Jeremiah Munsen, 18, of Colfax, Louisiana admitted in court on Friday (April 25) that he placed two nooses on the back of his pickup truck on September 20.
Munsen pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime of threatening and intimidating marchers near Jena, Louisiana, according to CNN.
Munsen and an unidentified teen passenger repeatedly drove past a group of marchers at a bus depot in Alexandia – approximately 35 miles south of Jena, where the marches took place. The marchers were waiting for buses to return them to Tennessee.
I-Reporter Casanova Love was visiting family in Louisiana; Love said he witnessed the event and took a photograph of the truck. “If the police had not stepped in, I fear what might have happened,” said Love.
“The defendant used a noose to threaten peaceful civil rights marchers
who were in Louisiana to rally against racial intolerance,” said Acting
Assistant Attorney General Grace Chung Becker of Munsen.
The protesters were in Jena to raise awareness of the recently heightened racial tensions over past months. Of course, the most famous of the racially charged issues was the “Jena 6” case, in which a white student was allegedly beaten by six black classmates in 2006.
The six students were initially charged with second-degree attempted murder and conspiracy, which drew criticism nationwide. As a result, the charges were later reduced.
Munsen faces up to a year in prison. He will be sentenced in an August 15 hearing.
