Jena Drug Raid: Looks Like We're Going To Have To Go Back

Classic style false drug raid conducted against Jena's small Black community in apparent revenge for Jena 6 protest.

One love to the JesseMuhammad blog for sending us drum beats on this one via twitter.

Jordan Flaherty, an independent [and for what it's worth, white] journalist who was on the front line of helping break the Jena 6 story in 2007 with web articles and video; now brings us the story of last summer's evidence-less drug raid on Jena's tiny Black community.


Jena Sheriff Scott Franklin

By Jordan Flaherty
Posted: May 13, 2010 03:22 PM

Jena Sheriff Seeks Revenge for Civil Rights Protests

At 4 am on July 9 of last year, more than 150 officers from ten different agencies gathered in a large barn just outside Jena, Louisiana. The day was the culmination of an investigation that LaSalle Parish Sheriff Scott Franklin said had been going on for nearly two years. Local media was invited, and a video of the sheriff speaking to the rowdy gathering would later appear online.

The sheriff called the mobilization "Operation Third Option," and he said it was about fighting drugs. However, community members say that Sheriff Franklin's actions are part of an orchestrated revenge for the local civil rights protests that won freedom for six Black high school students -- known internationally as the Jena Six -- who had been charged with attempted murder for a school fight.

One thing is clear: the sheriff spent massive resources; yet officers seized no contraband. Together with District Attorney Reed Walters, Sheriff Franklin has said he is seeking maximum penalties for people charged with small-time offenses. Further, in a parish that is eighty-five percent white, his actions have almost exclusively targeted African Americans. In a town with just over three hundred Black residents, he sent his 150 officers only into the town's Black neighborhood.

Downtown Baghdad

According to a report from Alexandria's Town Talk newspaper, LaSalle Parish Sheriff Scott Franklin prepared the assembled crowd for a violent day. "This is serious business what we're fixing to do," said Sheriff Franklin. "If you think this is a training exercise or if you think these are good old boys from redneck country and we're just going to good-old-boy them into handcuffs, you're wrong. These people have nothing to lose. And they know the stakes are high."




"It's going to be like Baghdad out in this community at five am," he continued dramatically, explaining that their target was 37-year-old Darren DeWayne Brown, who owns a barbershop -- one of the only Black-owned businesses in town -- and his "lieutenants," who Franklin said supplied eighty percent of the narcotics for three parishes. "Let me put it to you this way," declared the sheriff, "When the man says, 'We don't sell dope today,' dope won't get sold."

Sheriff Franklin said that option one is for drug dealers and users to quit, option two is to move, and option three is to spend the rest of their lives in prison. And this day was all about option three. "They will get put in handcuffs, put behind bars today and never see the light of day again unless they are going out on the playground in prison," he boasted.

At the end of the day, a dozen people were arrested on charges that ranged from contempt of court to resisting arrest to distribution of marijuana, hydrocodone, or cocaine. Despite catching the accused residents by surprise with early morning raids, in which doors were battered down by SWAT teams while a helicopter hovered overhead and then search teams were brought in to take houses and businesses apart, no drugs or other physical evidence were retrieved -- other than small traces of marijuana at one house.

Virtually all evidence in the cases comes from the testimony of twenty-three-year-old Evan Brown of Jena, who also wore a hidden camera during the investigation that parish officials have said provides powerful visual evidence. "We're completely satisfied with the results," said LaSalle Sheriff's Department Narcotic Chief Robert Terral, who refused further comment on the operation.


...see full article here

Unbelievable! Looks like were going to have to go back to Jena.

These trumped up drug raids, based on little to no evidence, and usually on the word of a single snitch is an un-talked about abuse-of-power epidemic in the United States.



Just this past weekend I watched the renowned 2009 independent movie on a fictionalized version of just such a case. This is the same kind of setup and case that happened in 1999 in Tulia Texas; which led Alan Bean to act there, and then later be instrumental also in bringing the Jena 6 situation to the fore front.

I wonder how are we just now hearing about this case, though? Why did they not reach out to those of us who helped last time. Hmm, wondering if they're not wanting outside help, again. They were all thanking us for coming when we were at the march; and talking to Michael Bell on the phone last year, he expressed gratitude for our assistance.

Maybe they feel that those activities three years ago having caused this act of revenge now, has now turned out to be more of a harm than good. I don't know. I would submit that with there again being exaggerated ridiculously high bails set, and the cost of lawyers; at the least they would need the financial resources that we brought to bear before, and could again bring; even if there is not physical protest in Jena. In which case we would probably need to defer to the consensus view of Jena's Black community on that, or maybe just to the views of the defendants in this drug raid case.

I know that the protest was powerful, though. We were 30,000 deep down there last time. Blanketed the whole city; it was something beautiful to behold.

Tens of thousands of dollars were raised. I know my donation went to Michael Bell's lawyer, because though I donated it through a local business man who was doing a collection at the march, I got a receipt in the mail from the lawyer's office about a month later.

