Prosecuters in 'America's Most Racist City' Set Dragging Death Killers Free

Some villagers may recall that we annointed Paris TX with the unofficial title as the 'Most Racist City in America'. The city lived up to its reputation with decision to release the two white men accused of killing Brandon McClelland, a Black man, in a racially charged dragging death. [SOURCE]

Shannon Finley and Charles Crostley were released last week in Paris after a judge granted the special prosecutor's motion to dismiss the case. The two men had been charged with fatally striking 24-year-old Brandon McClelland and dragging him over 70 feet with a pickup truck in September following the trio's late-night beer run to Oklahoma.

Last month, a gravel truck driver gave a sworn statement acknowledging he might have accidentally run over McClelland.

"His body was dragged and nobody gets charged?" said Brenda Cherry, a Paris resident and the president of Concerned Citizens for Racial Equality. "Even if a trucker came forward, that's all it takes? Even the trucker's not charged? If you hit someone, you don't get charged? Nobody gets charged with this?"

Is there any reason for Black folks to stay in Paris TX any longer?

Will Brandon McClelland's Killers Go Free?

This blog named Paris, TX as the most racist city in America. Therefore, we can't feign surprise when Shannon Finley and Charles Ryan Crostley, the two white fellas that dragged Brandon McClelland to his death, appear to be on a glide path to freedom.

Ain't no easy time to be a Blackman in America...

Class Action Suit Charges Turner Industries (Paris TX) With Racism

Two citizens from Paris TX, the most racist city in America, filed a class action complaint that could lead to a federal investigation. [SOURCE]

The two citizens are both employed by Turner Industries, one of the largest employers in Paris TX. Photographs from inside the pipe fabrication factory show painted confederate flags on everything from protective headgear to cell phones. There are also photos of a hangman's noose and racist graffiti on a restroom wall, most of which is too offensive to show on our family-friendly blog.

Turner employee Dontrail Mathis said, "I've been threatened with job demotions and terminations" for bringing this racism to the public's attention".

Turner employee Karl Mitchell said, "To me, some of the stories remind me of 1950's Mississippi. "It's created what I believe is a plantation like environment; where you walk in the door, you know your place and if you step out of place you will be punished."

Turner Industries responded as follows – "On March 4th, Turner formed an employee task force, made up of a cross-section of workers, to assist in promoting and maintaining a work place that is free of harassment or discrimination. We have zero tolerance for any behavior in the work place that disparages any employee."

Black employees who filed the complaint say the racist atmosphere they've experienced at the plant intensified after two key events – first, the murder of Brandon McLelland and second, the election of President Obama.

Villagers, I'm glad to see that these two Turner employees are taking legal action. I wish them both well. What are your thoughts on the situation in Paris TX?

Most Racist City in America

I see that Modesto CA is the worst city in America. The city scored poorly for its high cost of living, high unemployment rate, lack of activities, and the highest car theft rate in the United States.

Forbes claims that Stockton CA is the most miserable city in America. Stockton was ground zero for the housing boom and now the subsequent bust. Home prices more than tripled between 1998 and 2005 and then came crashing down last year. Stockton had the country's highest foreclosure rate last year at 9.5%. Things are not looking much brighter in 2009 as housing prices are expected to fall another 36% on the heels of a 39% drop in 2008. Also, unemployment is expected to jump to 13.3% from 10.4%.

Both of those cities can be glad that they are not Paris TX. I am convinced that Paris TX is the most racist city in America. There are only 26,000 people living in Paris TX, yet the town's racial animus keeps it in the national spotlight.

Paris first drew national scrutiny in 2007, after a 14-year-old African American girl, Shaquanda Cotton, was sentenced by a local judge to up to seven years in a youth prison for shoving a hall monitor at Paris High School. Three months earlier, the same judge had sentenced a 14-year-old white girl to probation for the more serious crime of arson. National civil rights protests, petition drives and media attention forced Shaquanda's early release from prison.

Then last year, a 24-year-old African American man, Brandon McClelland, was murdered by two white men who dragged him beneath a pickup truck until his body was nearly dismembered. The accused killers are awaiting trial for murder, but McClelland's family and civil rights leaders have pressed prosecutors to add hate-crime charges as well.

Only a few weeks ago, race relations had reached such a low point in the troubled east Texas town that federal Justice Department mediators were called in to try to bring together Black and white citizens, but the public meeting quickly dissolved into rancor.

