French Quarter hearing on Death of Levon Jones Draws anger

A large crowd assembled into the City Council Chambers Thursday evening, Feb. 24, to demand a change in what they characterized as institutionalized racism in New Orleans' French Quarter. An overwhelmingly African-American audience filled the room and stood lining the walls, but after a three-hour session before 15 members of the city's Human Relations Commission, it was still unclear just what would come of the hearing. The hearing was called because of widespread criticism of city officials' handling of the Dec. 31 death of Levon Jones. Jones was an African-American college student from Georgia who died after bouncers from the Bourbon Street nightclub Razzoo pinned him in a chokehold on the sidewalk in the presence of uniformed police officers. Representatives from Razzoo originally claimed that Jones' friends were denied access because they did not meet the dress code. Jones' protest had reputedly sparked the altercation. The three white male bouncers were subsequently booked with negligent homicide. Several speakers said that the hearing was, in the words of one, "a political shuffle" to redirect attention to black-on black crime and away from the tourist destination of the French Quarter. Attendee Minister Willie Mohammad said, "The anger you hear is because we've been down this road before. The issue of race only came up after the dress code was revealed to be a lie. We are about justice but our community has lost faith in the criminal justice system." Others complained that eight weeks after the incident, no police report has been filed. "The question today is one of human dignity, civil rights and the color of law," said W.C. Johnson, representing Families Against Police Brutality. A representative of Neighborhood Unity, called police tactics "pig terrorism." [more]