"After that, if we need to, we'll go to Baton Rouge and see the governor
and
the Legislature," Sharpton said Sunday by phone from New York.
The "Jena Six" case drew protests after five of the six teens were
originally charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to
commit murder, carrying sentences of up to 80 years in prison. The sixth
was
charged in juvenile court.
The beating victim, who is white, was treated for injuries at a hospital
and
released the same day, and a motive for the alleged Dec. 4 attack at
Jena
High School was never established.
Sharpton said he would ask for an investigation by the state attorney
general and judicial oversight agencies into the actions of LaSalle
Parish
District Attorney Reed Walters, who has led the prosecutions.
A telephone message left at Walters' residence was not returned Sunday.
He
has previously said he cannot comment because of the pending cases.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke to about 200 people at a school Sunday in
Jena,
where he urged the town's 3,000 residents to come together - white
ministers
and black ministers talking and white parents and black parents talking.
"Why be fighting when we can turn to each other and find common ground?"
Jackson said. "Jena is too small not to move together."
He said he planned to try to meet Monday with Bell, who remains in jail
and
unable to post bond, as well as officials at the courthouse.
"We don't want this community to be permanently scarred," Jackson said.
The beating came amid tense race relations in Jena, a mostly white town
in
north-central Louisiana. After a black student sat under a tree on the
school campus where white students traditionally congregated, three
nooses
were hung in the tree. Students accused of placing the nooses were
suspended
from school for a short period.
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