Jena Six Family Member Killed in Double Murder

Catrina Wallace, who came to national prominence as a civil rights activist and the sister of one of the Jena Six, was found dead early today, the victim of a double homicide in Monroe, Louisiana. Wallace had three children.

Wallace, 35, was the sister of Robert Bailey, Jr.. In late 2006, a series of incidents in the town of Jena, Louisiana - including the hanging of several nooses in a school yard - led to racial tension and violence. After a school fight, Bailey was one of six high school students who was arrested and faced decades in prison. Catrina Wallace helped lead months of protests that eventually brought national and international attention to the case, culminating in a mass protest of nearly 50,000 in the small town of Jena, in what has been called the first major struggle of the 21st century civil rights movement. Although the story leapt to national attention in summer of 2007, Catrina and other family members had been leading protests, sometimes every week, for over six months before the first national press arrived.

The protests and the movement behind them were successful. The six young men went on to college, instead of prison. Last year, Robert Bailey graduated from Grambling University. Earlier this year Theo Shaw, another of the young men, received a full scholarship to law school.

After the young men were released, Catrina Wallace and her mother, Caseptla Bailey, stayed in Jena and remained focused on grassroots organizing. The two founded Organizing in the Trenches, a community organization dedicated to empowering youth. However, after the legal cases ended and national attention moved on, funding and support was hard to find for a small project located deep in rural Louisiana.

On July 9, 2009, Wallace was one of a dozen Jena residents arrested in a multi-agency police raid that many saw as retribution for her organizing. After the arrests, which were focused entirely in Jena's Black community, some white residents of Jena began wearing t-shirts that celebrated the police action and featured an image of a monkey behind bars.

Wallace was convicted in 2011 and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. In 2014, her sentences were vacated on appeal, and she was released later that year.

Wallace moved out of Jena after her release, and at the time of her death was apparently working at a bail bonds office in Monroe, LA. As of this writing, police have not released any information on who might be behind the murder, but Monroe Police Detective Reggie Brown told reporters, "We're interviewing witnesses and possible persons of interest at this time, and we feel very strongly that we're going to bring the person responsible to justice." Since earlier today, Wallace's facebook wall has been filled with dozens of heartbreak-filled messages from friends and family.

Marcus Jones, another Jena Six family member, died last year in an apparent accident.

Photos by Mavis York.

Marcus Jones, Father of Jena Six Student, Killed in Truck Accident

Marcus Jones, father of Mychal Bell, one of the defendants in the Jena Six case, was killed yesterday in a highway accident, according to local news reports.

In 2007, six high school students became an international cause. Tens of thousands of people from around the US descended on Jena, a small town in northern Louisiana, to protest against racial injustice.

Six Black youth facing decades in prison over a school fight involving a white youth who had no serious injuries symbolized an unjust system in some of the same ways that today Ferguson Missouri has come to represent police abuses. The fight occurred not long after white students had left nooses under a tree in what was seen as a warning to Black students. Mychal Bell was the first (and, ultimately, only) of the six youth to face trial, he was convicted and spent nearly ten months in prison before his sentence was overturned.

Marcus Jones was a dedicated, passionate, and outspoken advocate and activist for his son and the other young men, appearing frequently on radio and TV and speaking frankly about racial dimensions of the case, calling the charges a "modern day lynching."

According to a report today in the Jena Town Talk:

A Jena man helping a friend move some wooden pallets died Saturday afternoon on La. Highway 8, according to Louisiana State Police. Marcus W. Jones, 43, died in the incident, although troopers aren't sure exactly how yet. Around 5:41 p.m., troopers responded to a crash on La. 8 after a 2007 Chevrolet pickup truck, driven by 22-year-old Brittany N. Walker of Jena, struck Jones, who was lying in the eastbound lane. Walker tried to avoid hitting Jones, who was wearing a black jacket and black pants, reads the release. A friend of Jones' arrived at the scene, telling troopers that Jones had been helping him move wooden pallets. Jones had been standing in the bed of the friend's pickup truck, holding down the pallets, according to the release. The friend said that, when he arrived at his destination, Jones no longer was in the truck. The friend had been retracing his path, searching for Jones, when he came upon the scene.

