The racially charged case of six black teenagers charged with attacking a white student in the small town of Jena, La., has stirred nationwide attention, with civil rights leaders planning to attend protests next week and well-known lawyers taking an interest in the case.
After a jailhouse meeting with Mychal Bell, one of the defendants in the case, The Rev. Jesse Jackson told ABC News Monday that charges against the six boys — dubbed the “Jena Six” — should be dropped or reduced to misdemeanors.
“We want the Jena Six freed and sent to school and not to jail,” he said, urging white and black residents of the mostly white town to peacefully work out their differences. “They should forgive, reconcile, redeem and move on. Instead you have these mounting tensions.”
Dallas Black Blog 