Racial tensions in Jena were at high levels prior to the Jena Six incident due to a number of racially charged events in the small town.[5]

At Jena High School, students of different races seldom sat together. Black students traditionally sat on bleachers near the auditorium, while white students sat under a large shade tree, referred to as the "white tree", in the center of the school courtyard.[5]

During a school a..embly on August 31, 2006, a black male freshman student asked permission from the principal to sit in the shade of the "white tree."[6] According to the recounting of events given by U.S. Attorney Donald Washington, the question was posed in a "jocular fashion."[7] The principal told the students they could "sit wherever they wanted."[6] The freshman and his friends then sat under the tree.[8]

The following morning, three nooses were discovered hanging from the tree. Jena's principal learned that three white students were responsible and recommended expulsion. The board of education overruled his recommendation, to which Superintendent Roy Breithaupt agreed. The punishment was reduced to three days of in-school suspension.[5][9] The school superintendent was quoted as saying, "Adolescents play pranks. I don't think it was a threat against anybody."[10] Black residents of Jena claim that this decision stoked racial tensions that led to subsequent events.[9]

According to U.S. Attorney Donald Washington, the FBI agents who investigated the incident, as well as federal officials who examined it, found that it "had all the markings of a hate crime." However, it wasn't prosecuted because it failed to meet federal standards required for the teens to be certified as adults.[11]

In late July 2007, U.S. Attorney Donald Washington claimed a lack of connection between the noose incident and the beating at Jena High school. None of the statements taken regarding the fight, over 40 in all, mentioned the noose incident.[7]

Police were called to the school several times in the days after the noose incident in response to a rash of interracial fights between students.[7] In response to the fights, the principal called an impromptu a..embly on September 6, 2006, in which students segregated themselves into white and black sections. The Jena Police Department asked LaSalle Parish District Attorney J. Reed Walters to attend and speak at the a..embly. Walters was unhappy with the request because he was busy preparing for a case and, upon arrival, felt that the students were not paying proper attention to him.[7] Walters is alleged to have threatened the protesters if they didn't stop fussing over an "innocent prank"[12]. He then went on to warn the students that he could be their friend or their worst enemy, and stated that "[w]ith one stroke of my pen, I can make your life disappear."[5] Though black students state that Walters was looking at them as he made the comments, Walters and school board member Billy Fowler, also present, deny it.[5]

Police began patrolling the halls of Jena High on September 7. The following day, the school received a report that a student had brought a gun on campus, prompting a total lockdown to be enforced, though no gun was ever found.[13]

On September 10, 2006, black students attempted to address the school board concerning the recent events but were refused because the board was of the opinion that the noose incident had been adequately resolved.[14] Racial tensions and fights continued through the fall but were held in check by the ongoing successful football season.[5]

On November 30, 2006, the main building of the high school was set on fire. The building was gutted and had to be later demolished. Blacks and whites accused each other of the arson.[5][15]

On Friday, December 1, 2006 there was a private party, attended mostly by whites, at the Fair Barn. Five black youths, including 16-year-old Robert Bailey, attempted to enter the party at about 11 p.m. According to U.S. Attorney Washington, they were told by a woman that they were not allowed inside without an invitation. The five youths persisted, stating that some friends were already in attendance at the party. A white man, who was not a student,[7] then jumped in front of the woman and a fight ensued. After the fight was broken up, the woman told both the white man and five black youths to leave the party. Once outside, the black students were involved in another fight with a group of white men, who also were not students.[7] Police were then called to investigate. Several months later, Justin Sloan, a white male, was charged with battery for his role in the fight and was put on probation. Bailey later stated that one of the white men had broken a beer bottle over his head,[9] though there are no official records of medical treatment being given.[7]

