The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, February 24, 1999, Image 14

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    Page 14 » Wednesday, February 24, 1999
N
EWS
Jasper jury finds white supremacist
guilty of capital murder in dragging
JASPER(AP) — A white su
premacist whose vengeful writ
ings and racist tattoos were used
to prove he despised blacks was
convicted Tliesday of chaining a
man to a pickup and dragging
him to his death in a crime that
shocked the nation.
Courtroom spectators ap
plauded and relatives of the vic
tim wiped away tears as John
William King was found guilty
of capital murder in the June 7
slaying of black Jasper resident
James Byrd Jr.
King sat expressionless
when the verdict was read. He
leaned forward, apparently try
ing to shield himself with his at
torneys from courtroom TV
cameras.
If sent to death row, the 24-
year-old would become the first
white person in Texas to be sen
tenced to lethal injection for
killing a black person since the
state resumed imposing the
death penalty in the mid-1970s.
Byrd’s daughter, Renee
Mullins, one of about a dozen
family members who braved five
days of graphic testimony,
dabbed her nose and eyes with a
tissue as she called the verdict “a
breath of fresh air.” Said his son,
Ross Byrd: “All I know is that
there’s one down and two to go.”
King, a laborer, was the first
of three white men to be tried
for the slaying. The body of the
49-year-old Byrd was torn in
two — his head and right arm
severed from his torso — when
he was pulled nearly three
miles while tied by his ankles
with a 24 1/2-foot logging
chain.
The murder thrust Jasper
into a national spotlight as
members of the Ku Klux Klan
crimes to take us back in time.”
The Rev. Jesse Jackson said
he approved of the verdict, but
called on jurors to give King a
life prison sentence.
“We must break the cycle of
this killing,” he told the AP in a
“If these thre men saw killing a
solution to their sick state, then we in
our sober and sane state must know
kiliing is not a solution”
Rev. Jesse Jackson
and New Black Panthers de
scended on the timber town of
8,000 people about 100 miles
northeast of Houston.
The verdict also reverberat
ed among black leaders across
the country, with Kweisi
Mfume, president of the Na
tional Association for the Ad
vancement of Colored People,
saying he was gratified that it
took only 2 1/2 hours for a jury
in the South to render its deci
sion.
“The guilty verdict in the
James Byrd murder trial is a sad
victory in this the first step of a
very troubling judicial ordeal,”
Mfume said in a telephone
news conference from Balti
more. “We have come too far
for the individuals who have
committed these types of
telephone interview. “If these
three men saw killing as a solu
tion in their sick state, then we
in our sober and sane state must
know killing is not a solution.”
During the punishment
phase, the state called proba
tion and police officers who dis
cussed King’s criminal history
and his refusal to follow rules
while on probation for burglary.
King was sent to boot camps
and restitution centers at least
four times before a probation
supervisor recommended he be
sent to prison.
In closing arguments, pros
ecutor Pat Hardy outlined the
evidence against King, liken
ing Byrd’s attackers to “three
robed riders coming straight
out of hell.”
“After they dragged that poor
man and tore his body to pieces,
they dropped it right in front a
church and a cemetery, to show
their defiance to God, to show
their defiance of Christianity
and everything most people in
this county stand for.”
The evidence included a
lighter engraved with a Klan
symbol and King’s prison
name, “Possum,” that was
found along with cigarette butts
at the scene; clothes stained
with Byrd’s blood; letters in
which King wrote about orga
nizing a racist gang; and King’s
tattoos of a black man hanging
from a tree, cartoon characters
in Klan garb, Nazi-type SS light
ning bolts and Aryan power
proclamations.
King’s lawyers called only
three witnesses who testified
for less than an hour. King did
not take the stand.
In his closing, Jones ac
knowledged a “terrible, terrible
brutal horrendous death.”
He skirted the issue of
whether King participated in the
killing but focused on his con
tention that the state had not
proved Byrd was kidnapped.
Said Cribbs: “I don’t deny
he made some racial slurs. Not
that I agree with that. But that
is his right. ... You have a right
to even be a satanist, but that
is our right.”
Byrd, an unemployed man
known for his singing voice —
and also his affection for alco
hol — was on his way home
M stb
vjMasA&M stui
•*f|s lobbying me
I jjf tores 'ittatives in
fed [Monday for|
97 law that'
TERRY ROBERT
rgridnates earn:
^■-education i
Sen. Teel Kevin
'challenging tl
rsities to chargf
Ignacio A. Gonzales, a junior Horticulture major, is talking to Phillipfc^exceeding t
of Hines Nurseries at the Forest and Horticulture Career Fair in theHott: , urs
ture/Forest Science Building yesterday. Hines Nursery specializes inste ]f the revised v
tropical plants with a variety of over 1,400 species all over the UnitedS ^ dap will appl
99|State fundi
ged for under
Jhan their d«
Legislative Rel
rapment Assc
n»ers yesterdi
Duse representa
eal-icious Dining Discounts
The Class of '99 sectiofeopSo™
. , iwbill, SB-345,
of the Aqqieland yearbocfwhroon
» inPfui ps
lacks only one thing
Evevy Wednesday in The Battalion
Slacks
aditi
BY RICHARD I
The Battc
a picture of you
We Now Accept
AGGIE BUCKS!
