerations that I must abide by, I cannot make any further statement at this time.”

I suggest everyone sit back and take a breathe and do not automatically assume Sharpton, Jackson, the media, the family of the perpetrators or the criminals themselves to be telling the whole story. Sit back, wait for the facts before you allow these individuals to play on your sense of justice.

Copyright 2007 All Rights Reserved

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