On Saturday, December 2, 2006, an incident apparently stemming from the Fair Barn fight the day before occurred at a local convenience store. A white student who had attended the party encountered Bailey and several friends. Reports from the involved parties are conflicting,[16] but indicate that an argument occurred, the white student produced a shotgun from his pickup truck, and that the gun was ultimately taken away from him by Bailey and his friends.[5] Local police reported that the accounts of the white student and black students contradicted each other and formed a report based on testimony taken from eyewitnesses. The white student testified that Bailey and his friends shouted and ran after him, that he ran to get his gun, and that the students wrestled it away from him.[16] According to the black students, as they left the convenience store, they were confronted by the white student with a shotgun. They then claimed to have wrestled the gun away from him and fled the scene.[16] The incident resulted in Bailey being charged with three counts: theft of a firearm, second-degree robbery, and disturbing the peace. The white student who produced the weapon was not charged.[5][7]

Some reports indicate that on Monday, December 4, 2006, Justin Barker, a 17-year-old white Jena High School student, mocked Robert Bailey, Jr. who had been beaten up by a white man the previous Friday.[5] Barker denies making the comments.[17] Later that day, Barker was a..aulted by other Jena High students. He was struck on the back of the head and knocked down. According to some witnesses, a group of black students repeatedly kicked him.[17] A doctor examined Barker, who was left unconscious after the attack, at the local hospital. The police arrested six students, eventually dubbed the "Jena Six", accused of the attack.[18]

Five of the students (Robert Bailey, Jr., then 17; Mychal Bell, then 16; Carwin Jones, then 18; Bryant Purvis, then 17; and Theo Shaw, then 17) were charged with attempted second-degree murder.[14] The sixth student, Jesse Ray Beard, was charged as a juvenile because he was 14 at the time.[19]

Barker was released from the hospital after two hours of treatment and observation for a concussion and an eye that had swollen shut.[9] The emergency physician's record shows that he also had injuries to his face, ears and hand.[20] He then attended his school's Ring ceremony that evening,[9] though he later testified, "I waited 11 years to go to it. I wasn't going to let that get in my way," and that he ended up leaving early due to pain.[21]

During the trial, Barker also testified that his face was badly swollen after the attack and that he lost vision in one eye for three weeks. He also stated that he suffered recurring headaches since the attack, though tests have detected no medical cause for them.[21]

Mychal Bell, a juvenile at the time of the incident, had been previously convicted of four violent crimes. Bell served probation for a battery that occurred December 25, 2005, and he was subsequently convicted of another battery charge and two charges of criminal damage to property.[22] On June 26, 2007, the first day of trial for defendant Mychal Bell, Walters agreed to reduce the charges for Bell to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated second-degree battery.[23] A charge of aggravated battery requires the use of a "deadly weapon". Walters thus argued that the tennis shoes that Bell was wearing and used to kick Barker with were deadly weapons, an argument with which the jury ultimately agreed. Witness accounts conflicted over whether he was involved in the attack.[24] However, court-appointed public defender Blane Williams, himself a black man, did not call a single witness in his attempt to defend Bell.[24]

Following an order by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal,[30] a hearing was held on September 21, 2007, to determine whether to set bond for Bell.[31] The judge in the hearing denied the request for Bell to be freed while his appeal is being reviewed.[32]

On September 4, 2007, charges against Carwin Jones and Theo Shaw were reduced to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy,[33] as were those of Robert Bailey, Jr., on September 10.[34]

Despite the overturning of Mychal Bell's conviction, the charges against the other four teenagers remained unaffected because they were over seventeen at the time of the incident, thus making them adults under Louisiana law.[28]