I also helped raise money here in Nashville before I went.

I'm going to call Mychal Bell or his mom in the next few days and see if I can't find out more about what's going on. Hope their numbers haven't changed; it's been about a years since I lasted talked to them. Will also call Alan Bean, and other organizers and reporters from the last Jena stand, and report back.

Remembering The Jena 6 March With Urban EpiCenter's Keith Caldwell

The following is an interview I conducted tonight with Keith Caldwell, fellow community organizer here in Nashville, and one of the principle parties that I worked with in helping to organize 10 free bus of some 500+ people to go down to Jena 1 year ago tomorrow.

We discuss how it all started with a conversation over breakfast; and what we've taken from it and have built on that mobilization since.

The Evonne I reference in the convo is Evonne Tisdale of Center for Community Change.



http://www.urbanepicenter.org/

http://www.blackperspective.net/

Redux - The Jena 6 March In Rewind

You can see again my thoughts right after returning from the Jena 6 march last year.

In the coming days I will have a number of post and podcast of interviews and commentary on the organizing of the march, and what has come out of it.



The Jena March for Justice: My Experience and Perspective
My perspective and the sights and sounds that I experienced as a participant in the historic march for justice in Jena Louisiana for the Jena 6.
View more »

Also, this is the Jena 6 Blogs 100th post. Thanks all those who stopped by over the past 11 months

White Racist Protest In Jena Is A Complete Dud

You can watch a video report from an area television station here: http://www.kalb.com/index.php/news/article/mlk-march-in-jena/2804/

They've been promoting this for months and all they could come up with is 30 to 50 people. That's it? There were more counter protesters there.

White separatists march in town of Jena 6By Mary Foster | Associated Press
5:23 PM CST, January 21, 2008

JENA, La. (AP) — About 50 white separatists protested the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday in this tiny town, which was thrust into the spotlight months ago by 20,000 demonstrators who claimed prosecutors discriminated against blacks.

Police separated participants in the "pro-majority" rally organized by the Learned, Miss.-based Nationalist Movement from a racially mixed group of about 100 counter-demonstrators outside the LaSalle Parish Courthouse. There was no violence and one arrest, a counter-demonstrator.

Chants of "No KKK" from the mostly college-age counter-demonstrators were met with a chant from the separatists that contained a racial epithet.

At one point, dozens of state police forced back about 10 people, dressed in New Black Panther uniforms, who had gathered around a podium where the separatist group's leader Richard Barrett was to speak.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-jena-ap-webjan22,1,5770931.story?track=rss

This was us on September 20th


Versus

Them today


AHHH, ha ha ha ha ha!

ROFLMAO!!!!

Counter March To White Racist Supremist in Jena

Thanks to AJ at the OverAnalyzeIt who brought this to my attention.

KKKluckers with NOOSES marching on MLK Day in Jena, unopposed? NO WAY!
by Revolution ( revolution.sfbureau [at] gmail.com )
Monday Jan 14th, 2008 12:19 PM

A white supremacist group that calls itself the “Nationalist Movement” plans to march in Jena on January 21. They’re telling people to bring signs calling for jailing the Jena 6, abolishing the Martin Luther King holiday, and “down with communism.” They’re openly encouraging people to DISPLAY NOOSES!! Around the country, when people heard about this, a lot of them said, “it’s time to go back to Jena.” And in Jena, many said, “it’s time for people to come back to Jena.”

The January 21st Committee has issued a Call to people of all nationalities to come to Jena on Monday, January 21 to say: Oppose the Lynch Mob Racists! No to Nooses! Free the Jena Six! We Want a Better World! (see Call in article below))

This Call already has a number of prominent and significant signatories including Black and white residents of Jena, some parents of the Jena 6, 60 people from the Cabrini Green housing project in Chicago, Cornel West, Herb Boyd, Cindy Sheehan, and Medea Benjamin. Endorsers are still being gathered. And this is shaping up to be very significant.

We encourage people to spread this Call far and wide, sign it, and get others to sign it. The Call puts out an important challenge to people of all nationalities to organize to be in Jena on January 21 to DROWN OUT these KKKluckers, whose message is about actually carrying out terror and murder against Black people.

Read the rest of the article here

White Nationalist Group Wins Right to March In Jena

National Movement vs. Town of Jena-Update
By Farrah Reyna - Anchor 6 & 10
January 11 2008

There are new developments in the lawsuit filed by the Nationalist Movement against the town of Jena.

Federal Judge Dee Drell ruled on Friday that Jena’s requirement for an insurance policy is unconstitutional and a violation of the group’s first amendment rights.
The Nationalist Movement was suing the town because the organization did not want to pay an insurance charge for its planned rally on Martin Luther King Day.

With Friday’s ruling, the party will go forward with its plans for the march on MLK day on Monday the 21st. A hearing scheduled for Monday was cancelled.
Link to story

Rapper Bun B Speaks on Jena Six

Bun B would be known to most of you as a so-called gangsta rapper.

