On this day in 2006, events in the small town of Jena, Louisiana, drew national attention as a local assault case made headlines across the nation.
The case, known as the Jena Six, involved six Black teenagers charged in the Dec. 4 beating of Justin Barker, a white student at Jena High School. Barker was punched, kicked and knocked unconscious. He was treated in a local emergency room for a concussion, swelling and other injuries and was released after several hours. He attended a school event later that day and later said he experienced weeks of pain and temporary vision loss.
The attack followed months of tension at the school. Early in the academic year, students discovered rope nooses hanging from a tree in the school courtyard the morning after Black students sat beneath it.
Reports differ on whether two or three nooses were present. School officials disciplined three white students for hanging the nooses. The students said the act was intended as a prank, and a school committee concluded they did not understand the historical racist symbolism. Federal investigators said the incident appeared to have the characteristics of a hate crime. Still, no federal charges were filed because the offenders were juveniles and the conduct did not meet federal prosecution standards. School discipline was reduced from the principal’s recommendation of expulsion to a period at an alternative school, in school suspension and other measures. Many Black residents considered the response inadequate.
Several additional conflicts occurred in the months leading up to the assault.
On Dec. 1, a fight broke out at a private party involving Black youths, including Robert Bailey, and a white male who was not a student. The next day, an altercation outside a convenience store led to charges against Bailey after an incident involving a shotgun.
Days earlier, on Nov. 30, the main building of Jena High School burned down. Early media accounts linked the fire to racial tension, but investigators later determined it was set in an attempt to destroy grade records and was unrelated to the noose incident or later violence.
After Barker was attacked, six students were arrested. Five were charged with attempted second degree murder. The sixth, 14-year-old Jesse Ray Beard, was charged as a juvenile. The severity of the charges prompted widespread public scrutiny. Mychal Bell was the first to be tried and was convicted as an adult of aggravated battery and conspiracy.
An appellate court overturned the convictions, ruling he should not have been tried as an adult. Bell later pleaded guilty in juvenile court to a reduced charge. By 2009, the remaining defendants pleaded no contest to simple battery and were fined and placed on short probation.
Civil rights advocates argued that the charges were excessive and reflected racial disparities in the justice system. On Sept. 20, 2007, an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people marched in Jena in one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in years. Protests were held nationwide, and the case prompted congressional hearings and sustained national debate.