VfW.kVHCHPAGC.COM
WANT COUPONS?
:
5 FREE Game Tokens
with purchase of Adult Buffet at regular price.
Buffet served lunch & dinner everyday!
1673 Briarcrest
776-1124
i
Not valid with other coupons or special
offers. One coupon per order please.
Good at Participating Mr. Gatti’s. Offer The Best PizZU ifl ToWTl, HoHCSt!
expires 3/2/99.
?*•*•** :
Zi
HF
a. -■vr
W.#o < *<%»**•**.
~W5 t *<'•**'*
jJ 1 ,* VT
<£>•
"SSt*
—i-.-; i-™-i-
f
> «*«* frF**
Register
Today
for your
FREE
LUNCH
PACE
by e-mail!
Don't miss your last chance to
the final Aggieland of the
Take advantage of the
one-week 'push'
Feb. 22-26
MSG Black
immittee (BAG)
traditional Aft
n program froi
Ruhder Theate
“Harambee l
tl,” which beg
■provide
tb
atAR Photography
(between Jason's Deli and Academy)
Surf to www.lunchpage.cotn
Hours: 9-12 and 1-5
693-8183
Dress Up!
th an array <
3ns and er
sed on Africa
.Iture.
The central t
tival is “Lifti
acklCollegiate
id the objecth
ote unity
can-Americai
)ugh discussi
Cham )
Freshly made
Sandwiches,
Soups & Desserts
iiKiaiiinvr
HAPPY HOUR SPECIALS!
4-7 P.M.
FREE CHIP & DRINK!
w/purchase of any sandwich
,
: Y Y Y
Present coupon before ordering Expires 03/03/99
2416 Texas Ave. S • College Station 696-DELI Fax: 693-6606
Hours: 10 a.m.-7:00 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Delivery available. $20 minimum
Anj Fruit Drink
7 a»te
Choose from
many flavors like:
StnmlxTrj, Rasjiberrj,
Passion Fruit,
f . ,70 Pina-Coladn, Guava,
HIM) ICft itt
Make jiiMon n (.’(imlms.
"ftvtyd pew tftml te the cmlex a/ attmtim"
Limit one coupon per drink .Not valid with any other coupon or discount
THE ONLY THINC
B1
BETTER IS Ea
_ Eating disord
AGGIELAND ITSEIE ' '
' the Departme
Student Cou
768 pages
The nafion's largest college yearbook
1 2-1/4 inches thick • Weighs more
erne
cafe & bakery
Try Us - Use this 50% discount
on your second entree
-datives Educ
The 1998 AGGIELAND is here each) and tin
As, part of 1
eek, the panel
isionals and a
i eating disond
Dr. Mary Ann
ipartment of :
xas A&M has
and tn
PICK UP YOUR COPY TODAY!
10S1S
Mon. -
202 S. Bryan
inside Old Bryan Marketplace
Historic Downtown Bryan
779-2558
Tues.
Weds. -
!
Mon-Wed 11-3, Thurs-Fri 11-3 & 5-9, Sat 11-10
Kay Con lee ‘70
rustic warmth simple elegance delicious food
Thurs.
Fri. -
IHOP’S New All You Can Specials
3 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Any style pancakes only s 3.99 up to & including
our crepe style pancakes
Mexican breakfast (breakfast or beef tacos,
your choice) *3.99
Spaghetti (Italian style or beef stroganoff)
for *3.99 including garlic toast and salad.
BBQ beef sandwiches w/ ff or salad only *3.99
Fish Fry (catfish or cod fish), only *5.99
103 N. College Ave. • 846-7073
P icking up your 1998 Aggieland is easy. If you ordered a
Reed McDonald Building basement (use east doors), lool
and show us your Student ID. Hours: 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. iV-oore, Dr. Ann
through Friday. If you did not order last year's yearbook, you maypC Services
one for $35 plus tax in room 015 (basement) Reed McDonald.
checks, VISA. MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepled I G rr
r K Eh .and offer e
Helds.
Jrarely see
ce they [havt
PICK UP YOUR
'98 AGGIELAND
HERE
(look for the maroon banner)
re said. “Pi
I, or even elf
Tammy Ake
lACH and a jui
five million
ting disorder
ade girls diat
ive died fromi
“Fashion imaj
e most receni
J