To me, he’s know as a highly underrated (at least outside the south) ill MCee, and half of the legendary Hip Hop due UGK or Underground Kings. They came up out of Port Author Texas in the early 90s, and me being a Louisiana boy of about 13, their shit got big play around my way; though they weren’t really known nationally.

People think rappers are dumb and pointless by definition, and truth be told, a lot them are. But many of them are not. So peep Bun speaking intelligently and articulately about the Jena situation and how he relates being where he’s from:




Also peep Mos Def on the situation again, going off on the punk-ass rapper community. Mos and Bun were at the Jena March:

Divided We Fall - Michael Baisden on Jena 6 March

Baisden address so-called divisions amongst leadership and what was accomplished by the march, as he prepares for Un-equal Justice Fundraiser


Divided We Fall:

By Michael Baisden

Within twenty-four hours of the most powerful civil rights demonstration since the 60’s the critics frantically rushed to their microphones and laptops. What should have been a national celebration of unity and peaceful civil demonstration turned into a barrage of negative commentary and ridiculous questions.

Questions such as: What was accomplished by going to Jena, LA? Why wasn’t the march better organized? Why didn’t Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson march together? Since I was the primary person sounding the alarm for millions of my listeners to organize buses and to wear black to symbolize un-equal justice, allow me to answer those critics, loud and clear!

Let’s begin with the question of why Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton didn’t march together. On the morning of September 17 my manager Pamela Exum arrived in Jena, LA for a site inspection to finalize plans for the march. Due to bad weather the prior week her flight into Alexandria was canceled twice so Monday the 17th was the earliest date she could arrange a meeting with the Louisiana State police, who had primary responsibility for security. When she arrived at Ward 10 Park, which was the proposed staging area for the march by the NAACP she immediately called me on my cell phone and stated, “I don’t feel this is safe.”

Ward 10 Park is surrounded by woods, there’s only one road in and out, and by her estimation there was only enough space for no more then 5,000 protestors. Now keep in mind, this did not include parking space for the hundreds of cars, buses and motorcycles expected to roll into this tiny town.

But here’s where the real problem arouse, their original plan was to meet at the Ward 10 Park, march 2 ½ miles from the park to the courthouse and hold speeches, then march back 2 ½ miles to the park. Later Monday afternoon on a conference call lead by the NAACP a decision was made to cancel the march and hold all activities at the Ward 10 Park. All parties were asked to sign off, those groups included Rainbow PUSH (Jesse Jackson Group), Realizing The Dream (MLK III group), National Bar Association, National Action Network (Al Sharpton Group), Congressional Black Caucus, and the SCLC.

It was my decision not to agree to this plan, mainly because I anticipated over 50,000 protestors. And because there was a rap concert planned in the park later that evening. This plan would have been feasible for 5,000 with no vehicles on site, but there was no way I would agree to putting tens of thousands of my listeners in a potentially dangerous situation. Everyone who saw the area located around the courthouse knows it could not hold 50,000 let alone 5,000, and then do an about face back to the park, I don’t think so!

My responsibility was not to any of these groups, my concern was the tens of thousands of listeners who were headed to Jena, LA because of the call I put out along with other radio personalities.

Ms. Exum made her objection, informed everyone that I was not agreeable to this plan and it would not be promoted on my show, but that we would not interfere with their plans. She then took a ride with the Louisiana State Police and mapped out a new route which started at the courthouse to the Jena High school, then to the Jena City Park where buses would be boarded to make a prompt exit. She e-mailed all parties involved as a courtesy. Rev. Sharpton, The Congressional Black Caucus, National Bar Association, and five of the Jena 6 families all agreed to OUR plan. We all felt it was imperative for the protestors to march passed the Jena High school, the scene of the crime. I announced the itinerary on the air and placed it on the minglecity.com banner.

There wasn’t any riff between Rev. Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, or any other organization; they were all free to go along with the original plan at the Ward 10 Park, if they so desired. Everyone chose the plan they felt best suited their organizations, period!

To the question of why the march wasn’t better organized, there is no way to effectively move 50,000 people in and out of a town where the entire population is 3,000, no one was at fault; it was simply overwhelming. Once the vast majority of people missed the original 9:00 a.m. speech at the courthouse, which by the way, was on time, they were left to march once they arrived, and I’m proud to say they all did without a single incident.

Lastly, to the critics who sarcastically ask, what was accomplished by marching on Jena? Over 50,000 men, women, and children of all races made a statement to the nation and to the world that we are fed up with the un-just legal system, that we will not allow our children to be locked away in prison for 20 years for a high school brawl, and the most important statement of all, we will fight for what we believe in; not just sit back on our behind and complain and criticize but actually do something! Every movement has to have a beginning, and this is it. So instead of asking the ridiculous question of why were we there, maybe you should be asking yourself, why weren’t you!!!

http://www.michaelbaisden.com/Article.asp?id=470156