Attack On Barker
On December 4, 2006 17-year-old Justin Barker, a white Jena High School student, was battered at school by a group of black students. Superintendent Breithaupt described the battery as a "premeditated ambush and attack by six students against one. The victim attacked was beaten and kicked into a state of bloody unconsciousness." Barker was released after three hours of treatment and observation at a local emergency room for a concussion and an eye that had swollen shut. The emergency physician's record shows that he also had injuries to his face, ears, and hand. Nevertheless, he attended his school's Ring ceremony that evening. He later testified, "I waited 11 years to go to it. I wasn't going to let that get in my way," though he ended up leaving the dance early due to pain. During the trial, Barker also testified that his face was badly swollen after the attack and that he suffered a loss of vision in one eye for three weeks. He also stated that he had suffered recurring headaches and forgetfulness since the attack.
US Attorney Washington states he does not believe the noose incident and the beatings were related. Walters likewise indicated that he believes there is no linkage between the noose incident and the beating. "When this case was brought to me and during our investigation and during the trial, there was no such linkage ever suggested. This compact story line has only been suggested after the fact." Although Washington believes that both the noose hangings and the Barker battery were symptoms of racial tension, he has also said that there was no apparent lingering anger after the noose hangings.
Read more about this topic: Jena Six
Famous quotes containing the words attack on, attack and/or barker:
“It is well worth the efforts of a lifetime to have attained knowledge which justifies an attack on the root of all evil—viz. the deadly atheism which asserts that because forms of evil have always existed in society, therefore they must always exist; and that the attainment of a high ideal is a hopeless chimera.”
—Elizabeth Blackwell (1821–1910)
“... possibly there is no needful occupation which is wholly unbeautiful. The beauty of work depends upon the way we meet it—whether we arm ourselves each morning to attack it as an enemy that must be vanquished before night comes, or whether we open our eyes with the sunrise to welcome it as an approaching friend who will keep us delightful company all day, and who will make us feel, at evening, that the day was well worth its fatigues.”
—Lucy Larcom (1824–1893)
“She is a procession no one can follow after
But be like a little dog following a brass band.”
—George Barker (b. 1913)