In the years since the case, the six young men who had been facing life in prison went on to various colleges, including Grambling State, University of Louisiana at Monroe, Southern University, and Hofstra. One of the youth went on to work for Southern Poverty Law Center. Mychal Bell just graduated from Southern University, days before his father's death.

Photos by Jordan Flaherty.

Jena Six activists and other local organizers among targets of NYPD spying

This article was originally published in the April 2, 2012 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.

In 2008, officers from the New York City Police Department took a trip to New Orleans to spy on the people of this city. The occasion was the People’s Summit, a grassroots response to a New Orleans meeting between the presidents of the U.S., Mexico and Canada to expand “security cooperation” as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Activists from across the hemisphere came together to present an alternative vision of globalization, one that empowered communities rather than corporations. Among the local organizations that participated were the Peoples Institute for Survival and Beyond, The New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice, and the local chapter of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement.

The gathering consisted mostly of panels, workshops and discussions. There was street theatre from local day laborers, testimony from Mexican and Canadian workers, and links drawn between corporate profiteering after Hurricane Katrina and the corporate exploitation that was encouraged by NAFTA. Local antiracist activists led story circles – a method for communities to come together through their stories that was developed during the civil rights movement by participants in the Free Southern Theatre.

Although there were some street protests, there were no arrests, not even of the symbolic kind. There was certainly no physical threat to anyone in power – other than the threat of ideas.

And yet, in this time that we are told that municipalities must cut back, that there is no funding for public sector workers and teachers’ unions are under attack, the city of New York sent spies to New Orleans to observe this gathering and write it up in a report. Among the local organizations specifically mentioned in the report are members of the local chapter of Critical Resistance, and what the report calls the “Jena Coalition,” referring to activists who had organized around the Jena Six case.

This is far from the first time the NYPD has been caught spying far outside of New York. In a recent series of reports, the Associated Press has documented a wide array of excesses the department has engaged in under the guise of safety. An undercover officer took a whitewater rafting trip with Muslim college students and the department aggressively monitored and infiltrated mosques and Muslim businesses. The NYPD operates in at least 9 foreign countries, and apparently has no hesitation about traveling anywhere in the world they may find useful information.

Recent revelations about NYPD abuses go beyond spying. The notorious stop-and-frisk program, which has led to the criminalization of virtually an entire generation of young men of color in the city, is one example. The New York Civil Liberties Union reported that more than four million stops and interrogations from 2004 through 2011 led to no evidence of any wrongdoing – about 90 percent of all stops. Other recent revelations about NYPD abuses have included arrest quotas, sexual assaults, and the harassment and arrest of an officer who had turned whistleblower.

Here in New Orleans, public outrage has been mounting over the abuses carried out by our own city’s police department. The recent killings of Wendell Allen and Justin Sipp have produced sustained outrage. Allen’s killer remains free, just as Trayvon Martin’s killer has not been charged.

The racist treatment of the people of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the charges against the Jena Six, the execution of Troy Davis, and now the shooting of Trayvon Martin. All of these cases have created public outrage, a promise of a national conversation on race, and a desire for systemic change. Revelations of NYPD spying and the daily harassment known as Stop-and-Frisk show that police show a daily disrespect for the rights of the public.

Among the most recent discoveries, we have learned that one of the officers who participated in the killing of Justin Sipp wrote racist comments about Trayvon Martin on a news website.

The US Department of Justice is more engaged in oversight of local departments than they have been in at least a generation. But, at least here in New Orleans, the presence of DOJ investigators seems to have not changed the department. The question becomes: what will it take to bring real change in the nation’s criminal justice system?

Image above: From protests as part of the 2008 People's Summit.

Jena Six Activist Sentenced to Fifteen Years in Prison

Last week, one week past her 31st birthday, civil rights activist Catrina Wallace was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. This was first arrest for Wallace, a single mother who became politically active when her brother was arrested in the case that later became known as the "Jena Six."

On March 31, a 12-person jury with one Black member convicted Wallace of three counts of distribution of a controlled substance. At her June 1 sentencing, Wallace received 5 years for each count, to be served consecutively. Even in Louisiana, the incarceration capitol of the US, fifteen years for a first offense is somewhat exceptional. However, vast discrepancies exist across parishes. For example, an Orleans Parish man recently received probation for selling pot. Then, when arrested for the same offense a few miles away in St. Tammany Parish, he was sentenced to life in prison.

