What has Justin Barker done since the Jena 6 case?
‘Jena 6’ beating case wraps up with plea deal ENA, La. — Five members of the Jena Six pleaded no contest Friday to misdemeanor simple battery and won’t serve jail time, ending a case that thrust a small Louisiana town into the national spotlight and sparked a massive civil rights demonstration. State District Judge Tom Yeager then sentenced the five, standing quietly surrounded by their lawyers, to seven days unsupervised probation and fined $500. It was a far less severe end to their cases than seemed possible when the six students _ all of whom are black _ were initially charged with attempted murder in the 2006 attack on Justin Barker, a white classmate. They became known as the “Jena Six,” after the central Louisiana town where the beating happened. “I just thank God that it’s all over,” said John Jenkins, father of Carwin Jones. “It’s been a long, painful journey for everyone on both sides of this thing.” Barker and his family and friends sat without expression throughout the hear
Justin Barker is the white teenager whose beating resulted in the arrest of the “Jena 6″ – according to previous reports, he is friends with the three students who hung the nooses in the trees, and his beating occurred moments after he taunted the black student who had his “ass whipped” by a group of whites at the Fair Barn over the weekend. I guess sometimes being beaten by a group of people is okay, and sometimes it’s not, hmm? Do any of those facts mean that he “deserved” a beating? No. They don’t. But I’m trying to put it in context. He wasn’t just leaped on out of the blue. The fight didn’t occur in a vacuum. This report of his testimony at the Mychal Bell trial is incomplete. Here’s Barker’s recollection, which excludes what reportedly happened moments before: Justin Barker, 17, testified that he had just come out of his high school gym with his girlfriend walking ahead of him on Dec. 4 when they turned to avoid a group of black students. “I turned my back and somebody hit me, th
From the Associated Press: State District Judge Tom Yeager then sentenced the five, standing quietly surrounded by their lawyers, to seven days unsupervised probation and fined $500. It was a far less severe end to their cases than seemed possible when the six students — all of whom are black — were initially charged with attempted murder in the 2006 attack on Justin Barker, a white classmate. They became known as the “Jena Six,” after the central Louisiana town where the beating happened. Barker and his family and friends sat without expression throughout the hearing. Barker’s attorney said he graduated and is now an oil field worker. The family did not comment. Sources: http://www.google.
