CNHI News Service
OKLAHOMA CITY
September 20, 2007 07:27 pm
—
Thousands of protestors nationwide, including about 500 in Oklahoma City, gathered on Thursday to support six black Jena, La.., teenagers accused of beating a fellow white student late last year.
Prior to the fight, black students had sat beneath a school yard tree where white students traditionally congregated. Soon after, nooses were found hanging from the tree. Three white students responsible were temporarily suspended but racial tensions did not subside.
Five of the teens accused of assaulting the white youth were charged with attempted murder, but charges for all but one were reduced to battery. One of the students was charged as a juvenile. The white students who hung the nooses from the tree were not criminally charged.
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Photos
About 500 gathered in Oklahoma City on Thursday as part of nationwide protests related to charges against six black students in Jena, La. Jaclyn Houghton/CNHI News Service
Melissa Rabe, of Cole, attended a rally Thursday at the Oklahoma Capitol in support of racial equality. She supported freeing the black students who allegedly beat up a white student in Jena, La., and were originally charged with attempted murder. She said in her 54 years, this is the most "glaring case of injustice." Jaclyn Houghton/CNHI News Service
Gathering on the steps of the Oklahoma Capitol Thursday, about 500 Oklahomans prayed for racial justice and for six black students originally charged with attempted murder in Jena, La. The six were accused of beating a white student last year after three white students hung nooses from a tree beneath which black students had chosen to sit. Traditionally, the school’s white students sat beneath the tree. CNHI News Service
About 500 Oklahomans protested the attempted murder charges of a Jena, La., black teenager on Thursday on the steps of the Oklahoma Capitol. Jaclyn Houghton/CNHI News Service
Tauda Harland, left, and Hazel Driver, both of Oklahoma City, held signs Thursday to protest racial injustice on the day that one African American youth faces attempted murder charges in Jena, La. About 500 gathered in Oklahoma City as part of nationwide protests. Jaclyn Houghton/CNHI News Service