Tuesday, December 30, 2008 |
Mychal Bell, one of six black teens in the Jena Six case, shot himself in the chest Monday night around 7:40 in Monroe, Louisiana, where he’s been staying with a foster family.
Police Sgt. Cassandra Wooten said Bell’s wound isn’t life-threatening and believes he was upset over media coverage of his arrest last week on a shoplifting charge.
Bell was arrested less than one month after he completed a sentence for his role in the beating of a fellow classmate, Justin Barker, at Jena High School in 2006. He was sentenced to 18 months for his part in the crime and also served a sentence for three previous unnamed crimes.
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Saturday, August 9, 2008 |
Twenty-two year old Raymond Hunter Geisel has been held without bail in Florida after allegedly threatening to assassinate Barack Obama and George W. Bush.
Although Geisel denied making the threats in a Secret Service affidavit, he told an agent that in a joke to other participants at a bail bondsman’s training course, he said that if he wanted to kill Obama he would shoot him with a sniper rifle.
A witness told investigators that Geisel had said, “That nigger, if he gets elected, I’ll assassinate him myself.” Another said he overheard Geisel say at a hotel that he hated Bush and wanted to put a bullet in his head.
Authorities found a cache of ammunition, including armor-piercing bullets, and a handgun in Geisel’s SUV and hotel room. Geisel described himself as a victim of physical and emotional abuse when he was younger and said he voluntarily checked himself into a mental health facility in Maine for post traumatic stress disorder.
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Wednesday, April 16, 2008 |
Last year, more than 20,000 people marched on Jena, LA, to protest the treatment of the six young, black men now known as the “Jena 6“. The six teens were being tried for attempted murder after a fight on school grounds where Justin Barker, a white student, was beaten, which followed the hanging of nooses in the school’s courtyard and subsequent race-based conflicts.
On Monday, lawyers for the youngest of the Jena 6, Jesse Ray Beard, who was 14 at the time, filed a motion to remove Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. and District Attorney (D.A.) Reed Walters from any future involvement in juvenile court matters involving him. Mauffray and Walters served as the judge and prosecutor, respectively, in the Jena 6 cases and Beard’s attorneys argue their prejudice during and after the proceedings have betrayed an unfair bias against Beard. Continue Reading »
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Friday, November 9, 2007 |
It’s been a few weeks since a Jena 6 update post, and let’s just say nothing but drama has been surrounding the case.
I’m sure everyone saw that youtube video that hit the net a few weeks back. The video allegedly shows one of the Jena 6 defendants rolling around in the donation money that supporters sent in. Since those photos still have yet to be verified, I will give these kids the benefit of doubt. Let’s just say I was highly pissed off when I heard about it though.
Now, on to some other drama with the case. The reputable organization “The Color of Change” who has been in the forefront of the whole Jena 6 rally was recently attacked by popular radio show host Michael Baisden. Baisden, who coincidentally has been a big supporter of the case as well, claimed that they were misusing donation money and that it wasn’t being used for the actual defense fund. The Color of Change denies the allegations and even provides proof that they are handling the donations correctly.
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Friday, October 12, 2007 |
Bell being released last month. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
JENA, La. A teenager at the center of a civil rights controversy is back in jail after a judge revoked his probation and sentenced him on charges that were pending before the attack that put him in the national spotlight, his attorney said Thursday.
Mychal Bell, who along with five other black teenagers had been accused of beating a white classmate, went to juvenile court Thursday expecting another routine hearing, said Carol Powell Lexing, one of Bell’s attorneys.
Instead, after a six-hour hearing, state District Judge J.P. Mauffrey Jr. sentenced him to 18 months on two counts of simple battery and two counts of criminal destruction of property, Lexing said.
He had been on probation for those charges during the Dec. 4 attack on classmate Justin Barker. [SOURCE]
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Thursday, September 27, 2007 |
Mychal Bell released (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Good news on the Jena 6 case. 17 year-old Mychal Bell has been released on bail. His bail was set at $45,000. The LaSalle Parish District Attorney said his decision not to appeal was not influenced by the recent march.
“We still have mountains to climb, but at least this is closer to an even playing field,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who helped organize last week’s protest.
“He goes home because a lot of people left their home and stood up for him,” Sharpton said.
District Attorney Reed Walters’ decision to abandon adult charges means that Bell, who had faced a maximum of 15 years in prison on his aggravated second-degree battery conviction last month, instead could be held only until he turns 21 if he is found guilty in juvenile court.
[ READ MORE ]
In related news, Dr. Phil is dedicated his show to the whole Jena 6 incident tomorrow (September 28th). Visit his website and click on Friday for more info.
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Friday, September 21, 2007 |
Bell in football photo (CNN)
Sorry for the delay on this update!!! Here is the newest info about the Jena 6.
After thousands rallied yesterday in Jena, Louisiana in the defense of the Jena 6, many hoped that the hearing for Mychal Bell today would result in him being released on bail. But that was not the case.
Mychal Bell, the sole defendant who remains behind bars from the group of teens known as the “Jena 6,” will not be released Friday, a court decided.
Bell, 17, has been in jail since his arrest more than nine months ago.
It was not immediately clear what happened in court Friday, where Bell’s attorneys had planned to push for his release.
“It is our understanding that the judge refused to give bond or bail to Mychal Bell today,” the Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist who traveled to Jena for Thursday’s rally, said in a written statement. [ READ MORE ]
Don’t let this dishearten you. Did you see all the support the Jena 6 received yesterday? This is not over.
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