VINDICATION… (HAPPY, HAPPY, JOY, JOY!):
(Everyone knows how long and loud that I’ve complained that if this had happened right after the nooses where hung in the tree in Jena… none of the other preceding incidents would have taken place! It’s about time one of us woke up and did something!)
Man faces charges over nooses on truck at Jena march
WASHINGTON (CNN) — A man has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly displaying hangman’s nooses from the back of a pickup truck during a civil rights march last year in Jena, Louisiana.
Jeremiah Munsen, 18, of Grant Parish, repeatedly drove slowly past a group of marchers gathered at a bus depot in Alexandria, which is near Jena, as they awaited buses to return them to Tennessee, federal authorities said Thursday.
As many as 20,000 marchers had taken part in the huge protests in Jena. Authorities there had been accused of injustice in the handling of racially charged cases, including the hanging of nooses in a tree after a group of black high school students sat in an area where traditionally only white students sat.
The noose incident at Jena was the beginning of months of racial tension that included the beating of a white student, allegedly by six black classmates. The black students were prosecuted, but the three white students responsible for the nooses in the tree were not.
Munsen and an unnamed conspirator had attached nooses to their pickup on September 20 and driven to Alexandria specifically to threaten and intimidate the marchers, the authorities said. 
View a series of photos of the truck »
A juvenile passenger was apprehended with Munsen, according to the arresting officer’s report.
The juvenile told police he and his family are in the Ku Klux Klan and that he had “KKK” tattooed on his chest, the police report said. He also said that he tied the nooses and that brass knuckles found in the truck belonged to him, the report said.
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“This indictment accuses the defendant [Munsen] of conduct that constitutes a federal civil rights conspiracy violation and a federal hate crime,” said U.S. Attorney Donald Washington.
Washington and Grace Chung Becker, acting head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, announced the indictment, issued by a grand jury in Shreveport, Louisiana.
A photograph of the truck was sent to CNN by I-Reporter Casanova Love, 26, who said he is in the U.S. military. He was visiting his family in Louisiana and said he witnessed the event.
Love added, “If the police had not stepped in, I fear what might have happened.” E-mail to a friend 
All About Jena (Louisiana) • Civil Rights • Louisiana
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What is the true purpose and meaning of marches, protests and rallies? Are they not to effect change (like those in the 60’s did)… either in the short or long term? Have I missed something? Shouldn’t there be some type of other work going on while you march or some benchmark on the horizon? I know, for instance, when Unions picket/protest they use their absense at work to force the other side to the barginning table! Are there some secret issues of leverage (that I’m ignorant of) going on with most marches and protest I hear about today? Don’t get me wrong… as I recognize that some feel powerless and think marching is the best remedy available, I guess I just want us to get more creative with the advances afforded us on the backs of those from the 60’s!
http://www.amsterdamnews.com/news/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=14571&sID=3
(Justice March on Washington Nov. 16)
Originally published November 11, 2007
Local students to protest Anderson verdict in Washington
Student Coalition for Justice to protest Anderson verdict in Washington, D.C.
The Student Coalition for Justice plans to participate in the March for Justice spearheaded by the Rev. Al Sharpton Friday in Washington.The coalition plans to continue its protest of a recent decision by Bay County jurors to acquit boot camp guards in the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson while there. Members are calling for a federal investigation that could lead to an indictment of all eight people who were found not guilty in the Bay County trial.
“No matter the magnitude of the injustice no matter how incredible it may appear to our lay eyes, we can’t seem to get them to prosecute,” said Leon County Commissioner Bill Proctor who is helping to raise money for the students.
“The same type of focus we are able to put on the case in Tallahassee is the same type of focus we hope to get on it nationally,” said Pedro Gassant, a coalition member. “What better place to do it.”
For local students who plan to attend, it’s about more than the Anderson case.
“There are a myriad of other cases that deserve justice as well,” Gassant said.
“We recognize that Martin Lee Anderson is one case, one example of the failure of the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute hate crimes,” Proctor said. “In general, we are concerned about justice all over the country. It’s a national problem.”
Sharpton, president of the National Action Network, announced the march last month. The goal is to protest the Justice Department’s perceived failure to prosecute a series of recent hate crimes across the country.
His concerns include the death of Sean Bell, a black man who was shot in Queens, N.Y. by police; the six black students in Jena, La. who were originally charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate in 2006, and others.
“One thing that we never negated is that there is a racial component,” Vanessa Baden, a co-founder of the coalition, said of the Anderson case. “While it’s not necessarily a hate crime, there are aspects of prejudice that pertain to the Martin Lee Anderson case. When we speak of hate crimes, we are speaking of any type of crime that is justified with race.”
Though coalition members had vowed not to march anymore in Tallahassee, members feel this event is worthy of participation.
It shows that “there is a constituency of voters who want to let them know that this is not going to be tolerated. We are screaming this is not acceptable,” Baden said.