Now we learn from the Chicago Tribune that fresh racial tensions are erupting inside one of the town's biggest employers, the Turner Industries pipe fabrication plant, where Black employees charge that hangman's nooses, Confederate flags and racist graffiti have been appearing throughout the workplace for months.

One worker, Karl Mitchell, took pictures of the offensive symbols in early February and filed a formal complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last week. Other African American employees assert that they've repeatedly complained about the racist symbols to their bosses, only to be ignored or told to keep quiet.

"Somebody had to step forward," said Mitchell, who also alleges a pattern of wage and promotion discrimination at the plant stretching back nearly two years. "They are so wide open with [the racist displays] and so certain that African Americans aren't going to say anything about it."

John Fenner is Turner Industries' lawyer claims that the company only learned of the discrimination allegations last week, when photographs of the racist symbols began circulating on the Internet.

"All of us in management find all of that offensive. We do not condone any displays of this type. I can promise you that in the event we uncover that any of our people participated in the display of any of those matters, they may very well lose their jobs."

It must be a damn nightmare to be a Black man, woman or child in Paris TX. After all, it is now the reigning champion as 'Most Racist City in America'.

Dragging Death of Black Man in Paris TX

Paris, TX is back in the news. Villagers remember Shaquanda Cotton was unjustly sentenced in Paris, TX in a manner that was racially-charged. Now we learn that the Paris law enforcement officials are covering up a dragging death of a Black man ... similar to the infamous James Byrd Jr. dragging death in another part of Texas over 10 years ago.

Brandon McLelland was found on the side of a road outside Paris on September 16th. Family members were told he was hit by a vehicle and dragged 60-feet. Officials said the vehicle fled the scene.

But the 24-year-old's body was dismembered and that leads relatives to believe whatever happened was intentional. "The back of his head was split about this wide," Jacqueline explained motioning with her hand. "And right here over his heart was a spot about as big as my hand."

We learn today that two white men have been charged with his murder. Charles Crostley and Shannon Finley were with Brandon the night he died. The vicious nature of the death alone has a number of people convinced it was a hate crime.

Jacqueline McLelland worries that authorities will avoid investigating her son's death as hate crime, because of bad publicity and the town's racial history. "I feel like if a lot of people hadn't have been listening and paying attention to what was going on maybe they would have just swept this under the rug."

Jacqueline says nobody's child should have to suffer and go through what her son did before he died. I agree with her. I wonder when the people of Jasper TX will take these racially charged incidents seriously?

Justice or Just-Us: ShaQuanda Cotton

We have asked the question before -- do we really care about our children? -- here in the Electronic Village. I have three children and I know that I need to do better. My children are African American and subject to the nonsense that exists in our country at times. I see that a Texas appellate court let stand the conviction of this Black teenager from the small east Texas town of Paris.

You may recall the case of ShaQuanda Cotton. She was convicted and sentenced for shoving a hall monitor at school. Her sentence of seven years in youth prison for pushing a hall monitor at her high school provoked national criticism and fueled allegations of racial discrimination in the town's schools and courts. Some judges in Texarkana denied the 16-year-old's appeal of her conviction for assault on a public servant and turned aside her claim that she received ineffective assistance from her defense lawyer at her trial in juvenile court before Lamar County Judge Chuck Superville.

"It's not right, it's not fair that Shaquanda has to go around with this felony conviction," Creola Cotton (ShaQuanda's mother, shown with her daughter in the photo) said. "I am just sick over this, I really am."

Fortunately, the appeals court decision has no immediate impact on ShaQuanda, who was ordered released in late March by a special conservator in charge of the state's juvenile justice agency after she had served one year of her sentence. Her case rose to national prominence after it was actively discussed in the Afroshpere. One of the ironies was that three months before ShaQuanda, who was 14 at the time of the shoving incident, was sentenced to prison, Judge Superville saw fit to place a 14-year-old white girl convicted of the more serious crime of arson on probation.

Villagers, it seems to me that we have another Black child charged with a criminal offense that is totally out of line with the incident. Another Black child placed into the criminal just-us system. In my view, the Paris school district should have never let a minor school incident escalated into criminal charges of this magnitude. And the district attorney and others involved in the case should be ashamed of themselves.

It appears that the public school administrators and the criminal just-us system do not have our children's best interest at heart. So, we have to each do a better job. I have to be a better father and parent so that my children don't get caught up in this nonsense.

How about you? How do you respond to the question --> Do We Really Care About Our Children?