Suspected White Supremacist Group Sues Jena, Louisiana Over Rally Restrictions

Jena, LA (AHN) - An organization widely believed to be a white supremacist group has filed a lawsuit and restraining order against local officials in Jena, Louisiana for "unlawful constitutional violations" in connection with the organization's planned rally on Martin Luther King Jr. Day next month.

The Nationalist Movement sued the town of Jena last Friday for an "invalid," "unconstitutionally overbroad" and "vague" local ordinance that required the group to deposit a $10,000 bond, and use its own funds for restrooms, security and on-site emergency medical care during its "Jena Justice Day" rally scheduled for January 21. A temporary restraining order included in the lawsuit also asks the court to keep the town and its mayor Murphy McMillin from interfering with its rally.

The Nationalist rally will be held in response to the estimated 15,000 to 20,000 demonstrators who marched to Jena on September 20 against what protesters said was a disparity in treatment of black and white students.

Six black teenagers, known as the "Jena Six," were accused of physically abusing a white classmate in Jena, Louisiana more than a year ago. The incident sparked racial tensions across the country, causing a spate of noose hangings and numerous protests including one in Washington last month where civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton asked for federal prosecution of hate crimes.

The Nationalists' lawsuit also alleges that the requirement for them not to bring firearms during the rally, and the town's changing the parade route by one block are "violative of due process under the 14th Amendment."

McMillin, in a November 27 written response to the group's request for "adequate security" and other items for the event, said the town wasn't responsible for providing them security, and that LaSalle Parish Police Jury would help them with their needs. The route of the march was changed, according to McMillin, "in accordance with our coordinating with the Louisiana State Police and other law enforcement."

The Nationalist Movement has as one of its goals the de-integration of the University of Mississippi, according to the Associated Press. The group held a demonstration in Simi Valley, California in 1992, to support the police officers accused of beating Rodney King. It has won over two-dozen First amendment-related cases, including one that led to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said an ordinance in Georgia that mandated local government officials to set varying fees for the use of public places was unconstitutional. The high court's decision forced California to lift a ban against the group and provide it police protection, and the U.S. Park Service to remove its requirement for fees, which it had imposed the Nationalists' rally at the Liberty Bell.