Less than a week after Anne Arundel County prosecutors
dropped murder charges against four white men in the death of a black
teenager at a party, the county's state's attorney said yesterday that
he plans to hold a special grand jury session Friday to look into the
case. "The grand jury will be meeting weekly until we get this
resolved," said State's Attorney Frank R. Weathersbee. Meanwhile, two
Maryland members of Congress backed yesterday the Anne Arundel NAACP's
request that the Justice Department conduct a federal civil rights
investigation into Jones' death. "The Anne Arundel NAACP has raised
very serious questions about the death of Noah Jamahl Jones, and
possible violations of his civil rights," U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski
said through a spokeswoman last night. "His family and the community
deserve answers. That is why I am urging Attorney General [John]
Ashcroft to launch an investigation.Robin Jones, the victim's mother,
said "I think what happened to Jamahl was a racial incident, and
letting the boys go is another racial incident," she said yesterday. [more ]
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