After West Virginia March: Megan Williams Hate Crimes Issue to be Pressed

By Cash MichaelsSpecial to the NNPA from the Carolinian Newspaper CHARLESTON, W VA. (NNPA) – In the aftermath of the successful national march and rally against hate crimes and racism last weekend, attorney Malik Zulu Shabazz, president of the Black Lawyers for Justice, says the next step will be to pressure the U.S. Justice Dept. to level federal hate crime charges against the six white suspects in the Megan Williams alleged rape/torture case. Shabazz says U.S. Attorney Charles Miller told him in a recent meeting that the federal prosecutor was directed not to file charges in the case, not even for alleged civil rights violations, by his superiors in Washington. Logan County prosecutor Brian Abraham has not ruled out state hate crimes charges in addition to the kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault charges he’s already leveled against all six suspects. But even after a mountain of evidence, unmistakable injuries of torture suffered by the alleged victim, and confessions from at least two of the six accused suspects admitting that Megan Williams was brutalized because she was Black, Abraham is still reluctant to implement West Virginia’s hate crimes statutes, which carry a maximum of ten years in prison. Atty. Shabazz says the African-American community must put the pressure on to make sure that one of the worst cases of racial brutality in U.S. history is not swept under the rug. “Black Lawyers for Justice…is going to draft a serious letter that details why this case should be prosecuted, and must be prosecuted under the federal hate crime statutes, and the state hate crime statutes,” Shabazz told Inhotep Gary Byrd on the WLIB-AM program “Mindflight” in New York Sunday night. “[Those statutes] were enacted to deal with cases and hate crimes, just like the one being described,” Shabazz continued, referring to allegations that Williams, 20, was kidnapped for a month, beaten, raped, stabbed, forced to eat dog and rat feces, tortured and threatened with death, because, as one of her alleged captors told her, “‘This is what we do to niggers around here.'” Shabazz continued, “This letter will be delivered to the Dept. of Justice…on the eve of the national effort against [that department] by Rev [Al] Sharpton.” Shabazz was referring to the national march announced for Nov. 16 in Washington, DC to protest the U.S. Justice Dept.’s reluctance to investigate and prosecute a recent upsurge in racial assaults and hangman’s noose incidents across the nation, the most prominent being the Jena 6 case in Louisiana. Attorney Shabazz says beyond the DOJ letter, Black Lawyers for Justice plans to work with the Congressional Black Caucus to strengthen federal hate crime statutes. Former Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has committed to work with the effort, Shabazz says. McKinney joined Shabazz and Megan Williams supporters last week on a trip to the mobile home trailer site where the young Black woman was allegedly tortured. “The broader issue is strengthening hate crime laws so that we don’t have to, in the future, deal with these arguments,” Shabazz told WLIB-AM. “The laws need to be reformed, and that’s the responsibility of the Congressional Black Caucus, and this Congress, which happens to be Democratically controlled…There is some serious advocacy that has to be done, so we continue on in this fight.” When it comes to the Megan Williams case, “fight” is the operative word. This is especially in the days leading up to last weekend’s “National March Against Hate Crimes and Racism.” The march was successfully organized by attorney Shabazz and the Black Lawyers for Justice, to the chagrin of Charleston Mayor Danny Jones. Jones openly called Shabazz a “hater” for his past outspokenness. None of the controversy stopped literally hundreds of supporters from across the nation and West Virginia, including many Whites, from coming to the State Capitol by the busloads Saturday to show their support for Megan Williams, who appeared at the rally, accompanied by her mother and father, Carmen and Matthew Williams. Speaker after speaker, including local Black ministers who expressed their support for Megan despite the prohibition of their ministerial alliance. They decried the alleged rape/torture as not only barbaric, but indicative of the level of hate crimes and brutality African-Americans have historically had to face in America. Supporters wore t-shirts saying, “Protect the Black Woman” and “Justice for Megan Williams.” From the elderly to babies in carriages, and even a large contingent of students from Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, N.C. who sang at the rally, the spirit of love and support for Megan Williams, who seemed genuinely touched and rejuvenated by the outpouring, was impressive. In his remarks, attorney Shabazz implored African-Americans to organize, get involved in organizations in their communities, including those who opposed the march like the NAACP, to make a real difference. Shabazz called the march and rally “historic” for West Virginian and Charleston because Blacks there had never seen that level of activism before. He chided Mayor Jones, the local media and black leadership for making him the issue, instead of the young alleged victim. “This isn’t about Malik Shabazz,” he told the crowd. “This has always been about Megan Williams, and getting justice or her…The march for us is part of a strategy to push the bigger issue of hate crimes and to make sure that hate crimes [in this case] at the national level are applied.” With that, Shabazz, Megan Williams and her family, led marchers on a two-and-a-half mile trek from the State Capitol to the Robert C. Byrd Federal Courthouse in downtown Charleston, chanting, “Whose streets, our streets,” and “No justice, no peace.” While stunned White Charleston residents looked on in disbelief from the sidewalks, Black residents applauded the marchers, smiled, and even raised their fists in the Black Power salute. Members of the New Black Panther Party, who provided security at the rally and particularly during the march, were on the lookout for any trouble by White supremacists. Leaflets from the Ku Klux Klan had been circulated prior to the march denouncing the demonstration. Both the march and rally, however, were peaceful. Shabazz said Sunday night that $5,000 had been raised by the march and rally for Megan Williams and her family to help with medical, counseling and other expenses. Shabazz says the goal is still to raise at least $10,000 for the family, and he will speak with other Black leadership groups about possibly contributing to the cause.