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The only member of the Jena 6 tried and convicted in the beating of a white classmate was released today—one week after thousands of protesters rallied for his freedom in the small Louisiana town.
Things have been on the up and up for Bell, who originally faced attempted murder charges and up to 22 years in prison for his role in last year's attack which sent the victim to the hospital.
Earlier this week, District Attorney Reed Walters announced he would not re-try Bell as an adult after an Appellate Court tossed the original conviction.
Bell will be tried in juvenile court and if convicted, the 17-year-old can only be held until he turns 21.
The other five teens are awaiting trial.
The Case of the Jena 6
Last fall, when two Black high school students sat under the "white" tree on their campus, white students responded by hanging nooses from the tree. When Black students protested the light punishment for the students who hung the nooses, District Attorney Reed Walters came to the school and told the students he could "take [their] lives away with a stroke of [his] pen." Racial tension continued to mount in Jena, and the District Attorney did nothing in response to several egregious cases of violence and threats against black students. But when a white student--who had been a vocal supporter of the students who hung the nooses--taunted a black student, allegedly called several black students "nigger", and was beaten up by black students, six black students were charged with second-degree attempted murder. Last month, the first young man to be tried, Mychal Bell, was convicted. He faces up to 22 years in prison for a school fight.
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