AP
A woman carries a picture of Martin Luther King Jr., during a march and rally in support of the 'Jena Six' in Jena, La., on Thursday, September 20. Thousands of chanting demonstrators filled the streets of this little Louisiana town Thursday in support of six black teenagers initially charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate.

JENA, Louisiana (AP):

It had many of the signs of the early civil rights protests in the American South militant slogans, upraised clenched fists and multitudes of police, but none of the hate and fear-drenched campaigns in Selma, Little Rock and Montgomery.

Thousands of protesters descended on this tiny central Louisiana town Thursday, rallying against what they see as a double standard of justice for blacks and whites.

But unlike the protests that became landmarks for civil rights when fire hoses and police dogs greeted demonstrators, the rally to support six black teenagers charged in a school fight had a festive yet laid-back air.

"It was a great day," said Denise Broussard of Lafayette. "I really felt a sense of purpose and commitment, but it was also a lot of fun. I met great people and made some good friends."

Biggest demonstration

The march for the so-called Jena Six, a group of black teens initially charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate, was one of the biggest civil rights demonstrations in years.

Hours later, police in nearby Alexandria said they arrested a white man after officers noticed two nooses a racist symbol from the past dangling from the rear of his pickup truck. The driver, identified as Jeremiah Munsen of Colfax, was charged with inciting a riot.

In Jena yesterday, the state district court scheduled a session to decide whether a judge who has been hearing the case of Mychal Bell, one of the six youths, should be made to step aside from a bond hearing.

Bell, now 17, is the only one of the six black defendants to be tried. He was convicted of aggravated second-degree battery, but his conviction was tossed out last week by a state appeals court that said Bell could not be tried as an adult on that charge.