Blah, blah, blah!!! I am a resident of Jena and i have been a resident here all my life. It is really unfortunate that the news only publishes stories that make these young men, the "Jena 6", seem like victims. I happen to know 3 of them and i a..ure you they are anything but. For instance, i personally witnessed at least three of them jump another black man at a party for no apparnt reason. They succeeded in winning this particular fight, obviously! Later on that same night they sat down the road from where this man lived bragging and taunted him some more on how they really "F*****" him up and did he want some more!! I was there, i witnessed these facts! They are known in their community for stealing out of people's cars and homes...THE BLACK COMMUNITY!!! We had to start locking our cars just to run into the convenience store and pay for gas. The "Jena 6" as they are now known are in fact a group of young hoodlums! They wanted to be known as a gang. They thrived on walking around together intimidating others, blacks and whites alike! Did anyone bother to ask "why" they had a gun pulled on them at the convenience store? First off, they were stealing and YES they were armed. Look im not defending the nooses being hung in the tree at the school, prank or no prank i believe that those 3 white boys should have been expelled. I also believe that the white boy that the "Jena 6" beat up should be expelled for later on bringing a gun to school. I and many others in Jena just want all this to be handled fairly and as peaceful as possible. The whole thing has been blown up so big its really hard to recall what started it. They "all 6" beat up another student until he lay unconscious and continued to beat him! Does it really matter what color they are or this student they beat? Its so funny how all these big city hot shots come here and try to make all this a racial thing when really its not! These same hot shots are saying "We won't leave until we see justice done, we'll keep coming back" and then they ask their supporters to pay them back for gas and lodging. HA! How ridiculous, if they really believed in their cause they would be here reguardless if they were getting paid back are not! Maybe they're just using all this for their own political gain. Whatever the reason i think its sad. The people in Jena are no fools though, there are a few of these phonies that have been told by local blacks not to come back! Good for them! I don't believe anyone wants to see young people go to prison wrongfully accused however, if you do the crime you do the time! Thats the Jena way!

June 02, 2007 3:45 AM

elle, obviously your missing my point entirely! I LIVE HERE IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY In JENA! Do you? I know all about what racisim is, trust me! I Just want you to know about the people your defending so feircely! They are not innocent by no means! When this does go into court im sure that their character will be brought up. For example, If one or more of them were known for being a rapist but were never convicted in the courts, because blacks here don't involve the law most of the time, would you still defend them? Come on now, not all of them in question but at least three are not innocent! I agree with you on the fact that the boys who hung the nooses in the trees should have gotten expulsion "at least"! That was a hate crime and their should be some law that protects people from that sort of ignorance. Most everyone in town except their parents agree on that. The boys who did that are in fact a bunch of rednecks and they knew what they were about to stir up here! Im ashamed to say that all they got was a "slap on the wrist". If anyone deserved their a.. whipped they most certainly did! However, thats not the case! The reason why none of the other incidents (the black guy who was beat up at the fair barn and the guy that pulled a gun on them at the conveniece store etc..) were never brought to justice is because no one ever pressed charges. The black guy beat up at the party decided to go tell a few other black guys ie "Jena 6" and they were going to handle it on their own. That is against the law to take matters in your own hands. Why didn't the parents of this black guy go press charges? He was a minor and i wish they would have! Blacks in this area RARELY involve the law. They almost always handle these things on their own. That white guy or guys should also have their a.. sitting in jail right now too. Also everyone that ive talked to believes that the kid that got beat up for saying the N word deserved to have his a.. whipped too, but not 6 on 1!! Thats just not right for anyone. You can't possibly defend that. His parents did go press charges and thats why its six black guys in jail instead of however many white guys that beat up that black kid. My opinion is that if this wouldn't have happened at school the charges may have never been brought. You send your kid to school expecting to be safe and i think those parents should also sue the school board. Which i heard they plan to in the future and thats a good thing maybe then they'll protect everyone from hate crimes and violence. The majority of people in this town are not racist though. I work in a place where i talk to cops daily and most of them also beleive that attempted second degree murder is really extreme. I feel that that has alot to do with the parents of this white kid that got beat up, their pissed! I don't think it will hold up and i don't think that a jury would convict any of them for that. I do agree that they shouldn't have the same lawyer because im sure one of them is sitting in that jail thinking "all i did was hit the guy once". This one should testify against the others and get off, not feel he has to protect his friends for fear of retaliation later. You asked me about the black man that 3 of the Jena six beat up just a few weeks before they went to jail. I was there and this black man called his family, not the police. He sat there in his yard with a gun in his lap talking to his family members just waiting for one of the guys that beat him up "let them lil bastards start some more S..t, i got somethin for their black a..es" as he said it! He could have had them arrested then and he should have. Let me just tell you 3 of the six ARE criminals and one of them needs serious therapy. I wish CNN would go take a look in that ones bedroom, it looks like he has a damn arsonal in there from all the guns hes stolen. I ask what in the hell was his mother thinking letting him have all this in there. But then again his mother is a criminal too and she rasied him in all that crap. I have to feel for sorry for him but at the same time im relieved hes in jail and i hope someone can help him. People defending these kids and making excuses for everything they do though is not helping them. They need to just come to terms with what they did was wrong and that they never meant to attempt to kill anyone, it just got out of hand. The DA is a D...head(i aplogize but i don't know how else to put it) to whites and blacks, i don't know too many people that like him or agree with him. Im not sure what his problem is? The people in Jena just want this to be over with though and when it is we hope that our school district set clear ground rules when it comes to hate crimes, threats, intimidation and violence in the schools whoever it might be doing this. The parents just need to accept the schools dicipline. Parents need to disipline their children at home and not let them run the streets all night stealing and stirring up trouble. Unfortunately there is a race problem here in America. We are the a melting pot full of all types of races and religions. There will always probably be a race problem but people need to trust in the laws to handle them fairly, thats why we have juries so they will be. If someone commits a crime though it is our law that they will be brought to justice based on the evidence, right? How can you be so sure that they wouldn't get a fair trial here in Jena? After all this community has helped in rasing them. I have pictures of some of them when they were little kids. Some of them are superior athletes with teachers and coaches who support them and hope that they'll learn from this and hopefully go on to do great things. Im particularly dissappointed in one but i hope this is a wake up call for him. You can't go around beating up on people because you don't like something they say. To listen to him now making a millon excuses for his actions, i realize he has missed the point. He doesn't realize that people aren't defending what he did but just making excuses for why he did it! He knows deep down he did it just to fit in with his friends and nothing else! I think right now in their life, knowing the path they were headed down, this is just the wake up they need. I hope that they never want to go back to prison. Instead decide to go on to college and be a lawyer so they can help change some of our old laws and make sure that justice is served. Most importantly, i hope that they realize that the mind is much more powerful than a fist will ever be and because they've been through this their words will be heard. This is very personal to me ella and it about much more than just their case. I am not some older person, i am their peer! I thought that you would be interested and knowing alittle more about who you are defending coming from someone who knows! Lifes not fair but we do the best with what we're given. No, i don't think that they will ever be convicted of second degree murder, no one here does but i just hope they don't use what sentence they do get as an excuse. Thank you for responding to my comment. I haven't commented anywhere else but i just couldn't hold my thoughts on this whole thing in anymore. I am torn on this and its hard to believe that all this has happened because of some rednecks and some wanna be thugs. Yes thugs im sure that might offend you but i promise thats the title ive heard them refer to themselves! Although in my eyes their just a bunch of kids who've done a bad thing. They were not defending themselves though, no one ever had the guts to attack them.