"Unfortunately, I'm not shocked by the sentence," commented Jasmine Tyler, deputy director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. "We used to use prisons for the people who really caused problems, and made us concerned about public safety. Now we use them for the people we're mad at."

Photo: Catrina Wallace, right, with Caseptla Bailey.

New Date Set in Sentencing for Jena Six Defendant

In a court hearing yesterday, a new date was set for the sentencing of civil rights activist Catrina Wallace.

Wallace is the sister of Robert Bailey, one of the high school students collectively known as the Jena Six. She received national attention for her role in organizing protests around the Jena Six case, which brought 50,000 people on a march through the town of Jena on September 20, 2007. She was arrested in 2009 as part of a controversial series of arrests dubbed "Operation Third Option" by the local police. The arrests targeted almost exclusively African-Americans in a Parish that is 85% white.

28th District Judge J. Christopher Peters set a new sentencing date of June 1. At the same hearing, the judge denied a motion for a new trial filed by Wallace's attorneys.

2007 Photo of Catrina Wallace by Mavis Yorks.

Jena, LA, Correction Officer Pleads Guilty to Criminal Sexual Activity

From a US Department of Justice Press Release:
The Justice Department announced today that Joseph Taunton, 31, from Jonesville, La., a former corrections officer at the LaSalle Parish Detention Center in Jena, La., pleaded guilty in federal court for engaging in a sexual act with a federal detainee.

During his guilty plea, Jackson admitted that on Dec. 16, 2010, while working as an officer at the detention center, he engaged in a sexual act with a federal detainee under his supervision.

“Those who are sworn to protect our citizens will be held accountable when they violate the public trust and abuse the rights of individuals in their custody,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.

“The defendant violated his oath; he crossed the line. This kind of behavior by prison employees can not and will not be tolerated, and we will continue to prosecute these types of cases,” said Stephanie Finley, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 28, 2011. Taunton faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

Today’s plea resulted from the work of the Department of Homeland Security – Office of Inspection General. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Mudrick of the Western District of Louisiana and Trial Attorney Angie Cha of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Jena Six Activist Convicted, Faces Decades in Prison

Civil rights activist Catrina Wallace, who received national attention for her role in organizing protests around the Jena Six case, was convicted today of three counts of distribution of a controlled substance. Wallace, who is 30, became an activist after her brother, Robert Bailey, was arrested and charged with attempted murder for a school fight. Bailey and five others later became known as the Jena Six. Their case eventually brought 50,000 people on a march through the town of Jena, and as a result of the public pressure the six young men were eventually freed. The six young men are all now in college or - in the case of the youngest - on their way.

The case was heard by 28th District Judge J. Christopher Peters, a former Assistant District Attorney and the son of Judge Jimmie C. Peters of the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal. Wallace was represented by Krystal Todd of the Lasalle Parish Public Defenders Office. The 12-person jury had one Black member. The case was prosecuted by Lasalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters, who also prosecuted the Jena Six case, and famously told a room full of students, "I can make your lives disappear with a stroke of my pen."

Wallace was arrested as part of "Operation Third Option," which saw more than 150 officers, including a SWAT team and helicopters, storm into Jena's Black community on July 9, 2009. Although no drugs were seized, a dozen people were arrested, based on testimony and video evidence of a police informant, convicted drug dealer Evan Brown. So far, most of those arrested on that day have plead guilty and faced long sentences. Devin Lofton, who pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute, received ten years. Adrian Richardson, 34, who pled guilty to two counts of distribution, received twenty-five years. Termaine Lee, a twenty-two-year-old who had no previous record but faced six counts of distribution, received twenty years.

Wallace, a single mother, has three small children, aged 3, 5, and 10. The youngest child has frequent seizures. She was taken from the courtroom straight to jail after the verdict was read, and given a one million dollar bail. Her sentencing is expected to come next month.

Photo: Catrina Wallace and her mother, Caseptla Bailey.

New Trial Begins Today in Jena, Louisiana

Jury selection began today in the trial of Catrina Wallace, sister of Robert Bailey, one of the Jena Six. Wallace was one of the main leaders of the struggle to free the Jena Six.

The charges against her, based on testimony from a confidential informant, are seen by many as revenge for her activism in Jena.

