Thousands Protest Blacks' Treatment

As was the case in other cities, much of the activity in Washington was at schools and universities.

In Northeast Washington, hundreds of high school students from Friendship Collegiate Academy marched for a mile through the neighborhood, holding signs, chanting and talking to passersby about the case. Senior Maya Foster, 17, said that when she heard the details of the Jena case and tried to talk to her classmates about it, they initially were clueless.

"They're my age. It really hit home, because I think about that it could have been one of my classmates," Foster said.

At the University of Maryland's Nyumburu Cultural Center, where a noose was found tied to a tree this month, members of the campus clergy and program for black ministers called a "Rally for Peace in Harmony" to support the Jena 6. The event was also in response to the noose hanging, said Ronald Zeigler, director of the cultural center.

"A lot of students are dressed all in black today," Zeigler said. "We also had some students who went to Jena. The students are very involved in trying to support those young men."

But the prime focus of the day was on the town of 3,500 people that suddenly found itself thrust into the national spotlight.

The buses began arriving in Jena hours before dawn, the travelers stepping out stiff, yawning and bleary-eyed. Most wore black T-shirts with the message "Stop the criminalization of our children" and "What is the color of justice?"

Through much of the morning, on Jena's narrow streets and in the green spaces around the courthouse, it was virtually impossible to take a step without jostling someone else. Demonstrators formed a vast procession, about eight people across stretching more than a half mile, and that was just part of one crowd. With the handful of downtown restaurants shuttered, many relied on the offerings of water and snacks from the Red Cross.

"There were people at the park, people at the courthouse and everywhere in between," said Julie Lewis, public information officer for the state police.

Many businesses, such as the Burger Barn and the Brisket House, were closed and had yellow police tape blocking people from parking there. Only a few white marchers were scattered among the vast assemblage. As the sun came up, the crowd grew and people roused themselves to call for all charges against the six teenagers to be dropped. Two of the six appeared on the podium, and though they did not speak, they were cheered.

Mike Williams, 31, who grew up in Jena and now lives in Alexandria, La., said there frequently were fights between white students and black students when he attended Jena High.

"No one ever went to jail for those," he said. "It's always been a racist town. It's just never been this blatant before."

But Jena's white residents say that although there has been trouble in the town, the protesters are overlooking the fact that there are troublemakers on both sides of the racial divide.

Two white men, Gerald Tullos, 44, who works in the oil fields, and Ricky Coleman, 46, owner of Rick's Pizza in town, turned out to watch the march. Both said they think their town has been misconstrued. They said the blame lies on both sides.

"In the beginning, the charges were too severe," Tullos said.

"I approve of their standing up and making a statement about what they think is righteous," Coleman said. "But they don't know us. We really ain't that way."

Staff writers Darryl Fears, Theola Labb¿ and Ian Shapira in Washington and Avis Thomas-Lester and Nelson Hernandez in Prince George's County contributed to this report.