oh and btw about the tree with the nooses in it someone have outta just burn it down instead of the school hmmm mb we'll see! im personally sick of seeing it as a reminder and so is the rest of the student body!!

Ella, let me ask u this! Lets a..ume this was me they jumped and i was sent to the hospital and because it happened on school grounds obviously the school would have to press charges and whatever. This would have never gone past the Jena Times because that same night "the Jena 6" would have probably been laying next to me in the ER! After my uncles and cousins got through with them that is! You see callin the police around here just doesn't get you any respect in the black community, it only causes you to be harra..ed even futher. I know if you live in the black community you can understand this. Its not that they wouldn't have been charged so strictly but my family has to live here around them and their family. Its sad to know that blacks don't stick up for one another except when the law or whites get involved, then they want to unite and pull that "race card"! My question: Would you defend them if it were me they had beat up so brutally? I wonder sister! I know you know what im talking about.

June 03, 2007 3:58 PM

nick, i'm not ignoring you--i'm so busy. can you e-mail me at MsElleG at aol dot com.

Elle, i understand your busy, hell you got kids and a Phd. behind your name. Btw your boys look like good kids their lucky to have a mother like you. I was lucky enough to have a two strong women in my life, my mom and my grandmother. My grandmother is the only one that knows im writing you about this though. Although alot of people would agree with me on this, many just don't want to get involved. Thats why i hesitate to give out my email. It just seems too personal for me, like i said i do have to live here. Im sure you understand but i could create a bogus email if thats what i have to do to continue talking to you. I just don't want to release my primary email.