Mississippi Activists Plan Rally Against Police Brutality

The announcement below is adapted from information from our friends at Justice For Billey Joe Johnson, Jr., and Color Of Change:

This weekend, activists in George County, Mississippi, will be hosting two days of action to demand justice for Billey Joe Johnson, Jr. and all other victims of police brutality in George County. Solidarity delegations will be traveling from New Orleans (leaving on Saturday) and other nearby cities to support this struggle.

Schedule of Events:

Friday, February 25
Triumph Baptist Church
4:00pm: Know Your Rights Training
6:00pm: Memorial for Billey Joe

Saturday, February 26
1:00pm: Rally at Courthouse
4:30pm: Vigil at the dirt pit where it is believed Billey Joe was killed

For more details or to get involved, call Immaculate Heart CDC (601.945.2986) or Ms. Lucy Wilson (601.508.4142). For info on rides from New Orleans, contact Robert Goodman of Safe Streets Strong Communities at akilimtu@gmail.com.

Background:
On December 8th, 2008, 17-year-old Billey Joe Johnson, Jr., a star athlete with his pick of college football scholarships, died from a gunshot wound to the head. Police claim he killed himself with a shotgun after being stopped for a simple traffic violation in Lucedale, Mississippi. Several things seem to cast doubt on the official story, including an independent investigation that concluded it would have been impossible for the shot that killed Johnson to have been self-inflicted.

Many on the ground smell a murder and a cover-up. We don't have all the answers, but it's clear that in the racially divided town of Lucedale, all the ingredients exist for a miscarriage of justice.

From the beginning, the District Attorney has treated the investigation of Billey Joe's death as a suicide or the result of an accidental self-inflicted injury. Based on his public statements and interactions with Billey Joe's family, it appears that the District Attorney hasn't looked into whether Billey Joe was killed by an officer or someone else. Again, we don't have all the answers, but here's what we do know:

* Billey Joe was at his former girlfriend's house minutes before the killing. He never entered the house, but police were called to respond to an attempted burglary there. This fact was not a part of the original story given by the police.

* Billey Joe's family says that his ex-girlfriend had been staying at her father's house because her mother threw her out for dating Billey Joe (she is White and Billey Joe was Black). They said Billey Joe knew to only go to the house when the girl's father was not present, that the two of them were on good terms even after he had broken up with her, and that the breakup was largely because of pressure from her father. The family also claims that there is a relationship between the officer present at the scene of Billey Joe's death and the girl's father.

* A witness heard two shots, not one, at the scene where Billey Joe died, according to an independent investigation launched by the Mississippi NAACP. The pathologist in that investigation has indicated that it would be impossible for a bullet from a self-inflicted shot to enter in the manner that it did. He also said that given the length of Billey Joe's arms and the length of the shotgun, it would have been impossible for him to hold the weapon and fire it at himself.

* Billey Joe was a star athlete with scholarship offers from more than half a dozen schools. No one--including family, friends, and coaches--could think of a reason that Billey Joe would want to end his life.

A true investigation would sort out fact from rumor. But we can't be sure that Johnson's family will get the investigation it deserves. In the case of the Jena 6 we saw a District Attorney and a judge incapable of carrying out justice in a racially charged environment. In the recent case of the murder of Oscar Grant by police (and many like it), we see how unlikely it is for District Attorneys to do their job when the suspect is an officer of the law. But in both these cases, public pressure has made all the difference by shining a spotlight on local authorities.

Former Jena 6 Defendants Play in Bayou Classic

From the Friends of Justice Blog:
When the Grambling Tigers and the Southern Jaguars meet today in the New Orleans Superdome to play in the annual Bayou Classic, two members of the Jena 6 will be on the field.

Robert Bailey Jr. is number 85 for the Tigers and Mychal Bell is number 26 for the Jaguars. The game is being broadcast Saturday, November 27 at 1:00pm. Robert and Mychal are both working hard and maturing into fine young men. Two other former Jena 6 defendants are also involved in college sports: Corwin Jones is playing football with Tyler Jr. College in Texas and Bryant Purvis is playing basketball with Southern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. Theo Shaw is enjoying his studies at the University of Louisiana, Monroe, and Jesse Ray Beard graduated from high school in 2009.