Posted on 07/15/2007 5:01:39 PM PDT by madprof98
As thunder rumbled overhead about 2,000 marchers chanted through the streets of Douglasville Saturday morning in a "March For Justice" protest organized by the NAACP, calling for the release of convicted teen sex offender Genarlow Wilson.
The marchers walked under threatening skies and though a few rain sprinkles from Douglasville High School to the front steps of the Douglas County Courthouse, where speaker after speaker called for the release of Wilson, once an honor student and star athlete at the high school.
Wilson was given a 10-year sentence for having consensual oral sex at age 17 with 15-year-old girl. Georgia law has since changed; the maximum sentence he would receive now is one year. Next month Wilson will have spent three years behind bars.
His case — which will be heard July 20 by the Georgia Supreme Court — has become national sensation while the Douglas County District Attorney who prosecuted him, David McDade, has increasingly come under attack.
Last week the U.S. attorney's office in Atlanta said McDade violated federal law when he distributed a videotape from a rape and child molestation case to legislators and journalists. The Rainbow/PUSH Coalition activist group filed a formal complaint Thursday with the State Bar of Georgia, demanding McDade lose his law license because of abuses of authority in the Wilson case.
Many in the crowd Saturday wore white T-shirts with "Free Genarlow Wilson" written on the back. Others wore T-shirts with a photograph of McDade under the word: "Wanted." Below his picture were the alleged charges, including "abuse of power" and "racial profiling."
Wilson's mother, Juanessa Bennett, told protesters she and her son have become "part of a much bigger movement" to make the justice system equal for all. "God put him [Wilson] here for a reason," she said. "We won't take it anymore."
Vincent Forte, a state senator from Atlanta, called for the prosecution of McDade because he distributed the "pornographic" videotape evidence in the Wilson case. He endorsed efforts to have the DA removed from office, saying, "Dave McDade needs to go somewhere and sit down."
Shelia Polk, 51, of Winston, Ga., said she was there for the same reason so many others showed up. "This is not just for Genarlow," she said. "Genarlow kicked it off. But this is for everybody. Black people in this country aren't getting the same justice as our counterparts, the Caucasians."
Douglasville police chief Joe Whisenant said he feared the march, which attracted people from across the state, might spark counter demonstrations. "We were worried about a bunch of neo-Nazis and skinheads showing up," he said. "Fortunately they didn't."
The marchers gathered on the lawn after 1-hour, 15-minute walk from the high school and heard speeches for more than two hours before the crowd started thinning out by early afternoon. Ezra Hill, 47, of Fairburn, said she was moved by the rally.
"I am concerned about injustice," she said. "If you're going to be harsh on people, you have to be equally harsh on all people of all colors."
She wore a button on her blouse. It read: "Racism Is An Illness."
The prosecutor in this case has behaved outrageoussly. Reason has been covering this very well.
I can see that. Ten years for a BJ seems excessive. There is a prep school in Milton, MA, (school nickname: “The Mustangs”) where a 15 year old girl (skankname: “Mustang Sally”) gave Lewinskis to half the hockey team, including 17 year olds.
In the end the boys were kicked out and had their cases continued without finding. The girl volunarily changed schools.
Irony is one cruel bitch: seems the commencement speaker two years prior to the incident was one IMPOTUS.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2005/02/20/milton_academy_rocked_by_expulsions/
“Let our people come! Let our people come!”
Would they have marched if the perp was white?
Wow. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think if I was there I’d be marching with the NAACP. This case is rediculous. If he was an adult at the time I’d understand. For him to be convicted and serve this long I have to say we have a genuine case of racism here.
This article leaves out a lot of facts that I read in another article. The sentence was a result of a plea bargain. The situation involved several males, forced group sex with a 17 year old and more, as I recall.
Yes, this is a bit of stupidity of our “child molestation” and “sex offender” witch hunting.
It is not racism. I have seen the same attempted on a young white man. Fortunately, a friend was on the Grand Jury, and stopped the nonsense.
Birds of a feather.
It is cases like this that give the racist blacks the ammunition they need to show inequality in our judicial system.
Thanks for the update.
I agree it’s not racism, the blacks-who-vote-democrat can’t help crying that word everytime.
It’s their “get out of jail” free card.
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