Although witnesses allege that members of the Jena Six used racial slurs during their attack on a white student at Jena High School, they apprarently did not attack him simply because of his race. They were angry because they heard he had been discussing a fight at a private party between one of their members and a white adult.

Two separate investigations, one by the Justice Department and one by the Jena School District, determined that the three white students who hung the nooses from a schoolyard tree did not mean them as a racial threat. The three students say they hung the nooses to poke fun at friends who were members of the school rodeo team, an idea they say they got from the lynching scene in the movie Lonesome Dove. A second Justice Department investigation determined there was no link between the noose-hanging incident and the Jena Six attack.

Sent by Blair | 9:30 AM ET | 12-20-2007

Hate crime?

Hell yes, I really do hate crime! When a human commits violence against the person or property of another, other than in clear self-defense, of course I hate it. There's no excuse for it; if the perpetrator claims to be human, he's fooling no one but himself.

Sent by True_Liberal | 11:32 AM ET | 12-21-2007

Spirited opinions, I see.

UPDATE: Don't know if you've been following, but there are new developments -- one of the accused is now filing an assault charge against Sarah Kraeger, the alleged victim of the bus beatings.

Read more for yourself: http://www.wbaltv.com/news/14950396/detail.html.

Also, for now, the nine who stand accused will not be charged with a hate crime related to the incident. It's unclear whether such charges might still be filed at a later date.

Learn more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-md.ci.bus29dec29,0,2766586.story?coll=bal-lifestyle-storyutil

Of course, we're watching closely.

Sent by Lee Hill, TMM | 10:55 AM ET | 12-31-2007

if it would of been a group of whites beating on two blacks,this situation would be called a hate crime,seems like only whites commit hate crime,but if non-whites commit a crime against whites,its not viewed as such,as always the double standard comes into play.

Sent by richard | 7:41 AM ET | 03-08-2008

interesting note:

The White woman who was beaten on the bus pleaded guilty yesterday morning to drug distribution. She attempted to sell drugs to an undercover police officer. After all manner of hatred and venom was spewed toward the young African American students; I wonder what "mainstream's" reaction to this will be.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-md.ci.kreager08apr08,0,3109276.story

Sent by Ironic huh? | 2:08 PM ET | 04-08-2008